Deftones Deliver Brilliant Performance in Boston

Chino Moreno & Deftones – Blue Hills Bank Pavilion – Boston, MA – June 16, 2017

Deftones paid a visit to Boston this past weekend reminding the New England faithful exactly why nearly thirty years into their career they are still one of rock music’s live performance standard bearers.

Continuing to tour in support of 2016’s Gore, Deftones delivered what could only be considered a shoegaze inspired greatest hits types of performance in Beantown.

Despite Gore receiving primarily positive reviews, as well as the fact that Deftones featured more than a few of the new record’s songs on last year’s tour cycle, the band’s eighth studio release was largely ignored on the night.

Instead fan favorites from Deftones’ classic records including White Pony, Around the Fur and Diamond Eyes dominated the soundtrack the band played to a near sold out Blue Hills Bank Pavilion crowd.

The change in set list approach may have actually been a deliberate attempt on Deftones’ part to deliver a harder edged, more up tempo performance this time out.

Although Gore has a number of rockier numbers embedded within it, it’s more mid-tempo oriented and laced with countless subtle introspective melodies. This sees Gore align itself more closely in sonic mood to a Deftones’ record such as Koi No Yokan.

This sentiment may very well be the secret genius that is Deftones. The California based rockers seamlessly and almost effortlessly drift from soundscape to soundscape on each of their recorded efforts. This not only warrants that their embedded fan base continue to pay close attention, it challenges the band’s dedicated followers to embrace sublime music even if it ends up coming from directions they aren’t exactly expecting.

Deftones’ musical diversity also provides the band with the auditory ammunition to offer up divergent live experiences.

Consequently at times Deftones concerts skew more towards the trippier shoegaze edge of the spectrum, while on other nights Deftones hit the stage, as they did in Boston, with the clear intent of having the audience stumble towards the the venue’s doors as sweaty and emotionally drained as the band members would find themselves following the performance.

By focusing on the more hard rock and metal euphonies of their music Deftones were able to push an effusive pace from the first notes played on the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion stage to the last note strummed.

If there was ever a song written by Moreno designed to get fans off their seats and crashing into one another it’s “Headup.” Thus having the Max Cavelera co-written track kick off the night’s festivities more than set the appropriate tone for the remainder of the evening.

By the time Moreno had even reached the half way point of “Headup”, with the front man asking the Boston audience to show him their hands, Deftones already had the crowd wrapped around their fingers and entirely entranced.

The sonically frenetic theme continued as Deftones continued to force the Boston crowd into the fray by following up with hard charging tracks that included “My Own Summer (Shove It),” “Lhabia” and “Swerve City” before eventually slowing things down a bit via an evocative but cogent take on “Digital Bath.”

Deftones have never been known for bringing along a bevy of stage production values to their live performances and this time around the band isn’t exactly employing many either. Beyond the use of the venue’s live video feeds and a standard, but although at times brilliant lighting rig, Deftones let the sheer impassioned force of their music be the weapon they chose to transfix the New England audience with.

The fact is far too many rock bands have to rely on stage oriented bells and whistles at times to simply distract audiences from noticing the music being played up on stage isn’t all that interesting.

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Deftones surely don’t suffer from this malady, as although their show this past weekend in Boston pitched and swayed at times in its level of ferocity, at no point did the performance lack emotional intensity or offer up any moments that simply weren’t beyond engaging.

Moreno himself is as charismatic and genuine a lead singer as any rock band could hope to call their own. The front man consistently engaged with the Boston crowd via more than few personal head bobs and directed hand gestures on the night.

Moreno would also go on to the lead the Boston audience in several venue wide sing-a-longs while regularly hopping up on the elevated stage risers to perform some of his trademark dance moves and high flying leaps.

Deftones’ show in Boston ultimately winded down with the same type of velocity it started with as the band chose to conclude their time on stage with two of their more venue rattling numbers in the form of “Diamond Eyes” and set closer, “Rocket Skates.”

Although Deftones only played fourteen songs over the course of just under ninety minutes the almost ethereal impact their set had on the Boston audience could not have been stronger, as many in the audience seemed primed for the band to continue playing for another hour and half or as long as the Boston authorities would allow.

Here’s to hoping that Deftones continue to keep their fans, critics and live audiences guessing for at least another twenty years, as should the band ever decide to well, disband, the world of hard rock and heavy metal would be infinitely more boring and far less inspiring.