Deftones Live at Crystal Palace Show Review: “Turn the Music Up, You C***s”

I think it’s fair to say that many among us planning to attend this year’s Glastonbury panicked a bit when news broke out that Deftones would be cancelling their set due to an illness in the band. Yet thankfully, after getting some necessary rest, Deftones were able to play Crystal Palace as planned and it was their biggest U.K. headline show to date.

The line-up for the evening was a little weird, as it featured post-punk group High-Vis, electronic alt group Health, and Weezer. Even though it was pretty clear that plenty of metal heads love Weezer, the lineup felt pretty disjointed in correlation to the headliners. Inviting bands like Fleshwater, Loathe, and Narrow Head almost felt like a missed opportunity for a huge standout.

Alas, Deftones took Crystal Palace by storm as they boisterously introduced the show with their 1997 nu-metal, shoegaze-weaved anthem “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away).” Arguably one their biggest hits to date, Deftones beckoned thousands of screaming fans in Crystal Park with the perfect opener.

As I prepared myself for tears of excitement, I was quickly stunned by the opposite. That being that the sound seemed to be pretty bad from where my friends and I were standing. Which was weird, because we were just a few lines away from the front.

“My Own Summer (Shove It)” swiftly followed and was welcomed by an army of screaming fans. You could tell it was the biggest show Deftones have put on in the UK to date, because at just the second song in, no lyric went unsung by their fans.

Though again, the same issue persisted. And since “My Own Summer (Shove It)” is distinctly one of the group’s more scream-heavy songs, it was pretty disappointing to only catch glimpses of Chino’s screams. No matter how much he threw his body and soul into the mic, his feral screams were more like dissonant whispers. Again, from where I was standing, I could only really grasp the last few seconds of breathy exhales. It was pretty frustrating.

After settling into the show with two major bangers from their Around the Fur album era, the group threw a cheeky spanner into the works with “Diamond.” Aside from what I can only guess to be a few issues with the mix, Deftones gave it everything they had. Chino’s energy was unmatched, and the visuals were what you’d expect from a Deftones show; glitchy and psychedelic as hell.

In the distance, hecklers shout “you should sort out the sound” and “turn it up, you c***.” Which, as you can imagine, was received with a barrel of laughs. It was also at this point that I stopped feeling like such a grinch for being frustrated with the sound, since it wasn’t only me struggling to hear.

On Sunday night, Deftones essentially played a ‘Biggest Hits’ album-type setlist. “Sextape” was stunning, but the band played slightly differently than its original pace, which made it impossible for the audience to sing along properly. Chino proceeded to ask people to clap. Again, horrible. Apparently, no one knows how to do this on beat.

“This one’s for you,” Chino bellows, before thrashing into back-to-back anthems, “Around the Fur,” “Headup,” and “Rosemary.” By this point, Chino’s pig squeals were a little more recognizable. “Let me tell you a secret. Let me tell you a fucking secret,” his voice louder, and into “Hole in the Earth.”

The last 30 minutes of their set were completely ethereal. Deep red and sunset coloured strobe lights beamed off the stage as the band charged into “Change.”

Overall, Deftones’ show at Crystal Palace has been one that thousands of people in the UK have been waiting for. And despite its pretty disappointing sound quality, Deftones still know how to put on a show.

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