It’s the best Valentine’s Day I could ever ask for. I’m with the love of my life, who currently carries our little boy-to-be. I’m in Manchester and we’re spending it watching a sold-out arena show with one of my favourite bands in the world, Deftones. Life feels truly amazing.
In July 2025, I was scrambling for Deftones tickets when they went on sale. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to get some of the last seated tickets available, and I was over the moon. Then came 7 months of anticipation, along with a new album from the band and questions I had: what would the band look like on that big of a stage? What would the set list be? What would they sound like without Stephen Carpenter and Sergio Vega? Why are so many youngsters getting into Deftones, and where has this newfound popularity come from?
Featured Image Credit: Deftones EU/UK Tour Press Release
Being the clueless, middle-aged man that I am now – I don’t use TikTok – but I know Deftones have become bigger than they ever have been because of the social media platform. After finding out that some of my photography students were heading to the gig in Birmingham, I asked them about what it was that had made them so popular. Their answer was simple: a few of their ethereal sounding songs had been used in several videos to do with fashion. Fairly simple. There’s a lot of trashy trends that have come from TikTok (when you’re a teacher, you experience kids doing these daily and all you want to do is put them in a metaphorical blender), but I can get on board with one where one of the best bands in the world is getting their due.
Unfortunately, I missed Drug Church, and while Denzel Curry was good at getting the crowd warmed up and joining in with synchronized chants and movements, his style of new age rap was not my cup of tea.
Image Credit: Mark Green
The crowd erupted as soon as the lights went out for the beginning of Deftones. The anticipation had been building, and it was about to explode in a fit of screams. The familiar guitar tones of ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)‘ began to ring and before I knew it, my ears had been pierced by the screams of the crowd.
They appealed to both old timers and new, younger fans, playing the shoegaze emotion and atmospheric tunes that have gained them their extraordinary popularity, such as the aforementioned ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’ and my personal highlight of the night ‘Digital Bath’.
The likes of ‘Rosemary’ sent the crowd into hazy sing-a-longs, with the reaction to ‘Sextape’ absolutely deafening. It was the same when Deftones cracked into their encore with ‘Cherry Waves’ – the crowd screamed bloody murder. It’s these surprises that made me realise Deftones are on a different wavelength now.
Image Credit: Mark Green
The last time I saw them live, they were at Rock City in Nottingham, with Chino Moreno making his way towards the balcony for their last song. Now they’re selling out arenas, and it’s all well deserved. They finished the night off with the always popular ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ and the visceral‘7 Words’ leaving the older fans a sciatica-riddled mess.
It was interesting to see the reactions of the audience to certain songs that the band played, clearly showing those who had recently discovered the band, and those who have followed the band for decades (reactions, as well as the amount of wrinkles there may have been on one’s face).
Deftones have been very clever in their song choices for their set though. The 20-song set featured eight tracks from the highly commended‘Private Music’ (I mean, this tour has been in support of the album afterall) but omitted are some of their staple tracks that us old timers have almost come to expect.
Image Credit: Mark Green
The song selection reflects a band that is leaning into their newfound popularity and performing what has brought that to them. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but I would have liked to have heard the likes of ‘Knife Party’ and ‘Passenger’, a bit more from ‘Adrenaline’ …Oh sorry. Didn’t you know this was all about me? Ahem.
Chino Moreno has never sounded better. His voice has always been an emotive and unique source of excitement on record, but he’s been killing it since the ‘Diamond Eyes’ era. Abe Cunningham is still a beats machine, killing it with intricate fills and precision. I thought the absence of Stephen Carpenter would be a big issue in the live setting, but Lance Jackman held his own and did a superb job, as did bassist Fred Sablan. It’s always tricky when new members take the reins, but these guys have plenty of experience and smashed it as part of the Deftones ensemble.
This UK/EU tour has been nothing but a success from the reports that I’ve seen. They are currently travelling Europe and the shows are erupting every time. It feels like Deftones are now where they should have been a long time ago and I, for one, am so happy to see this.
Featured Image Credit: Deftones EU/UK Tour Press Release
