DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN FORCED TO CANCEL SHOWS ON “GIGANTOUR” DUE TO GUITARIST’S ARM INJURY; ANTHRAX JOINS TOUR SEPTEMBER 6

DATE:            AUGUST 30, 2005

FROM :          TODD BRODGINSKI/KRISTINE ASHTON-MAGNUSON/

MITCH SCHNEIDER

DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN FORCED TO CANCEL
 

SHOWS ON "GIGANTOUR" DUE TO GUITARIST'S ARM INJURY;

ANTHRAX JOINS TOUR SEPTEMBER 6

            GIGANTOUR–the traveling hard rock festival founded by MEGADETH frontman DAVE MUSTAINE–has announced that DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN were forced to pull out of the tour because of an injury to guitarist BEN WEINMAN.  WEINMAN severely re-injured his arm Sunday night (having originally injured it several months ago) during the tour's stop in Atlantic City, NJ and was told by a specialist yesterday that he will be unable to perform until further notice.

MUSTAINE–who suffered a nearly career-ending arm injury several years ago–said, "We really respect and enjoyed Dillinger Escape Plan–and will miss them. Meanwhile, I personally hope that Ben has a successful and speedy recovery."  Weinman commented, "We were enjoying playing every night as part of Gigantour, and to not be able to finish the tour is an enormous disappointment to us."

In its first year, "GIGANTOUR" features like-minded heavy rock bands with a focus on musicianship including DREAM THEATER, FEAR FACTORY and NEVERMORE on the main stage.  Gracing the second stage are LIFE OF AGONY, SYMPHONY X, DRY KILL LOGIC and BOBAFLEX, with tickets being kept at fan-friendly prices in the $40 range.  In a recent live review of the tour, Erik Hamilton of the Orange County Register said, "…So it does a heart good to see Mustaine able to buck the chameleon trend of rock and stay firm to his ideals, keeping the music the priority and not the image" (7/26/05).

As previously announced, the recently reunited ANTHRAX will replace DREAM THEATER for the September 6-11 shows.

The in-progress tour dates are below:

Date                            City                                         Venue

Tues    8/30                Buffalo, NY                             Darien Lakes

                                                                                    Amphitheatre

Wed    8/31                Huntington, WV                    Big Sandy Superstore

                                                                                    Arena

Fri       9/2                   Montreal, PQ                         Bell Centre

Sat      9/3                   Toronto, ONT                        Molson Amphitheatre

Tue      9/6                   Edmonton, AB                     Shaw Conference Centre

Wed    9/7                   Calgary, AB                           Stampede Corral

Fri       9/9                   Vancouver, BC                     PNE Coliseum

Sat      9/10                Seattle, WA                         White River Amphitheatre

Sun     9/11                Portland, OR                        Clark County Amphitheatre

MSO Contacts:
818-380-0400

Todd Brodginski                             toddb@msopr.com             ext. 239

Kristine Ashton-Magnuson            kashton@msopr.com         ext. 233

Mitch Schneider                             mschneider@msopr.com    ext. 235

Amanda Hale (tour press)             ahale@msopr.com             ext. 238

Dillinger Escape Plan Contact:

Carl Schultz                            carl@relapse.com                610.734.1000 ext. 103

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