The Dillinger Escape Plan, Tardive Dyskinesia and more at Gagarin205 (2010)

Gagarin205 (Athens, Greece)

The Dillinger Escape Plan, Tardive Dyskinesia, Seamyside

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN are considered as the "pioneers" in the mathcore genre and are […]

By Panos Pagonopoulos

• November 13, 2010

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN are considered as the "pioneers" in the mathcore genre and are also well known for their impressive live performances. Unfortunately, up until now they had never come to Greece… But at last this highly anticipated moment has come for their Greek fans to watch them live, in the date of their 2010 European tour, in Athens!

The first supporting act was SEAMYSIDE, a hardcore band from Germany. Hardcore is one of the really few Metal genres that I don't like and so, their music was not really my cup of tea. At that time, Gagarin205 was half empty and that didn't help much the band which performed in front of an almost static audience.SEAMYSIDE tried their best and were very energetic especially the singer who was always jumping and running up and down the stage. Around me I could see some fans, like myself, that didn't really like their performance and music, but on the other hand I could see others that enjoyed and liked it and were supportive. In the end the band won the applause of the audience and even from the fans that didn't really like their music.

Second to go were TARDIVE DYSKINESIA from Greece. I could characterize their music as mathcore focusing entirely on the Death Metal side of the genre. More and more fans were coming in Gagarin205, which ended up almost full but not crowded.TARDIVE DYSKINESIA is a very good band well known not only in Greece but also in the rest of Europe having toured recently supporting PRO-PAIN. In their 40 minute set they put on a solid and energetic performance playing songs from their 2 albums and managed to warm up the fans for good. Many fans knew the songs of the band and i think that everyone enjoyed their very good live performance and in the end they deservedly won the warm applause of the whole audience.

After a short break at around 23:20 it was time for what everyone was waiting for! THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN took the stage opening their set with "Farewell, Mona Lisa" from their great latest album "Option Paralysis" and continued non stop with another 2 songs. The sound in the first half of the opener was really messed up, but fortunately it was corrected in a good level throughout the live but certainly it could have been a bit better. In the 3rd song "Milk Lizard" a fan climbed up to the stage and dived back again to crowd, something that was going to continue from time to time throughout the whole set with many fans getting on for some stage diving. The fans were from the beginning full of enthusiasm, with endless headbanging, much crowd surfing and enjoying every second! As for the band …well what I can I say? It's really hard to describe how energetic, passionate and crazy these guys are. From the beginning till the end of their performance they were moving all around the stage climbing in amps, sound boxes and everything else there was around and were really interactive with the fans especially in the front rows. And of course they performed their songs with perfection. Really impressive performance from all the members of the band! One of the best moments for myself and for the majority of the fans was the wonderful "Widower" with the fans singing along the lyrics. Their set temporarily ended with "Sunshine The Werewolf" which gave us another great moment with Greg Puciato going inside the arena for some time singing with the fans.

In the usual encore THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN gave us another 5, fan favorites, songs such as "Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants", "Panasonic Youth" and "43% Burnt" and the reactions from the fans were better than ever. Endless stage diving, crowd surfing, headbanging and of course in the end the band left the stage under a thunderous applause!

What we witnessed was a magnificent live performance and certainly that was a gig to remember. I can say without hesitation that this is among the best live events in Greece this year. Everyone left Gagarin 205 smiling full of happiness. Can't wait to watch them live again.

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN setlist: