Back in the summer of 2000, I had the privilege of watching Deftones play for a total of three people, rehearsing their entire White Pony tour set in their Sacramento HQ. With Chino Moreno running up and down a half pipe skate ramp, and drummer Abe Cunningham playing so hard that his hands were dripping blood onto his snare drum skin, the quintet performed like they were headlining a stadium, their commitment undeniable.
Sadly, at times, over the ensuing years, it felt like too many of the band had lost their passion for the music, and were merely going through the motions on-stage, numbed by chemicals and boredom, which has made their late-career renaissance all the more special. Tonight, ahead of a searing Rocket Skates, Chino Moreno looks out at the 50,000 fans gathered in front of his band at their biggest-ever UK headline show, and utters two words, “Holy shit!” It’s a sweet little moment which perfectly captures how much this means to the alt. metal legends in 2026, and just how far they’ve come since the turn of the century, negotiating the ups and downs of their storied career.
It’s hard to imagine that Deafheaven or Wisp would be here today were it not for Deftones, and their mastery of dream-to-nightmare dynamics. Both San Francisco acts sound glorious today.
Playing on the North Arena stage, George Clarke’s triple-guitar collective only have 40 minutes to pulverise the audience into submission, but blackgaze’s own Lynyrd Skynyrd do so magnificently with Lonely People With Power highlights Doberman and Magnolia, and Sunbather-era classic Dream House, introduced coyly by Clarke as “a song you might know.” Ahead of a closing Winona the band’s frontman promises that his crew will have new music to play the next time they’re in the UK, which earns the biggest cheer of their set.
Nu gaze star Natalie Lu aka Wisp is a very modern success story. Lu was just 18, a Computer Science student at San Francisco State University when she was offered a record deal by Interscope three years ago on the strength of viral TikTok ‘hit’ Your Face, a song she crafted in her bedroom over an instrumental purchased online from producer, Grayskies. But having already headlined Red Rocks Amphitheater and played two nights at Summersonic festival in Japan earlier this month, she’s a captivating presence on the site’s West Stage. The ‘stained glass’ church backdrop accentuates Wisp’s heavenly sound, and just over a year since the release of her debut album If Not Winter, songs such as Save Me Now and Guide Light already sound like classics of the genre.
Another rising star, Ecca Vandal pulls a huge crowd for her late evening set on the X stage. Last August, this writer saw the Melbourne-based singer blow away a London crowd at the 150-capacity Sebright Arms less than a mile away, and it’s clear that her popularity has soared since then, doubtless helped by tours with Deftones and Limp Bizkit. The likes of Came Here For The Loot, Bleed But Never Die and Cruising To Self Soothe from Looking For People To Unfollow will doubtless put Vandal on bigger stages this time next year.
It’s wild that Ecca Vandal can pull a significantly bigger crowd than AFI, but to their credit, the Ukiah, Californian veterans (who are also doomed to clash with Japanese DJ sensation Yousuke Yukimatsu) throw everything into a full-blooded set. Opening with the killer one-two of Girl’s Not Grey and Love Like Winter is a smart move, but you can’t help but feel for Davey Havok’s crew when Marguerite and Behind the Clock from last year’s Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… are greeted with so little reaction that the band might as well be playing with the PA turned off. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with either song, albeit that, respectively, they sound like ’80s b-sides from The Cult and Bauhaus. Still, a respectable crowd and whirling pits greet singalong closers Silver And Cold and Miss Murder, ending the set on a high.
Amyl and The Sniffers are, as ever, as subtle as a punch in the face, and that’s why they’re such a fabulous live band. Potty-mouthed dynamo Amy Taylor stomps around like she owns east London, and absolutely no-one would dare tell her that she doesn’t. The filthy dust kicked up from the scorched earth as U Should Not Be Doing That, Tiny Bikini, Jerkin’ and Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled) are smashed out by a band who channel both AC/DC and The Stooges is quite something to behold. Subtlety can wait.
Deftones, of course, can do subtle better than almost anyone, but opening their 90-minute headline set with a thrilling Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away), a song older than most ticket-holders here today, is a fabulous reminder of how they electrified the metal scene in the late ’90s. Based purely on a non-scientific T-shirt count throughout the day, Around The Fur is the Deftones album of choice for the discerning All Points East Presents Outbreak attendeee, so pulling out the title track as song two is a masterstroke. From here on in, the Sacramento crew can do no wrong.
I’ve been at Deftones gigs for just under 30 years now, and I genuinely don’t think they’ve ever played better than they do right now. The fact that there are no fewer than four songs from last year’s Private Music album on today’s setlist – including the superb Milk Of The Madonna – is an indication that this is no mere nostalgic act, but it’s hard to begrudge wildly excitable Gen Z fans the joy of seeing their heroes play the likes of Feiticeira or an indecently thrilling Rocket Skates beneath a bright Waxing Gibbous moon.
A lot of credit for Deftones’ current revival must go to Chino Moreno. At times, watching the show’s excellent visuals, you’d swear that they’re utilising footage of the singer from 20 years ago, such is his energy and enthusiasm. During Change (In the House of Flies) the singer’s silhouette is shown backlit by red light and it’s both beautiful and rather moving.
It must be heartening too for Deftones that their diverse and varied audience can find their own personal favourites amid their expansive back catalogue. The creation of Saturday Night Wrist twenty years ago was a far from pleasant experience for the band members, but the roar which goes up as the opening notes of Gen Z favourite Cherry Waves ring around Victoria Park to usher in tonight’s three song encore must go a long way to putting a positive spin on bad memories. The group exit with Seven Words, the fiercest, angriest song on their Adrenaline debut, and tonight it seems like the most exultant victory song, an anthem of deliverance from troubled times. Deftones have earned their triumphs, but nights like this show they’re taking nothing for granted.
