Greg Puciato wrapped up his first solo headlining tour at The El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles last week. Best known as the high-flying, fire-breathing frontman of The Dillinger Escape Plan (R.I.P.), Puciato’s post-DEP output has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Releasing music with his electronic project The Black Queen, his heavy metal supergroup Killer Be Killed, touring and recording an album with Jerry Cantrell’s band, and recently dropping two stellar solo records, 2020’s Child Soldier: Creator of God and last year’s brilliant, Mirrorcell… on his own record label: Federal Prisoner. Oh yeah, and he’s in another brand-new metal/hardcore supergroup, Better Lovers, with fellas from Every Time I Die and Fit For An Autopsy. This tour-culminating gig in Los Angeles was a celebration of Puciato’s insane solo works and featured a ton of friends and special guests.

The madcap moshers in Escuela Grind got the crowd pumped with their zany brand of Hatebreed-meet-blast-beats style grindcore. The buzz this band have generated in recent years is well-deserved. Nobody performs catchier, extreme bursts of power violence, or rocks a stage with manic energy, like Escuela Grind. Their frontwoman, Katerina Economou, commands the stage like she’s possessed by some kind of heavy metal twerk demon. If you like loud, crazy music and aren’t allergic to fun, be sure to catch Escuela Grind next time these road dogs storm through your town!

After close to 20 years of listening to Greg Puciato shriek and wail in clubs, theaters, and outdoor festivals alike, this author can assuredly say that Greg’s voice has never sounded better than it did at the El Rey this night. He launched his set with Mirrorcell’s opening track, “In This Hell You Find Yourself,” and spent the next hour and a half blowing the audience’s mind.

Some might find it surprising that the man who sounded like he gargled venom on Dillinger’s “Limerent Death” would go on to sing such a soaring, anthemic chorus on 2022’s “Lowered,” one of the most arm-hair-raising tunes in recent memory. But anyone who’s followed Puciato’s career should know that anything is possible when he gets behind the microphone.

With his band in lockstep unison behind him, Puciato sang his heart out all evening and occasionally screamed mightier than his fire-breathing days of the past. As a special treat at the end of his set, he brought out guests from bands like A Perfect Circle, Converge, his Jerry Cantrell bandmates, and more, to jam onstage before ending the night with a surprising but oh-so-appreciated cover of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s “One Of Us Is The Killer.” This was an amazing night that further cements Greg Puciato’s status as an iconic voice in the realm of underground music.

                                                                                                                            Greg Puciato

                                                                                                                           Escuela Grind