Sacramento legends Deftones deliver a masterclass in one of England’s most unique venues.
“This is the first time we’ve been to England in a long time,” says Deftones frontman Chino Moreno at one point tonight, sizing up the threshing masses in front of him. “It feels glorious.”
Clearly, these are not the utterances of a singer operating on crowd-pleasing auto-pilot. After all, you just have to look at the magnificent venue he is surveying as he says it. Welcome to The Piece Hall in Halifax, a resplendent Grade I listed building which proudly declares itself as “the only remaining Georgian cloth hall in the world”. Built in 1779, it is an open-air plaza fenced in by spires, grand arches, multi-level wrap-around balconies and more. Were it not for the food stalls and giant stage, you sense you would be more likely to bump into Marcus Aurelius scribbling his latest meditation in these environs than Sacramento’s finest. And that’s exactly why it feels so special.
Deftones are in a sweet spot right now. There is no current album to tour. Likewise, any new music they may or may not have up their sleeves is not ready for public exhibition. So it comes to pass that this warm-up for their biggest ever UK headline show at Crystal Palace this coming Sunday gives them free rein with their revered, hugely influential discography. In this context, starting with a one-two punch of bracketed classics Be Quiet (And Drive) and My Own Summer (Shove it) registers as a sign of real intent. They are not taking this lightly. Not in terms of setlist, and certainly not in terms of exertion. Chino barely stands still throughout, while new(ish) bassist Fred Sablan continues to distinguish himself in the role – there’s a steely intensity to everything he does.
Everyone plays their part tonight, including the clouds above when it comes to establishing a moody atmosphere. As anyone who saw Green Day at Download will attest, the UK weather seems particularly responsive to lyrics at the moment. Look no further than the post-rock in excelsis of Tempest being greeted with a steady intensification in lashing rain.
“A little wet is good,” jokes Chino. It would normally pose a problem for an open-air gig but Deftones are in the safest of hands. Two words are chanted repeatedly tonight. One is, as per Deftonesian tradition, “Chino! Chino! Chino!” but another is, “Yorkshire! Yorkshire! Yorkshire!” Heaven is a place on Earth, insisted Belinda Carlisle in 1987, and she wasn’t wrong. She just didn’t specify that said place is, in fact, a near-aquatic circle-pit in Halifax during Rocket Skates. And while guitarist Stephen Carpenter may not be here to see it – deputised brilliantly by Lance Jackman and Crosses’ Shaun Lopez – the riffs he gave the world make their presence felt.
One big question going into tonight is whether a certain small horse will be given a special birthday celebration. White Pony, Deftones’ classic third album, turned 25 just days ago. Anyone dreaming of the record being played in full – or at least a run-through the psychedelic masterpiece Pink Maggit – will have to wait, but it’s hard to argue with what we are served. Alongside the twin staples of Change (In The House Of Flies) and Digital Bath, we’re also treated to the choppy riffing par excellence of Feiticeria.
It’s hard to pick which impresses most of the three, but Chino being silhouetted against a burning sun backdrop for Change – very much giving Luke Skywalker on on Tatooinethe moisture farm – probably steals it. Even then, for all the astounding visuals displayed on screen (including anime, gothic imagery and more), the sight of a couple slow-dancing at the back of Piece Hall to Change, lost in their own world amid the downpour, lingers longest. It’s enough to bring a moisture farm to the eyes.
While a full White Pony celebration eludes us, songs from every studio album are played with one big exception. Nothing is aired from Gore (justice for Geometric Headdress, Phantom Bride, Prayers/Triangles, Acid Hologram and, well, the rest of their eighth outing) but what the assembled tracks show is the changing status of certain songs in their canon. Make no mistake, upon release in 2010, Diamond Eyes’ Sextape was always a great song, beloved even. What is writ large is its ascension from revered track to outright fan-favourite that now seems on par with anything in their catalogue. Indeed, of the many lessons learned tonight, one is that Deftones’ audience is not what it used to be. It’s now bigger, broader and younger, and this has perhaps not been celebrated enough in their case. This is still a band bringing new people onboard, and that isn’t by chance. They should take real comfort in the fact that Genesis, from 2020’s Ohms, conjures such a notable – and notably soggy – circle-pit. Here is a band whose setlist can be constructed from any era of their career, not just a couple.
This only becomes more apparent as they make a pleasing detour to 2006’s Saturday Night Wrist. Upon release it divided some opinions. Even Chino once told your correspondent in 2016 that he couldn’t listen to it anymore because “that record is so unconfident” to his ears. It bodes well that tonight we get Hole In The Earth. Once a song that spoke to boiling tensions within the band, the passage of time now recasts it as an achingly beautiful snapshot. It’s hard not to think of the much missed Chi Cheng. You can only hope that one day the likes of Beware, Combat, Rapture, Xerces, Kimdracula and Cherry Waves all follow suit into (very) regular rotation soon. The fan petition for six-hour Deftones sets may need to start now.
On a night that thrills with Swerve City, Around The Fur, Rosemary, You’ve Seen The Butcher, Diamond Eyes, Head Up, Bored and 7 Words, it is a self-titled era track that shines brightest. Enter: Minerva. Their peers – misdiagnosed or actual – have long excelled at sending shockwaves through mosh-pits, and deservedly so. But that is just part of Deftones’ offering, however. None of their contemporaries ever constructed a chorus as elegant or mesmerising as Minerva’s ‘God bless you all’ refrain. It’s one thing to move people in the pit. It’s an altogether different task to move them in spirit. Chino isn’t normally one to interrupt a song to salute the crowd, but amid its stop-start passage he seizes his opportunity to spill the (Yorkshire) tea. “Best crowd in Europe,” he declares, bluntly, after the first chorus ends.
So, where – outstanding venue aside, obviously – does this leave Deftones? Recent years have seen the Aerosmiths and KISSes of the world stepping down. The UK needs – and deserves – new festival headliners. And here stand Deftones – still essential and still putting on shows as incendiary as this, even when leaving some stone-cold classics like Engine No.9, Bloody Cape, Hexagram, Back To School, Knife Party, Passenger and [insert your own choice, people] for another day. Subtract their discography and its seismic influence from history and, respectfully, many of the biggest bands to have emerged in the past 30 years don’t have careers.
So let’s call it like it is: if Deftones aren’t festival headliners on our shores in 2026 and beyond, then the word headliner is not fit for purpose.
Deftones play Eden Sessions, Glastonbury and Crystal Palace Park this month.
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