I’m not even going to try and pretend that I am not a complete pervert fanboy when it comes to Deftones. I absolutely love this band and pretty much anything that Chino does. My first encounter with Deftones’ magic was back in 1998 when I randomly purchased Around the Fur. I remember staying up late on Sunday and watching MTV’s greatest program, 120 Minutes and seeing an interview with the band, Matt Pinfield asked Chino about the vocals on “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” and Chino replied that he was basically trying to sound like Tori Amos. At the time I thought this was the coolest concept ever. The idea of this heavy aggressive band accompanied by vocals that we trying to be delicate was genius. I still to this day search for bands with that balance of aggressiveness and sensitivity and for the most part Deftones have been the only band that has been able to give me that fix.
For years now I have been devoutly worshiping the band, following their every move and attending every concert they have in Salt Lake City (I’ve seen them nine times, its cool… no big deal, Haha!!) But, there is always this nagging problem when I go to thier shows. The problem is that Deftones are my secret special band (at least in my mind) and when they play shows I have to share my band with complete strangers. While I respect people who have the knowledge to know how amazing the band is, I still want to experience the show without the distraction of others (I know its creepy and selfish). This concert was at the same place as the last SLC show, at In The Venue and just like two years ago the place was sold out and by sold out I mean extremely packed. I understand that it is probably good for the band to have a packed house, but it is not for the crowd and not ideal for truly absorbing all the wonder that is Deftones. Luckily, Isaac convinced us that it would be a good idea to get there early and attempt to get a good spot up on the balcony, where we had a great view.
When the band emerged I knew we were in for treat, they jumped right into “Feiciteira” off of White Pony 
and I could tell that it was going to be one serious show. Not only are Deftones amazing on record they are even better live. Chino and Co.’s stage presence is top notch and while their precision is spot on they never fail on getting really into it and interacting with the crowd as much as possible. The 
band always puts on a great live show and though the dudes may have aged a bit over the years, they have not lost the ability to kill it on stage. This is my third time seeing the band with Sergio Vega and this time around he seemed a lot more comfortable. He along with Chino were all over the place and did a really good job conveying the energy and intensity of the performance. Deftones touched on all their usual hits ranging throughout their catalog. But, the highlight was the three new songs they played. The first cut being “Poltergeist (Roller Derby)”, then later on in the show my favorite new song “Rosemary”.
As you can see from the concert clips the band was spectacular and we had a great view of the show.
Although, we couldn’t see all the blips and drones provided by Frank we were still able to see the majority of what was going on. As mentioned before Sergio and Chino were crazy, and Abe and Steph were just as awesome as usual. The band played a fairly lengthy set, with the highlight being an exchange between Chino and Abe; as Chino was trying to barter off some panties that were thrown on stage. In return for the donated panties, Abe gave a Chino a de-tuned bass, that was later on returned for the original item. Hilarious!
All in all It was really cool to see the band again and I can’t begin to describe how excited I am for Koi No Yokan to come out. It was another really great Deftones concert to add to the list and I will most definitely be attending the next show. I just hope next time they book it in a bigger venue. Chino Fever!!
For more awe-inspiring clips from the show come hangout with us on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/BeardedGMusic/videos?flow=grid&view=0
Review of Koi No Yokan: https://beardedgentlemenmusic.com/2012/11/12/record-review-deftones-koi-no-yokan/