LIVE FROM THE PIT: The Dillinger Escape, Vower and Frontierer

After nearly a decade away THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN return to London for a triumphant show of chaos and power showcasing why they are the reigning monarchs of mathcore. 

The weather outside is boiling, the venue working as a sanctuary from the blistering heat. The crowd, already sweaty, lacked any of the lethargy you would expect. Opening tonight was FRONTIERER, who managed to get the crowd moving from the moment they played their first note. Crowd surfers within a band’s first song is a rarity yet the band managed to get waves of people. The wall of sound they created hit hard in the way extreme metal should. Heavy and cathartic, it was the best way to bring an audience into a world of left field metal. From the heavy use of whammy pedals to extreme vocals, this is how you open an extreme metal show. 

Next on the bill was VOWER who occupy a space somewhere between post hardcore and post metal. Atmospheric guitars ringed while going into melodic hard-hitting riffs. They were the least extreme band on the bill but still held their own. Their set worked as a respite, while people still moshed and crowd surfed it felt as if the music was giving the audience a chance to breathe. The band has a fair few fans out in the audience with many of them singing along, being the only chance to do so tonight as the band have more traditional vocals. The band made sure the audience was relaxed and limber enough to survive the headliner tonight. 

The lights went down, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN took the stage ready to bring the audience into their world. Music fans from across the spectrum waited for the band, metalheads, prog nerds, punks, hardcore kids and anyone into music outside the mainstream. The first note of the first riff rang through the speakers, the strobe lighting started, within seconds the venue was in a dizzying frenzy of chaos. Every second of this set was important, a chance to have time with a band man thought they would never be able to see.

Tonight was also the first UK show that the band’s original frontman Dimitri Minakakis has played in the UK since 2000. The night was a celebration of the band but specifically their early years as many long time fans of the band never got to see Dimitri front the band. For a set so built on nostalgia the band did not rest on their laurels. They could just play the songs and people would go home happy, but they played everything with passion for their craft. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK37skWuOa8

The band are brutal live, almost unrelenting yet the unconventional beauty of their music shines through everything. They occupy space in many genres, they are impossible to classify sonically, but when they play they come across so strongly as a metalcore band. The best performance aspects of metal and hardcore come through them, the chaos, the moshing and even that specific walk hardcore musicians do across stage mid song. 

The band became one beast on stage, an organised chaos of sonic bliss. They challenged the audience to keep the same energy they have and built their reputation through live shows, and the night was one last chance to experience their live show. The audience never wain, they only receive everything with love. In a short set wrapping in at about an hour the band managed to play most of their important early tracks including their transformative APHEX TWIN cover. As the band brought the set to a close with %43 Burnt, the band pushed everything to the extreme one final time, seeing a guitarist jump from the venue's balcony into the crowd is proof of what the band is about. 

The Dillinger Escape Plan will put everything on the line to follow their vision of what music should be without any regard of what other people may think. They remain one of the most important bands outside the mainstream of music, even when they were away their influence was as strong as ever. This gig was a victory lap, another chance to celebrate their musical glory. 

Words: Will Freeman

Photos: Conrad Newton