The Dillinger Escape Plan's First Reading Festival Performance (partially found concert footage; 2002)
The Dillinger Escape Plan were a mathcore band based in Morris Plains, New Jersey. They are well known for their outrageous and often destructive live performances.
Out of their multiple performances and tours, one show stands out as among the most shocking in rock history. Their first performance at England’s Reading Festival in 2002 made national headlines when in the middle of the show, vocalist/frontman Greg Puciato defecated in full view on-stage, put it in a paper bag (some accounts say he did it in a towel) and threw it into the audience before smearing the rest on himself. He was quoted as saying, “This is a bag of shit. I just thought I’d show this to you, so you’ll recognize it later on in the day,” referring to the quality of the music at the festival and the bands that were on before them. While their show was regarded as one of the best Reading performances of the decade, it nearly resulted in TDEP being banned in the UK for violation of public decency laws.[1] Puciato gave an interview for their performance at Reading 2016 retelling the story.
At least part of the performance was broadcast on the British terrestrial television channel ITV2 as part of their coverage of Reading 2002.[2] One video from the set is available on YouTube but it's unknown if the rest of the set was recorded or just this one song was broadcast as part of highlights.[3] Guitarist Ben Weinman also implies that there is an audio recording of the show which includes Puciato gagging as he sang but this has also not surfaced.
References
- ↑ Rolling Stone article on The Dillinger Escape Plan’s 10 craziest shows. Retrieved 28 Mar '20
- ↑ Tweet referencing the ITV2 broadcast. Retrieved 28 Mar '20
- ↑ Live recording of The Dillinger Escape Plan's single Sugar Coated Sour. Retrieved 28 Mar '20