Deftones in Boston: why they’re here to stay

By: Sheila Walsh

Photos by Jen Vesp

The 90’s seem to be making a strong comeback in the world of music and fashion. Boy bands are ruling the radio, chokers and platform shoes can be found everywhere you look, and Pokemon… c’mon, do we even need to say it? Pokemon is back and more popular than ever. But something can’t make a comeback if it never went away, right?

Take California-based Deftones (Warner Brother Records). The alternative metal band formed in 1996, dealt with normal (and abnormal) band drama, and are back in 2016 doing what they do best: melting faces. Last night, Deftones brought their classic-but-never-boring set to the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston, MA.

To make the night even more special, the group closed their set with “Engine No. 9” off of Adrenaline. According to several concert-goers, this was the band’s first time playing the song this tour.

Before their show, however, fans were gifted with a a Chino-feature on Lamb of God’s most recent album, VII: Sturm and Drang. Chino Moreno lent his vocal talent on what is perhaps the band’s most emotional song, “Embers.” Mark Morton dove deep into his songwriting-soul to write a song about the recent death of his newborn child and, according to Morton in a recent interview, “is a song about hope. It’s about hanging on to that last shred of light in your life and not giving up on it. It’s about believing that love can overcome despair. Most of all, it’s about forgiving yourself.”

Deftones latest release, Gore, was released this past April and has brought plenty of fresh faces to their concerts. But fear not, lifetime Deftones fans held their own and showed the newbies how to properly enjoy such great music.

Deftones brought along Swedish hardcore punk band Refused (Epitaph Records) and demonstrated that good ol’ metal shows are here to stay.

Their newest album, Freedom, was released earlier this year and provided the audience with the perfect background music to gear up for Deftones set. The bar they set was high but was ultimately no match for the headliner.

To miss a show like this would be totally uncool of you, so check out the rest of the tour dates here!

More sights of the night-

Refused:

Deftones

Full gallery can be seen here | Remaining tour dates

Deftones set-list:
Kimdracula
Swerve City
Acid Hologram
Diamond Eyes
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
Around the Fur
Gore
(L)MIRL
Digital Bath
Rocket Skates
Tempest
Prince
Minerva
Knife Prty
Change (In the House of Flies)
What Happened to You?
Passenger