The Dillinger Escape PlanMax Watt's is packed tonight in anticipation of the headliners. So five-piece Caligula's Horse are using the opportunity to gain some new fans. The post-metal outfit artfully blend abrasive heaviness with prog-rock melodies, and turn plenty of heads in the process before Dillinger do their thing.
The Dillinger Escape Plan have gotten to a point in their career where their reputation precedes them. Every single person in the club is anticipating blood or fire or something outrageous that speaks to their inner adolescent. So when the lads open with Prancer and Milk Lizard and the pit starts moving to the brilliantly angular math-rock mayhem that is Ben Weinman's guitar, everyone is expecting a little slice of madness. It stands to reason that music this chaotic would be accompanied by some kind of outlandish, foolish stunt, right? But tonight we get none of that. Nothing happens onstage that would send Beavis and/or Butt-head into a tizzy, apart from the music. As the band throw their attention back to 2004's Miss Machine record, the set offers up gem after gem. Whether it's Highway Robbery or Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants, the phenomenal Billy Rymer/Liam Wilson rhythm section means the crowd can still groove to what would just be indecipherable noise in a lesser band's hands. The pair anchor the set, so even when Weinman steals the show with his 43% Burnt and Panasonic Youth riffs, you're still marvelling at what Wilson and Rymer are capable of.
But perhaps the crowd is able to appreciate the musicality of the set more than they have before because they're not ducking from mic stands being hurled at them or worrying about catching a band member who has dropped from the ceiling.
In times past, the band — and vocalist Greg Puciato especially — have seemed like they've wanted to destroy something, or at the very least themselves, while they're onstage. Tonight it feels like they just want to get through the set. Of course it is one hell of a set, and their catalogue of music absolutely holds up aside from the antics that helped the band achieve infamy. But it does raise a question about whether this is the start of Dillinger transitioning from a gnarly force of nature — the kind of band that just had to be experienced live, the kind of band that made you marvel at the almost superhuman feats of craziness you were witnessing — into just another great band that shows up and plays the hits. The hits are great, but it feels weird walking away from a Dillinger Escape Plan show with only the songs to talk about.
