The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman has recalled hitting a disruptive audience member in the face with his guitar during one of the band’s early shows.
Weinman says the man was “heckling and talking shit” throughout the set and then poured beer over his guitar pedals before he took action, aided by the band’s former singer Dimitri Minakakis.
Weinman tells Rolling Stone: “This guy kept fucking with me during our set for some reason, heckling me and talking shit. I was just trying to ignore him, but then he poured beer all over my pedals – I didn’t have much money, and they cost a lot to replace.
“So I slapped him in the face with the headstock of my guitar. I was like, ‘Come on, man, I just want to finish the set.’ But he kept motioning like he wanted me to come off the stage and fight him, so I told him to come up and get me.
“I swung my guitar like a baseball bat and caught him in the face. At the same time, our old singer Dimitri was twirling the microphone and hit him in the back of the head with it.
“The guy just grabbed his face and ran off the stage – the crowd just opened up for him, and he ran through them all the way out of the club, and we didn’t see him again. It was one of those things where, an hour later, we were like, ‘Did that really happen?’”
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In a feature that looks back on DEP’s craziest 10 gigs, Weinman also discusses frontman Greg Puciato famously defecating onstage at Reading 2002, which nearly got them banned from the UK.
The Dillinger Escape Plan’s latest album Dissociation is out now. Despite saying they would split after their touring commitments for the record come to an end, Weinman said recently that they could still release some music that was recorded for the Dissociation sessions but which didn’t make it onto the album.
The Dillinger Escape Plan are currently touring in North America, with dates to follow in the UK and Europe until March.
The Dillinger Escape Plan tour dates
Oct 17: Pontiac Crofoot Ballroom, MI
Oct 18: Cleveland House Of Blues, OH
Oct 19: Indianapolis Vogue, IN
Oct 20: Sauget Pop’s Nightclub, IL
Oct 21: Lawrence Granada, KS
Oct 22: Denver Marquid Theater, CO
Oct 23: Salt Lake City Urban Lounge, UT
Oct 25: Seattle El Corazon, WA
Oct 26: Portland Dante’s, OR
Oct 27: Berkeley UC Theatre, CA
Oct 28: San Diego Brick By Brick, CA
Oct 30: Los Angeles Regent, LA
Oct 31: Phoenix Marquee, AZ
Nov 01: El Paso Tricky Falls, TX
Nov 03: San Antonio Paper Tiger, TX
Nov 04: Dallas Trees, TX
Nov 05: Austin Sound On Sound Festival, TX
Nov 06: Houston White Oak Music Hall, TX
Nov 07: New Orleans Southport Hall, LA
Nov 09: Ft Lauderdale Revolution, FL
Nov 11: Atlanta Variety Playhouse, GA
Nov 13: Knoxville Concourse, TN
Nov 15: Philadelphia Union Transfer, PA
Nov 16: Boston Paradise Rock Club, MA
Nov 17: Burlington Club Metronome, MT
Nov 18: Huntington Paramount, NY
Nov 19: Hartford Webster, CT
Jan 18: Norwich Waterfront, UK
Jan 19: Glasgow QMU, UK
Jan 20: Manchester Academy 2, UK
Jan 21: Nottingham Rock City, UK
Jan 22: Birmingham The Institute, UK
Jan 23: Cardiff Tramshed, UK
Jan 25: London O2 Forum, UK
Jan 26: Brighton Concorde 2, UK
Jan 27: Tilburg 013, Netherlands
Jan 28: Amsterdam Melkweg, Netherlands
Jan 30: Hamburg Markthalle, Germany
Jan 31: Odense Muiskhuset Posten, Denmark
Feb 01: Arhus Voxhall, Denmark
Feb 02: Oslo Rockefeller, Norway
Feb 04: Helsinki Tavastia, Finland
Feb 05: Tampere Klubi, Finland
Feb 07: Stockholm Debaser Strand, Sweden
Feb 08: Gothenburg Pustervik, Sweden
Feb 09: Copenhagen Pumpehuset, Denmark
Feb 10: Berlin Columbia Theatre, Germany
Feb 11: Warsaw Stodola, Poland
Feb 12: Krakrow Kwadrat, Poland
Feb 14: Leipzig Conne Island, Germany
Feb 15: Prague Rock Cafe, Czech Republic
Feb 16: Vienna Szene, Austria
Feb 17: Budapest A38, Hungary
Feb 18: Zagreb Culture Factory, Croatia
Feb 20: Munich Backstage Halle, Germany
Feb 21: Lausanne Les Docks, Switzerland
Feb 22: Turin Hiroshima Mon Amour, Italy
Feb 23: Bologna Zona Roveri, Italy
Feb 24: Lyon L’Epicerie Moderne, France
Feb 25: Barcelona Apolo, Spain
Feb 26: Madrid Barcelo, Spain
Feb 28: Toulouse Le Bikini, France
Mar 01: Paris Le Trabendo, France
Mar 02: Strasbourg La Laiterie, France
Mar 03: Wiesbaden Schlachthof, France
Mar 04: Cologne Gloria, Germany
Mar 05: Brussels AB Ballroom, Belgium
Why have Dillinger Escape Plan really decided to call it quits?
