The Dillinger Escape Plan began their brief reunion at the new West Coast festival No Values (where they brought out Jello Biafra for the Dead Kennedys’ “California Über Alles” and Suicidal Tendencies’ Mike Muir to cover the Minor Threat version of “12XU”), and this past weekend they came to NYC’s Brooklyn Paramount for three shows: Friday (6/21) with Car Bomb and Candy, Saturday (6/22) with The Callous Daoboys and Deadguy, and Sunday (6/23) with all four of those bands. String quartet Seven)Suns, who have collaborated with DEP and have an orchestral tribute album to DEP’s 2013 LP One of Us is the Killer, also played brief sets of Dillinger covers before Dillinger went on at nights 1 and 2.
The reunion is in celebration of the 25th anniversary of DEP’s 1999 debut album Calculating Infinity, and they found DEP performing every song from Calculating Infinity (not in order), plus all of 1998’s Under the Running Board EP and a chunk of their 1997 self-titled EP. They’re also the band’s first full shows with lead vocalist Dimitri Minakakis since he left the band in 2001, and the lineup for this reunion is rounded out by founding guitarist Ben Weinman, guitarist James Love, bassist Liam Wilson, and drummer Billy Rymer.
At Sunday’s five-band show, The Callous Daoboys opened to an impressively large crowd for a 6pm Sunday set, followed by an equally great set by the long-running Car Bomb. Both bands are obviously indebted to Dillinger, and they were followed by a newer band signed to Dillinger and Car Bomb’s former label Relapse, Candy. Candy not only rep the shouty hardcore side of Dillinger (complete with two members in Madball shirts for the NYC show), they also experiment with non-traditional beats behind their hardcore, especially on their new industrial-tinged album It’s Inside You whose songs were some of the highlights of their set.
The last opener was the recently-reunited Deadguy, and it was amazing to see the fellow NJ band right into Dillinger because of how obvious Deadguy’s influence became on the early Dillinger material that was exclusively played at this show. They played a lot of that classic material at the show, plus some of the new material they’ve been playing since reuniting (including a song called “Barn Burner”) and covered Black Flag’s “Police Story” (“I apologize in advance for fucking up the lyrics,” Tim Singer said). It was the perfect cover to bring the history of this multi-generational hardcore show back even further, and not the only time Henry Rollins was covered at this show. Dillinger–who later said what an honor it was to play with Deadguy and what an influence they were–did a Rollins Band song during their set, making that two bands paying respect to a person who made the entire show possible. (Not to mention Dillinger did two Minor Threat songs the previous night… more on that soon.)
After the four openers finished, it started to become clear that there was an even more elaborate stage setup behind a curtain, and that is an understatement. The curtain opened to reveal the drums on top of a stage-length riser at the back of the stage that the other members (or at least Ben) also climbed on to at times. The light show was amazing and massive, and included a moving and changing trippy hologram-like thing in the middle of the stage.
Like any good hardcore vocalist presented with a big stage and barrier, Dimitri Minakakis spent much of the show down in the photo pit singing into the crowd up against the barrier. And for the best magic trick of the night, at one point started a song on a riser in the back of the crowd near the soundboard where he stayed the entire song before being led though the whole crowd — still singing — back to the stage. To end the show, as he was known to do back in the day, Dimitri held a burning stick and blew fire from his mouth.
Dillinger’s classic material still holds up and sounds as fresh today as it did in 1999, and the band still look and sound incredible while playing it, blowing minds with their progressive, mathy riffs and drumming while Dimitri’s shouts pierce your soul. Throw in the visuals and a huge crowd going crazy, it was sensory overload in the best possible way. In addition to their classic original material, Dillinger performed their classic cover cover of Aphex Twin’s “Come to Daddy” from their 2002 EP with Mike Patton on vocals, Irony Is a Dead Scene, at all three shows. Night two also got the “12XU” cover, plus a cover of Minor Threat’s “In My Eyes” (which, according to Setlist.fm, DEP had never covered before), and night three got the aforementioned cover of Rollins Band’s “Tearing” (also a live debut).
The photos in this post are from night one, by Mathieu Bredeau. More pics, fan-shot videos, and the setlists from all nights below.
DEP’s next and only other currently-announced show is at Chicago’s Salt Shed Outdoors on August 24 with Trash Talk, Secret Chiefs 3, The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, and No Men.













































SETLISTS (via)
Night 1
*#.. (played over PA)
Destro’s Secret
Sandbox Magician
The Running Board
The Mullet Burden
Weekend Sex Change (First time since 2017)
Variations on a Cocktail Dress (First time since 2011)
Sugar Coated Sour
4th Grade Dropout (First time since 2004)
Proceed With Caution
I Love Secret Agents
Calculating Infinity (First time since 2017) (Dimitri heads to Front of House)
Jim Fear (First time since 2017) (Dimitri @ Front of House))
Come to Daddy (Aphex Twin cover) (First time since 2017) (Dimitri Heads back to Stage)
Monticello
Clip the Apex… Accept Instruction (First time since 2006) (Van Damsel Outro)
43% Burnt
Night 2
*#.. (played over PA)
Sugar Coated Sour
The Running Board
Sandbox Magician
The Mullet Burden
Abe the Cop
1 2 X U (Wire cover) (Minor Threat version)
In My Eyes (Minor Threat cover) (Live debut by TDEP)
Weekend Sex Change
Variations on a Cocktail Dress
Destro’s Secret
4th Grade Dropout
Proceed With Caution
I Love Secret Agents
Cleopatra’s Sling (First time since 2001)
Clip the Apex… Accept Instruction
Calculating Infinity (Dimitri heads to Front of House)
Jim Fear (Dimitri at Front of House)
Come to Daddy (Aphex Twin cover) (Dimitri heads back to stage)
43% Burnt
Night 3
*#.. (played over PA)
The Running Board
The Mullet Burden
Clip the Apex… Accept Instruction
Calculating Infinity (Dimitri heads to Front of House)
Jim Fear (Dimitri at Front of House)
Come to Daddy (Aphex Twin cover) (Dimitri heads back to stage)
Sugar Coated Sour
Tearing (Rollins Band cover) (Live debut by TDEP)
Weekend Sex Change
Variations on a Cocktail Dress
Destro’s Secret
4th Grade Dropout
Proceed With Caution
I Love Secret Agents (Not on written setlist)
Caffeine (First time since 2000)
Three for Flinching (Revenge of the Porno Clowns) (First time since 2001)
Sandbox Magician
43% Burnt