Deftones – 12.08.06 – Riviera Theatre – Chicago, IL
Posted by James Munson on 12.12.2006
The Deftones made their third stop in the Windy City this year (following the Taste of Chaos Tour and co-headlining the Family Values Tour) and annihilate hardcore fans with a twenty song, almost two hour set.
In a move that would surely enrage supporters of thetruth.com and JEL, Camel is sponsoring the Deftones, among various other bands, on an intimate club tour this winter in an effort to promote their brand name. David Burn, the content director of BFG / Camel Cigarettes argues that “Camel and BFG don’t just put on events; we support the adult smokers’ lifestyle and help create community around the brand.” Ironically enough, Chicago’s Riviera Theatre is a no-smoking venue, so the Camel kiosks that distributed free cigarettes and the advertising banners that were scattered throughout the venue did little to suppress the people’s urges to smoke. Albeit, there was a designated area for smoking in the outside lobby, but most smoked in the venue away from security.
Deftones fans are loyal in every sense of the word. Whereas mainstream metal bands like Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, and Disturbed have been awarded the leaders of the mediocre, faux-angst nu-metal genre for years, bands such as Deftones and Tool managed to develop and keep hold of an tremendously dedicated fanbase while creating music that does not fit the nu-metal archetype. I’ve always thought of the Deftones as a more authentic, superior version of KoRn. Their sound hasn’t changed all that much from their first metal, skater-punk record Adrenaline, but they evolved into a particular breed of band: equal parts Refused and The Smiths.
A hefty bulk of the tickets for this show were handed out for free in the Camel promotion (many unused), but that didn’t seem to make a difference to the capacity-filled theatre. Having seen the Deftones six times before, some performances better than others, tonight’s show did not disappoint. As a machine continually generated smoke from behind Abe Cunningham’s drum riser, the band entered in obscurity as lead singer Chino Moreno fixated himself on a ramp placed center-stage. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter launched into the opening chords of “Feiticeira”. “Digital Bath” and “My Own Summer (Shove It)” came next and nearly everyone sitting in the balcony emptied into the general admission floor. Chino swung his microphone around several times and crouched down by the pit while fans bodysurfed toward him. From this moment onward, a throng of bodies floating side-to-side with random fists raised high in the air was all that could be seen.
A unique aspect of this tour is the nightly setlist change as each band member gets to pick and then the band votes on it democratically. One tonight’s set highlights was White Pony’s “Passenger” with Chino covering Maynard James Keenan’s vocal parts. If he sounded even a bit off, the band’s wall of distortion hid any imperfections. Only two tracks from their self-titled album were represented tonight (“Minerva” and “Hexagram”), but they also played a generous amount of material from the new Saturday Night Wrist. Where some of the new songs material didn’t receive the greatest reception (the plodding, spacious “Beware” or the ethereal “Cherry Waves”), the older Adrenaline tunes caused the most uproar and a mosh pit even erupted in the lower balcony. When the show ended, countless sweaty patrons exited into the frigid Chicago streets to light up cigarettes.
Setlist: Feiticeira / Digital Bath / My Own Summer (Shove It) / Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) / Around the Fur / Beware / Nosebleed / Engine No. 9 / Kimdracula / Xerces / Passenger / Hole In the Earth / Root / Teething / Minerva / Hexagram Encore: Cherry Waves / Rats!Rats!Rats! / Change (In the House of Flies) / 7 Words
The 411: Over-inundation of tobacco propaganda notwithstanding, the Deftones prove that they can hold up as a remarkably well-versed live act in a club setting (with a longer setlist) just as well as an opening act on an arena tour. With the rotating setlists, some hardcore fans might want to check them out more than once. You might have to wait for a spring/summer full-length U.S. tour.
