Dillinger Four - First Avenue Live

Paddy Costello of Dillinger Four by Rebecca Reed

It was rare that I'd get drunker or have a better time than at a Dillinger Four show. As soundtracks to your twenties go, they were a good one. D4 played Baltimore once on my birthday, and, as you might imagine, if you're familiar with them, it was a total piss-up. I started drinking before doors opened, and didn't stop with kamikazes and Jameson until last call. Or so I've been told.

This was recorded at the height of the band's powers. As the story goes, Bad Brains was scheduled to play upstairs at First Avenue in Minneapolis the same night that Dillinger Four was playing downstairs at 7th St. Entry. H.R. called the club a few hours before doors and left a message stating that Bad Brains wouldn't be playing that night. That left a well-liquored D4 to entertain the hometown crowd. And entertain they did, ripping through 15 songs with some of my favorite stage banter ever.

I don't want to give anything away, but you will hear the H.R. message in its entirety. That's worth the price of admission.

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