Deftones and Gojira Get Wet and Wild At NJ’s Stone Pony

Deftones sang in the rain at summer concert series

After a long 2 years, the highly anticipated tour between Deftones and Gojira finally made its way to New Jersey’s legendary Stone Pony Summer Stage. The tour originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 was of course one of the never-ending lists of concerts affected by the…. Well you know!

But now it’s May of 2022 and the music machine is thankfully back up and running, so I made the trek down to Asbury Park for the legendary Stone Pony more specifically its Summer stage. While the weather wasn’t exactly cooperating, that didn’t stop the 4,000 plus Deftones fans from packing the Pony.

VOWWS, the electronic/goth/new wave duo, kicked off the show. Think Depeche Mode meets Depeche Mode. The band opened with their track “The Season,” playing early but to an already impressive size crowd. The pair — just a guitar, vocals, and keyboards — dazzled for an eight-song set that was more on the mellow side but a great starter for the night. 

Vowws sounded great and it appeared as if the crowd was enjoying themselves, their set was to be the least wet set of the night as well. 

Next up was the mighty Gojira!!!

The four-piece took to the stage the way only metal giants can. Gojira who is out in support of their 2021 Roadrunner Records release Fortitude literally shook the shores of NJ with their one-of-a-kind larger-than-life thunderous guitars. 

The Grammy-nominated French band played to a monstrous crowd, delivering their brand of environmentally friendly face-melting metal. Led by vocalist and guitarist Joe Duplantier, they delivered an epic hour-long set highlighted by fan-favorite tracks “Stranded” and “Silvera” from 2016’s Magma. 

The 11-song set was experienced mostly in the rain but that didn’t stop the capacity crowd from moshing and crowd surfing to the front rails. At the NJ shore, even rain can’t stop a party at the Stone Pony. Drummer Mario Duplantier slammed his drums as water splashed on his kit moving the entire crowd like their own personal ocean. 

Gojira concluded their set by speaking on the rainforest destruction in South America saying “The greatest miracle is burning to the ground” before concluding the set with the Fortitude single “Amazonia.” 

As the 8 pm hour arrived, so did more rain as it seemed to come over and over again for the beginning of the band’s sets. The stage was set with a beautiful lighting rig hanging above and fog blaring from all sides of the stage adding to an already eerie effect created by the evening’s weather. 

Deftones took the stage at around 8:30 pm to a highly anxious New Jersey crowd who waited a long time for Deftones to return to the Stone Pony. The last time the California legends were there was 2016.

The lights dimmed and before we knew it the Deftones arrived kicking off a blistering, high energy and nostalgia-filled set. The band is out in support of their latest album Ohms, which was released in 2020.

Singer Chino Moreno hasn’t missed a step as his ability to switch between screams and singing has only gotten better and more controlled with time. Moreno in classic fashion swings his microphone in all directions pummeling tracks like “Beware.” The band’s set this time around was much more fan-favorite than the previous tour delivering a little something for everyone. The majority of the set’s material came from the band’s classic records Diamond Eyes, Around The Fur, and White Pony with dashes of the band’s other material making this tour a real treat for long-time fans of the band. 

Deftones ripped through a 19 song setlist which included “Tempest,” the larger than life chug of “Swerve City,” “Digital Bath,” “Knife Party” and one of the group’s biggest hits “Change (In The House Of Flies)” where Moreno stood on his riser to the rear of the stage with his guitar in hand.  

The band’s line-up included of course Chino and co-founding guitarist Stephen Carpenter, long-time keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado along with touring members Lance Jackman and Fred Sabian.

The setlist allowed for more high energy and crowd movement but also allowed for more calm somber moments when a single spotlight shone on Moreno as he sang with raw emotion for the more downtempo “Sextape.”

All in all when the night concluded and the storms over New Jersey passed, Deftones delivered what I and many long-time fans of the band would consider a perfectly balanced, expertly executed setlist well worth the almost 24-month wait. 

Click Here for the Full Gallery of the Evening!

If you happened to capture any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see.