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Thursday, March 13, 2025 | 2 a.m.<\/p>\n
Talk about \u201cAdrenaline.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was pumping, literally and figuratively, through MGM Grand Garden Arena unabated Saturday for the Deftones\u2019 first concert in Las Vegas since 2022 and the sixth stop on their global tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdrenaline,\u201d as fans of the Sacramento, Calif.-based group know, is the band\u2019s 1995 debut album. In a nod to their roots, the Deftones closed out their 20-song set with two cuts from the album, \u201cBored,\u201d and \u201c7 Words,\u201d the latter of which set off the biggest, most frenzied \u2014 dare we say adrenaline-filled? \u2014 mosh pit of the night on the arena floor just in front of the stage.<\/p>\n\n
But we\u2019re getting ahead of ourselves.<\/p>\n
Led by original members and boyhood buddies Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, and joined by bassist Fred Sablan, DJ Frank Delgado and touring guitarist Lance Jackman, the Deftones put on a pulsating, energy-filled 90-minute set.<\/p>\n
Forget that frontman Moreno is just three months shy of his 52nd birthday. He was a dynamo all evening, racing around the two-tiered set, posting up on stage monitors to tower over the crowd and igniting the arena with strong vocals and a stronger presence.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to imagine how the guy can keep up the pace for a full concert, but Moreno was more than up to the task. Shrieking \u201cGuns, razors, knives\u201d like he did while performing \u201cRocket Skates\u201d was just one of many songs where he seemingly stretched his vocal cords to the outer limits.<\/p>\n
The rest of the band followed suit. Cunningham was a force on the drums, taming the skins with impressive aggression. Carpenter and Sablan (a relative newcomer to the Deftones, arriving in 2022 after a stint in Marilyn Manson\u2019s band) were more than able. Delgado\u2019s background effects added to the mood and tempo of each song.<\/p>\n
But for two songs, \u201cPrayers\/Triangles,\u201d from the 2016 album \u201cGore,\u201d and \u201cGenesis,\u201d from 2020\u2019s \u201cOhms\u201d album, the show was entirely made up of songs at least a decade old. Many of them were originally recorded 20, even 30 years ago. \u201cSwerve City\u201d and \u201cRosemary,\u201d from the 2012 album \u201cKoi No Yokan,\u201d \u201cSextape\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019ve Seen the Butcher,\u201d from 2010\u2019s \u201cDiamond Eyes\u201d album, \u201cBe Quiet and Drive (Far Away)\u201d and\u201cMy Own Summer (Shove It),\u201d cuts from 1997 album, \u201cAround the Fur,\u201d and the aforementioned \u201cBored\u201d and \u201c7 Words,\u201d from their debut album, were among the night\u2019s highlights.<\/p>\n
Yet, Saturday\u2019s sold-out crowd of more than 16,000 people included more than its share of 20-somethings and younger. It\u2019s a testament to the Deftones\u2019 ability, and durability, to continue to engage new audiences while still appealing to longtime fans. If there was any question about TikTok\u2019s ability to spur interest among younger generations, type \u201cDeftones\u201d into the app\u2019s search function and be amazed by the breadth of videos that come up.<\/p>\n
Their music has been categorized through the years as everything from alternative metal, nu metal, post-punk and drone rock, among others. But as a good friend of mine says, its genre is Deftones.<\/p>\n
Songs from the past and genres aside, the rumor mill is churning out reports that the Deftones will be announcing the release of their 10th studio album, the first since \u201cOhms\u201d five years ago, at some point during their current tour, which ends Oct. 3 at Aftershock 2025, the four-day megafestival in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
If the past is prologue, those tracks will also produce adrenaline among the Deftones\u2019 faithful, old and new.<\/p>\n
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\u2014 Anthony Stephens, a\u00a0contributor to the Sun, added to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n