The Dillinger Escape Plan
with Darkest Hour and Animals as Leaders
By David Gerhard
With the release of their fourth Studio album entitled Option Paralysis. Which I’m guessing could be a dedication to Adam Doll. Dillinger has taken tour scheduling to a whole new level and are bringing Darkest Hour and Animals as Leaders along for the ride. In the past, this wild ride they commit them selves to  gives them a run for their money and most of all, gives the fans so much for theirs. With no state being overlooked, Dillinger loaded the trucks notified the world that they were back.
Animals as Leaders opened the show on a good note. These instrumentalists from Washington, know their tools very well. On the other hand, there was no vocals at all. Yet, Animals as Leaders played a solid 30 minute set. There range of their capabilities is very extensive and was shown on this night. Unfortunately, I and many others had a problem getting in to them. Animals as Leaders didn’t really fit with the crowd that came to see the headliner.
The crowed began to pick up and make their way to the front of the stage, to see Darkest Hour. Darkest Hour hit the stage with a vulgar announcement of thanks and a quickly expressed their need for a pit. They got just that but in a more tamed environment. They played a nice set and had dome great lyrics but I found very little to catch and hold my attention. There was just nothing new or unique about them. I’m sure that they would sound better on CD but live was a different experience. They played a song called Tide, off their recently released cd. This song was actually really good. They asked the crowd to sing along to one of their last songs of their set. Oddly enough, hardly any body sang along. They just kept banging their heads and dancing in the pit. They finished their set strong and gave thanks to the other bands and crowd.
The stage went black and the light show began. Their aggressive intentions were quickly absorbed in to the crowd. With a set list as unpredictable as they them selves are, the light show seemed to fit seamlessly in to the stage performance. Taking on many changes over the years has contributes to the greatest legacies in Mathcore/ new age hardcore punk. With the development of the the new record company properly named Party Smasher, in connection with Seasons of Mist, which is a well established record company out of France. This marked a new addition with the release of their fourth studio album, called Option Paralysis. Which took the crowd to a new level in and outside of the pit. They themselves couldn’t hold them selves back from all the energy their music holds. Feeling the motivation, Ben Weiman showed the crowd that he had the ability to hang upside down from the rafters and never miss a beat. Shortly there after, the newest member to the band, Jeff Tuttle flew off stage and began playing in the pit, until he found himself a new stage on top of one of the tables next to the merch counter. Oddly enough this was one of Dillinger Escape Plans more controlled shows. The Warped Tour is right around the corner here in Minnesota, so maybe we can see them light the stage on fire once again.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dillingerescapeplan
