| "It's not how old I am... It's how old I feel. Take your time...Try not to forget... We never will... We're just a minor threat!" Ah, the eternally impassioned sage words spewed magically from Ian MacKaye's lips that roared cleanly from deep within his young lungs decades ago in that self-titled punk classic anthem shall never tire shall it? Certainly not now and with today's particularly disturbingly growing coalescing of homogenized power that seems bent on tightening the noose on the people steadily and incrementally so that it goes unnoticed, this emboldening message must not subside. Fortunately as foreshadowed by Ian in that song as well, Minor Threat was not the first nor the last as an ongoing international crop of mantle bearers continues to charge and champion this righteous message and cause for civil liberties and a better tomorrow derived from the choice of free will and collective action. |
 With a few gongs reminiscent of "Hells Bells" intro amidst growls from the bowels erupting around the burgeoning pack gathered in the delightfully inviting, low ceiling confines of LOFT, the latest transplants to Brooklyn's growing scene, EMOK hungrily unfurled their 30 minute banquet from the tiny stage. With a fierce resolve and a diligence to match it in leaving the greatest possible indelible mark on those present upon their final show showcasing their debut album 'in their inaugural tour of Japan alongside Dillinger and Candiria nights prior, they duly cemented their newest international foundation this night in ending the silence that would make Rollins, Morris, MacKaye, Smears, Biafra happily smile in approval of their honed ferocity. |
The equally intense, yet divergent styled tripartite gathered a few floors below the debauchery to be found on the streets of Tokyo's notorious red light Kabukicho district was an assortment of impassioned artists venting from their respective corners of the world. Although at first glance perhaps dismissed as an odd grouping, their unifying intensity perfectly exemplified MacKaye's legendary outcry to stay both relevant and purposeful in maximizing your resources at hand to combat all the toxins found in our global community. Choosing to more than just exist, EMOK, Melt-Banana and The Dillinger Escape Plan brought new meaning to the phrase "Stir it up" not only audience, but to each other alike. |
Duly bringing the noise front and center, EMOK's diligently shared maelstrom of reactivity between the forever kicking, schizophrenic discharging Itai (lead vocals/bass), the steadying, focused chord slashing by Ofer (vocals/guitar) and the omnipresent high-hat crashing amongst a pummeling of the skins by Liron (drums/percussion), cementing their latest foundation in getting things started. Unleashing their fire inside, they opened with the frantic stop-start calling of self-preservation that is "Dementia Praecox" upon a rather chilly reception. Undaunted, they followed their own advice and stuck to their guns, relentlessly barraging the chilly unfamiliar human interiors of LOFT to turn the tide and raise temperatures inside ending on the fitting swathing strength of "Bliss," letting their collective precision strikes meld together. Giving a true resonance to their embattled, impassioned homeland of Israel coupled from their DIY decision to see what they could get in their courageous move to the States, EMOK's landing a tour with the highly esteemed Dillinger Escape Plan was clearly celebrated this night. So far, so good as their obvious joy in changing the elements inside for the better rang supremely via Liron's diligent overtures, "Stick around for more...More! More! Give me some more!!!" As the fires inside swelled, he gladly stoked them more," You ready for some Dillinger Escape Plan? We want to thank them very much again for taking us along. Yeah, yeah, yeah and next is Melt-Banana!!!" |
| After such a rapturous response, the sonic interlude wedged between EMOK and Tokyo's avant-garde noisemaking legends Melt-Banana seemed at first ill-suited in its pace, but subconsciously it ramped matters up perfectly as the empowering message of Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" duly cranked post Liron's sets-end rallying cry. Brilliant as it foreshadowed the various ways of rebellion in music this night as the unfamiliarity of EMOK need not matter as their diligence and winning resolve warmed an at-first icy reception to a frenzied one by set's end, duly bringing the noise inside LOFT across the board into the uncompromising, but enigmatic means of the absolute schizophrenia embodied by Melt-Banana. |
Perhaps nothing written here could do Melt-Banana an equivalent justice as the present quiet building anticipation inside was suddenly and swiftly decimated from these unassuming, yet monumental veteran underground frenzied sonic sculptors as they perfectly continued the steady ascent to Dillinger's eminent and welcomed total annihilation of all within LOFT. For those unfamiliar, think of a Japanese version of vintage Laurie Anderson on speed with band mates on that same pulse and you can maybe just maybe start to get a feel for the immense, random, convoluted, yet beautifully seamed together music forged from their blender of sorts that not surprisingly won the heart and mind of the late great John Peel who awarded them his best band of 1998! A prestigious accolade that speaks volumes and was quickly and cleanly shown why this flattering was well-deserved as Peel must have been in the house as their form was spot on as they were thoroughly embraced as a pit remained constant throughout. With a no-nonsense downplayed attitude and minimal audience banter between, Melt-Banana pummeled their own rebellion into our collective psyche through their perfected thrash blend in a succinct 24 minutes set suitable for even the most plagued attention-deficit syndrome present. As the diminutive Rika smoothly went up and down the scales on her seemingly massive bass, a hay fever masked Agato railed off his emblematic, cutting revving chord progressions that somehow, amongst all the dissonance, rendered a confounding beauty. Sudoh Toshiaki drove his high-hat nearly into the floor with his repeated fast-paced abuses amidst equally fierce fills as vocalist Yasuko Onuki unleashed her crow-like shrieking alter ego with a deafening  reckless abandon. Opening with the spacey skanking "Wedge" straight into the bass-engine driven "Seesaw," this foursome brutally pushed each other nonstop as well as the moshing, crowd surfing peeps ensued as one wondered where did all these enlivened people come from that were in short supply for EMOK? Well, familiarity does breed an unbridled freedom and certainly this freedom village of sorts now duly mushroomed as the torches inside LOFT were wildly afire into Dillinger's final solution for a satisfying coalescing night of genre-cross pollination alliance in resistance.While some inside were clearly still not sure what happened to them thus far from the concentrated manic thrash of Melt-Banana following EMOK's sustained heavy world blend, Dillinger Escape Plan soon delivered their devastating maximum payload chiefly pulled from 2004's 'Miss Machine' for a final welcomed annihilation inside LOFT perhaps as envisioned from the outcome found for the aging in the sci-fi cult classic Logan's Run. Yet unlike that 70's classic, there was no true fatal end to us all as this triple bill topped by one of New Jersey's finest was just another resonating beginning bridge onto another for both artists and fans alike in fevered rebellion. |
Unlike other contemporaries that have carelessly become diluted by both success and experience over the years, DEP's famed contradicting technical, yet free flowing impassioned prowess has not only remained intact, but has somehow amazingly increased in power to mine and others relief this night especially. Clearly aware of the easy road to artistic implosion, Dillinger's ongoing studio vigilance continued to pay off live as both old and new material garnered relentless responses within LOFT's sweltering interiors as they collectively and individually lost themselves in their instrumentation combustion machine. Whether tearing through the new "Sunshine The Werewolf" or the old of "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things," the ever muscled and stage-possessed Greg Puciato (vocals) untiringly led his cohorts on their crusade as he took maximum advantage of LOFT's low ceilings and exposed pipes aligned perpendicularly above the stage as he took to them like monkey bars off the front monitors throughout coupled with his ricocheting off the padded walls side stage. Keeping pace with Greg's near incomprehensible body undulations, a slightly shaggy Ben Weinman (guitar) slashed back and forth from both monitors and walls as well, never standing still while the opposite could be said for Brian Benoit (guitar) as his steady rigid focus offered perhaps the only relief in this quintet's defying omnipresent movements. Chris Pennie crazily, yet cleanly showed his jazz/thrash/punk/metal prowess on his kit with and without headphones as a mustached Liam Wilson (bass) lunged heavily back and forth somehow finding a central tempo to the enveloping maelstrom inside as bodies flew about as hit by every note of theirs.
|
| As with the prior, banter between band and audience was sparse as Dillinger let their performance do all the talking and convincing in a most convincing manner once again. Their collective output was hungrily eaten up, chewed and spit back at them to their focused approval. Fittingly, this was no sedate country club as it had started, but a growing rally that appropriately ended with no encores. Dillinger's smorgasbord "43% Burnt" led to one final decimation for all to ponder upon their ensuing actions here on out as Greg calmly announced their departure upon its crisp finish, "We're The Dillinger Escape Plan. Thanks very much."
With such an invigorating blend of rebellion experienced in this mini Decline Of The Western Civilization in LOFT, Ian MacKaye can rest assured these outfits haven't lost his message: "Make do with what you have. See what you can get. Pay no mind to us. We're just a minor threat." Minor? Hardly. No attention to these three? Impossible. As they say, "All is not forgotten." report by michael and photo by keco |
| The photos featured here were taken on the 9th of March @ Shibuya Club Quattro. |
 mag files : The Dillinger Escape Plan A 10 Plus Year Gestation Of International Minor Threats Collectively Hit Tokyo : (05/03/10 @ Shinjuku Loft) : reviw by michael, photo by kecophoto report : (05/03/09 @ Shibuya Club Quattro) : photo by kecophoto report : (04/04/17 @ Namba HATCH) : photo by ikesanメタルは神の音楽 : (04/04/15 @ Shibuya O-East) : review nob, photo by ikesan |
|
The official site The Dillinger Escape Plan http://www.dillingerescapeplan.com/ The latest album  『Miss Machine』 ( 国内盤 / US Import with bonus DVD / US Import ) |
previous works
『Irony Is a Dead Scene』( US import / UK import ) 『Calculating Infinity』( 国内盤 / US import ) 『Under the Running Board』( US import ) 『Dillinger Escape Plan』( UK import / US import ) check the albums? |
 2005A 10 Plus Year Gestation Of International Minor Threats Collectively Hit Tokyo : The Dillinger Escape Plan with Melt-Banana and EMOK (10th Mar. '05 @ Shinjuku Loft) Filthy, Gorgeous And Utterly Magnifique In An Most Aptly Titled Venue... : Scissor Sisters (25th Feb. '05 @ Daikanyama Unit)An Inaugural Tokyo Come Together For Now And Forever... : The Delgados with Autour de Lucie(16th Feb. '05 @ Shibuya Club Quattro)Another Day, Another Earned... : Hatebreed (12th Feb. '05 @ Daikanyama Unit)You Can't Stop Thinking About Her...
: Rachael Yamagata (31st Jan. '05 @ Shibuya Club Quattro)2004Third Time More Than The Charm Elvis & His Imposters Walk Freely As A Local City-Smashing Legend Would : Elvis Costello (14th Dec. '04 @ Tokyo Koseinenkin Kaikan)FREEWHEELIN' IN THE EAST : Cat Power and Women & Children (2nd Jun. '04 @ Shinjuku Loft)Breaking From The Mold Of Bouncing Souls amp; Goldfinger : MEST and GOB (20th Jan. '04 @ Shibuya AX)2003An Easy Peaceful Feeling Made Possible In Central Tokyo : String Cheese Incident (13th Apr @ Shibuya AX)True Seafarers: Vast, Vibrant And Everpresent As Their Name Befits Are The Coral : The Coral (20th Apr @ Shinjuku Liquid Room)Far From Lost Is This Enchanted Wizard Of Rhythm : BECK (1st Apr @ Nihon Budokan)no title : Johnny Marr amp; The Healers (1st Mar @ Shinjuku Liquid Room)no title : Sonic Youth with Metalchicks (18th Feb @ Akasaka Blitz)no title : The Parkinsons with Beehive, Wakusei, and Jig Head (20th Jan @ Shinjuku Loft)no title : The Jeevas (14th Jan @ Shibuya AX) |