Live Review

Beautiful and brutal: Deftones transform Crystal Palace into metal's new temple

"I’ve been saving myself just for you," Chino Moreno tells the crowd, just a day after Deftones pulled out of their Glastonbury slot due to illness. Whether that’s sincere or not, it hardly matters. By the time they hit the stage at Crystal Palace Park on Sunday night, Deftones are in peak form.

Words:Alexander Bradley

Photos:Federica Burelli

This isn’t just another Deftones show. It has the scale, production and intensity of a festival headline slot. With Weezer firing off greatest hits in support, High Vis repping UK hardcore, HEALTH bringing their industrial sound and the soul-tinged electronica of Qendresa opening the show, the day’s line-up feels deliberately curated to lead all roads towards one destination. And for a band often cast as perennial underdogs, always the bridesmaid but never the bride, this is a defiant, full-throated statement to festival bookers worldwide: Deftones are more than ready.

From the first swirling notes of ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’, played on the 27th anniversary of its release, the band set a tone that is both nostalgic and powerful. Black and grey smoke billows on screen as they launch into ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’, creating the feeling that this might just be the Deftones version of an Eras Tour. And in many ways, it is. Songs arrive in thematic pairs. ‘Koi No Yokan’ melts into ‘White Pony’, ‘Around the Fur’ eventually gives way to ‘Adrenaline’ as they pack a lean, unrelenting setlist with fan favourites.

There are notable omissions, though. Nothing from 2016’s ‘Gore’ makes the cut. It’s a decision that feels like a quiet concession that the album, for all its atmosphere and nuance, doesn’t represent the band at their best. It’s a missed opportunity to showcase the full breadth of their evolution. Similarly, ‘Ohms’, their latest release and the first since their last UK tour, is only represented by opening track ‘Genesis’ — their finale before the encore. If the band aren’t convinced by the newer material, the message is subtle but seems clear: this is a celebration of who they’ve been, not who they’re becoming.

Still, from the moment they launch into ‘Diamond Eyes’, only three songs in, it’s clear that maturity hasn’t dulled their edge. Where they once raged with raw nu-metal ferocity, they’ve grown to envelop with atmosphere and depth. Yet the impact is just as forceful, both emotionally and sonically. The sound mix is slightly off in those opening moments, but it’s quickly resolved.

As the set finds its stride, the polarity at the heart of Deftones emerges: the seductive push and pull between aggression and sensuality. In the sticky evening heat, both feel entirely possible. ‘You’ve Seen the Butcher’ drenches the stage in crimson light with visuals of a woman, blood-soaked and beautiful. To counter, ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ features a lone ballerina moving delicately onscreen. It’s a reminder that few bands are able to channel beauty and brutality with such finesse.

Looking out onto the crowd, Chino offers his own verdict. |Beautiful… fucking beautiful Sunday afternoon,” he beams. The view is good enough to pull him from the stage and into the crowd for a rare run-through of ‘Headup’, which brings a jolt of chaos and communion in the front rows.

After a brief departure, they return for the encore with ‘Minerva’, which remains Deftones’ defining anthem, where all of their opposing forces converge to something wholly cinematic and utterly devastating.

They close by throwing it back 30 years to a furious one-two punch of ‘Bored’ and ‘7 Words’. From Sacramento’s sweaty underground to the blazing heat and endless crowd of South London, it’s a full-circle moment, a final nod to the legacy they’ve built.

They leave the stage with a teaser on the screens of imminent new music. The message is clear: despite all the backwards glances in their set, Deftones are far from done.