BEN WEINMAN Reflects On THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN’s Unexpected Reunion: “It Ended Up Selling Out Three Nights In, Like, An Hour”

When The Dillinger Escape Plan took their final bow in New York back in 2017, it was a fitting conclusion to a groundbreaking run. The band had celebrated all they had accomplished, and from there, each member ventured off – some into new musical territories, others into entirely different fields.

Fast forward to June 2024, and the band was back, this time with original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis front and center. The reunion shows, honoring their debut album Calculating Infinity, caught fans off guard in the best possible way. More performances soon followed, and the excitement surrounding their return has only grown.

But as guitarist Ben Weinman revealed in an interview with Metal Roos, the reunion wasn’t born out of some long-planned comeback. In fact, quite the opposite.

“Well, we hadn’t had any thoughts of doing any kind of shows since the last shows. And then we had gotten an offer to do a special festival [appearance] doing our first album with our original singer. And it just wasn’t really the right time. We could never be ready in time. And it was, like, ‘Yeah, we never really thought about it. But, yeah, that was a cool thought.'”

It wasn’t until a later chat with their booking agent that the idea really took hold.

“And then I was talking to our booking agent. I was just letting him know. I was, like, ‘Yeah, my buddy reached out to me about headlining their festival doing this thing. That’s pretty funny.’ And then he’s, like, ‘Well, next year is the 25th anniversary of that album. So if you were gonna do something, that would definitely be cool.’ I was, like, ‘Hmm, it’d be cool.'”

For Weinman, the chance to perform again with Minakakis had long been on his mind.

“And I definitely wanted to do some stuff with our old singer. He’s still one of my best friends, and he never really got to really see the band in its full success and stuff like that. So, yeah, it just ended up making sense.”

As for what the reunion setlist looks like, Weinman shared: “We’re doing these shows with our original singer, who wasn’t on the majority of our catalog. He did our first two EPs and our first full-length. So we’re really just doing the entire first album — we’re doing Calculating Infinity in its entirety — and then the EP before that in its entirety and then cuts from the first EP plus maybe a cover. It’s really just kind of old stuff, but it still feels fresh. It definitely still feels fresh.”

And what’s the vibe like within this version of Dillinger? According to Weinman: “We didn’t break up because we were fighting, but it was, like, we definitely were tired and we definitely felt like we saw it through. And then we left and didn’t hang out too much or talk too much. Dimitri and I continued to always be friends and talk and hang out and stuff. And then when we started getting together to rehearse, it was just so positive and fun.”

He added: “I think when you’re doing something after many years that you don’t feel like you have to do it and you’ve just grown and matured and moved on in life and we’ve had kids and we’ve had all kinds of things happen that just really shape you, which a lot of band guys don’t get to do for a very long time ’cause they’re just stuck in this cycle of a teenager forever.”

“So I think just still feeling hungry and fresh and excited by this music, but having a little more maturity to just really appreciate each other and appreciate the opportunities has made it super fun and enjoyable. Really, really cool. Really fun. We’re just having a great time.”