CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE

How often does the overzealous music journo who drools over a band in a pre-tour puff-piece have to eat his grandiloquent words when reviewing the limp performance of said band? Probably quite often, especially if the scribe was a little bit “D’oh”– at least thick enough to review the live performance of the same band whose virtues he trumpeted a mere week ago. (If you didn’t know such a writer before, you do now).

From the very beginning it seemed like this could be a forgettable night. The crowd that gathered at the Palace seemed all too relaxed, just milling around drinking beer and chatting about the weather. The most garrulous of the spectators was a young man in a wheelchair who wasn’t too clear about who he was directing his random inebriated musings – at the band performing, his rather attractive female friends or just anyone within earshot. Apart from that, any smell of blood in the atmosphere was sadly absent.

The local openers – Five-Star Prison Cell certainly brought the noise but it was like tech-metal from a pulp-mill – monotonous and mechanical. When there were ambient passages, they built up to…well, more piston-pumping drumming and breakdown-heavy palm-muted riffing. Like writers, musicians must take their followers on a journey but like John Brumby’s proposed Pulp Mill in Tassie, the songs by Five-Star Prison Cell don’t seem to lead to anything of real value.

Colisuem on the other hand are a real powerhouse of a live band. The no-frills, pugilistic hardcore-punk started to loosen the limbs and clear the throats of those present – heads began to nod (those closer to the stage definitely banged), a few fists were raised in the air and an occasional “woohoo” or “fuck-yeah” was issued.

The night’s main attraction – The Dillinger Escape Plan strode out to noir-ish electronic drone, lights dimmed to elevate the tension. As light burst forth and the band hurtled into the chaotic Panasonic Youth there was once again, that inexplicable feeling of something absent– Greg Puciato seemed to have lost his voice and could only manage a hoarse echo of his customary psychotic tantrums – the sound was murky, a problem that plagued all the bands that played that night (although Coliseum seemed to rectify that midway through their set), and for music of such complexity to be recognisable and impacting the sound has to be absolutely pristine.

This writer was beginning to feel insecure about calling The Dillinger Escape Plan “an Incendiary live act” but Dillinger ploughed on – Puciato restlessly travelled the breadth of the stage, often delivering his harrowing prose from on top of the large speakers on the sides – Ben Wienman pirouetted like a violent Billy Elliot with a guitar, often losing himself in the crowd and then hastily clambering back on stage to partner the flailing Jeff Tuttle in lightspeed guitar tangents – even a horn section was brought on for a special rendition of Milk Lizard.

Somewhere between the vitriolic 43% burnt and the sinister falsetto of Black Bubblegum something clicked. It could’ve been the sound, it could’ve been Greg finding his voice hiding behind his bulging pectorals, or it could just have been a jaded scribe rediscovering his fondness for an awfully singular ‘mathcore’ band. Whatever it was, stifling ambience of the Palace turned electric – the danger was back. The closer – Sunshine the Werewolf was monumental – as Ben played out the ominous final strains standing statuesque on a speaker next to Gil Sharone who flayed the cowhide, Greg bellowed the refrain “DESTROYER!” only to have it screamed back at him with equal force. He responded by flinging the mike stand into the swirling mass before him. Jeff disappeared into this tide and re-emerged on top of the bar to play out the final notes and breathe in the high-voltage atmosphere – if he held a lightbulb in his hand, it would’ve glowed.

As the crowd filtered out, somewhat miffed at the lack of an encore, a music journo breathed a sigh of relief. You may know a scribe dim-witted enough to attempt to review a band he just sycophantically featured, but you don’t know one who had to go back on his word. Not yet anyway.

CHECK OUT RAJITH’S INTERVIEW WITH DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN HERE