Dillinger Escape Plan

with guests AKANAME and STRANGERS
** ALL AGES

It has been said that rock music in the present day straddles the lines between convention and comfort; never straying too far from the oft-traveled and all-too-familiar path that grants a small handful of lucky stars their chance to reach superstardom.

The Dillinger Escape Plan are an act that reject that philosophy with an impassioned fury befitting their music.

Formed in New Jersey in 1997; the band quickly developed a following in the Eastern US hardcore scene, with the fervour over their explosive live shows and manic song delivery reaching breaking point by the time they released the Under The Running Board EP in 1999. The EP was well received, and showcased the early murmurings of an outfit whose songs were as technically proficient as they were explosive and pummeling. It was, however, their first full-length release – 1999's Calculating Infinity - that catapulted the band to the top of the global extreme underground and within ears' reach of a mainstream rock market in dire need of a shake-up in its orthodoxy. Laden with bizarre time signatures and passages of complete sonic chaos, the album was musically light years ahead of anything else the most virtuoso hardcore or metal band had to offer at the time, let alone anything being played on the music-by-numbers world of MTV and syndicated radio. The wider industry was quick to take notice, and by the end of the albums touring life the band had performed with the likes of System of a Down and Tool in addition to playing in every major touring market in the world.

Following the departure of vocalist Dimitri Minakakis in late 2001, former Faith No More and current Tomahawk/Fantomas vocalist Mike Patton took up temporary vocal duties on the experimental four track EP Irony is a Dead Scene. The EP, which maintained the bands established signature sound while exploring elements of dance music and trip hop, was well-received by underground and mainstream music press alike, and helped pave the way for a nationwide search to select the bands new long term vocalist. Eventually, Greg Puciato was handed the reins, and the band proceeded to record and release 2004's Miss Machine. Spawning the singles Panasonic Youth and Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants, the album consolidated the bands unique position atop the crossroads of the underground and mainstream music spheres.

Now in 2008, The Dillinger Escape Plan will finally bring their explosive musical cocktail to New Zealand for the very first time. Touring in support of their latest mindbending smorgasbord Ire Works, an album that continues their unconventional songwriting and ambitious experimentalism with a massive variety of converging styles, the band will perform at Auckland's Transmission Room on Wednesday May 21st. Tickets are strictly limited with the event expected to sell out quickly.