17 August 2025 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Tam Schilling
A little under eight years ago, one of the greatest live acts ever, called it quits. New Jersey mathcore titans, The Dillinger Escape Plan, are a band that have carved their names into the tree of metal. Fusing elements of metalcore, progressive and extreme metal, and even a little jazz chaoticness, they rose through the live scene as a band unmatched in passion and intensity. I was lucky enough to have been at the final Australian show in 2017. And once again, I got to see their other final Australian show, this time with vocalist Dimitri Minakakis and guitarist James Love joining Ben, Billy and Liam for one final run of shows, in honour of the 25th anniversary of their debut record, Calculating Infinity.
But before we got to Dillinger, we were treated to the genre bending, mind breaking duo, HO99O9. The New Jersey duo were a Covid find for me, and they blend an insane amount of styles into their music. There is punk, rap, industrial, metal, hardcore, doused in vibes of horrorcore, which for those that don’t know, use rap and hip hop as a vehicle to dive deep into dark and transgressive lyrics and imagery. They were even flanked on drums by Dillinger’s very own Billy Rymer, pulling double duty for the night. That man has to be a glutton for punishment.
HO99O9 – The Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
The set featured a lot of tracks from the band’s upcoming record, Tomorrow We Escape, which drops in early September. So a lot of the tracks I didn’t know, The one I did know though, was ‘Upside Down’, which was only released in June. The set was also broken up with old school tunes like ‘Father I Stretch My Hands’, ‘Mr Sandman’, ‘Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)’, and ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra. And having songs like that, break up 45 minutes of unrelenting chaos, felt like I was in several repeated car crashes from the whiplash. The set did close out though on ‘F.O.G. (Error)’ and ‘Godflesh’, and I really hope these lads come back soon.
As the lights dimmed for Dillinger, the track ‘*#..’ played over the speaks as red laser beams shot up from behind the amp stacks, as strobes on the stage went off. Rymer ran back onto stage to reassume the drumming duties, as Liam Wilson, James Love, Ben Weinman, and Dimitri Minakakis all made their way to the stage to a loud reaction. The barrage began with set opener ‘Sugar Coated Sour’. I’d seen the other sets run across Australia, and they were pretty much all the same. But Sour only opened one show, which was the second show in Melbourne. But I didn’t know exactly what was about to unfold.
The Dillinger Escape Plan – The Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
Minakakis thanked everyone for coming out, and that tonight was going to be the band’s final Australian show, seemingly confirming the band will be done after the reunion tour. They then dedicated ‘Clip the Apex… Accept Instruction’ to HO99O9. And then what happened next, has not happened on any Australian show so far. Eaddy from HO99O9 walked out as Dillinger played a cover of ‘Breathe’ by Prodigy, which has literally never been played before in their careers. It was one of the sickest things I’ve seen all week. They then pivoted into a cover of ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ by Crowded House, before getting back into the Calculating Infinity set, with ‘Destro’s Secret’.
The Dillinger Escape Plan – The Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
Minakakis then spoke again about it being the 25th anniversary tour of Calculating Infinity, and how cool it was to be back with the band playing these songs. ‘Sandbox Magician’ sent the crowd crazy, and ‘4th Grade Drop Out’ got a wicked extended drum solo outro. Rymer is only 40 years old, but I can confidently say he is a top five drummer of all time. The man has a level of power and precision that is almost unmatched by any drummer, ever. Absolute gun. ‘Abe the Cop’ and ‘Weekend Sex Change’ went hard, and ‘Variations on a Cocktail Dress’ even had Minakakis dancing on stage before getting really in his groove with moshing around on stage.
The Dillinger Escape Plan – The Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
Weinman then asked the crowd if they wanted something really old, before Minakakis told us we’re about to hit the way back machine, which brought us to ‘Monticello’. ‘Monticello’ is a track from the very first Dillinger EP all the way back in 1997, so to hear a super deep cut, in a set of nothing but deep cuts, was so special. Minakakis asked if there were any Jim’s in the crowd as ‘Jim Fear’ played, and Minakakis spoke one final time, telling everyone how appreciative he was to people coming out and spending time and money on their band. A final cover for the night, with ‘Come to Daddy’ by Aphex Twin, before closing down on ‘43% Burnt’, with Weinman crowdsurfing while the band played the outro one final time. Dilllinger has been a special band to me for over 20 years. And experiencing Dimitri was something I never thought would happen. I cannot express in words how grateful I am it happened.
