You can cut through Deftones’ discography like a tree stump and count the rings of 90s genres. Alt-rock, grunge, stoner metal, indie-rock, pop-punk, shoegaze, emo: they’re all there. However, they were also very much progenitors of what came next – where metal went, and where it arguably has been ever since.
These progenitors brought metal back to the stadiums, made metal gigs a circus-like, theatrical event again; eschewed understated aesthetics but kept the impact. Sad, angsty anthems played with big, heavy, full guitar sounds. It’s no wonder then, that Deftones seem so at home in front of a sold-out arena crowd, drowned out by their own lyrics; hidden by a dazzling light show, running up stage fittings and climbing on the monitors. The arena has always been their home.
In true showman form, the band played solidly for two hours, never stopping for breath, and with vocalist Chino Moreno sweating through shirt after shirt as he leapt up a staircase to be illuminated by a burning orange sun projected behind the drums, just as the chorus riff exploded back to the delight of the crowd.
Across a sea of heads from my viewpoint near the back, crowdsurfers bobbed along the horizon and were deposited at the band’s feet as offerings. The band themselves worked tirelessly through a huge setlist of tracks, which spanned the breadth of their career, including cuts from last year’s Private Music, celebrated as reminiscent of the band’s prime. Still: standing there among heaving bodies, hearing that timeless metal sound, deaf among a sea of fans attempting to be louder than an industrial PA, you’d be forgiven for thinking that, here today, perhaps this is the band at their prime.
The lasting appeal of this group is tangible. This show loomed over Cardiff and its thriving metal scene like a big black cloud – which evidently burst as the evening rolled round, soaking through the hordes of undeterred goth visitors to the city. Deftones belong to a prestigious group of metal acts who’ve enjoyed brand new, TikTok-spurred success, which often turn gigs from older metal bands into a hard split between battle-hardened beer-swilling dads who saw the band on tour 30 years ago, and shiny new neo-goths taking full advantage of a 14+ entry. I was pleasantly surprised to find the show had one of the smoothest age gradients I’d ever seen, with folks of all ages showing up, laughing, and singing together.
It’s a testament to the wide appeal of the band, to a sound which still feels fresh, to their own presence in the DNA of more recent, nichebusting metal bands. To be around such dedicated fans, shouting themselves hoarse to a lyric from a song which they may remember from 30 years ago or three months, and love all the same is unifying – which can’t always be said when a band has members in their fifties. Deftones are still well worth their sell-out arena crowds, and still sound like they belong with their name on the big tent.
Deftones, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Wed 18 Feb
words JASON MACHLAB photos CLEMENTE RUIZ
