War Pigs
If I had the chance to gamble all my money on the fact that Dillinger Escape Plan’s gig on Sunday would be sold out, I would definitely do it. And now I would be writing to you from somewhere in the Caribbean. Anyway, despite the heavy rain and the day, more than 400 people went to Postbahnhof to enjoy DEP’s grotesque show.
John Coffey
John Coffey took the stage first. From the very beginning they made it clear why DEP selected them as their opening act. Around 40 minutes of pure guitar loudness along with hardcore vocals and a mix of southern bass-line with melodic hardcore riffs made me understand why this band is cool and people were going crazy for this viral video few weeks ago. In any other show on earth they would not be the opening act. During their 40-minutes set they dominated the stage and if it was not the Dillinger Escape Plan coming up next, I’m sure that they anything else would just sound like Children of Bodom…
The Dillinger Escape Plan
I’ve heard so many things from people with different music tastes about DEP’s infamous live performances. I never had the chance to see them before but now I’m sure that I’ll never gonna miss any of their future shows. Loud and sharp, raw and aggressive, DEP are teaching complicated math-noise courses for almost 20 years now. Their music is not easy to follow, but once their very own show begins on stage you can’t take your eyes off them.
Loud and sharp, raw and aggressive
At some point I was feeling like I’m in a bomb shelter with fighter jets above my head. I could feel the bass grabbing me from the chest and smashing me down to the ground with no mercy. In the front lines it was an ongoing war, which lasted until the end of the show. For almost every song was at least someone to stage dive and at least two others to join the siege of the stage. I think I haven’t seen anything more extreme than this, besides a Napalm Death show few years ago.
Weinmans’ riffs were a punch in the face
Puciato is without any doubt one of the greatest performers I’ve ever seen out there. He can adjust his voice to almost every tone and expand his voice range to ad infinitum, almost like Mike Patton does. If Patton is the top modern metal performer for me, Puciato could easily be the number two. Weinmans’ riffs were a punch in the face and because of him I am now suffering from neck ache. From the opening chords of “Prancer” to the closing riffs of “When I lost my bet” I never stopped head banging but for one or two smoking breaks. I could see others though that were still head banging even at the breaks in between the songs.
The set was a good selection of all DEP’s 5 studio albums plus a kick-ass cover of Cream’s “Sunshine of your love”. Putting everything together at the end of the concert I was not quite sure if DEP were so good or it was me forgetting how fun a hardcore metal band could be live. Even now, 2 days after the gig I feel awesomely exhausted with a few bruises on my right shoulder to remind me of that stage diver who landed on the top of head.
Review and Photo by Anastasis Koutsogiannis
DEP
