Source: Radio New Zealand
Sacramento rockers, Deftones, turned up the tinnitus at Spark Arena, on Wednesday night.
It’s the most people I’ve ever seen crammed into that venue and by the end of the show it seemed like the floor was running up the walls with nearly everyone on their feet.
It’s a loyal fanbase that has had to wait a long time since the band’s last show at 2014’s Big Day Out in Western Springs. That said, they were scheduled to play Trusts Arena in March, 2020. No prizes for guessing what happened there.
Fans were thrilled to have Deftones return to New Zealand
Tom Grut
. They started things off by seducing their long-waiting Kiwi fans with a cover of the ‘Cars’ Drive’. I never thought I’d like a version better than the original, but it’s not the first time I’m wrong about something.
It was a gentle launching point for the night which took an immediate adrenaline hit when they cranked into 2012’s ‘Swerve City’.
Through the first four songs they traversed multiple albums and decades. But it was far from a walk down memory lane or a best-of.
Deftones prove they still have what it takes to rock out 30 years later.
Tom Grut
They sprinkled in more than a few deeper cuts along with some of their newer songs from their Private Music album that came out late last year.
And while the songs have a slightly darker tone to them they never disrupted the flow, instead melding in with the band’s older material.
The music thrummed with an energy that made it feel like it could’ve come out yesterday. And looking at the crowd you could probably be mistaken for thinking that it did. There were a lot of very young faces. The band has clearly been drawing in new fans in recent years.
A post-gig chat with a couple of oldheads while walking out confirmed that I wasn’t seeing things. They were all surprised by how many fans could very well have been conceived to 2006’s ‘Cherry Waves’. One punter told us he’d seen Deftones twice at a couple of Big Day Out festivals and now he was watching them with his son and nephew.
Deftones perform at Auckland’s Spark Arena on May 13, 2026.
Tom Grut
And after a little research (post-show yarns with gig-goers on the walk back to the car) I found out that the group has found a whole new generation through TikTok where their music has gained new life.
It doesn’t hurt that frontman Chino Moreno still seems as smooth as ever. Even when he took a tumble mid-song while cavorting across the stage, I wasn’t quite sure if it was all part of the act or not.
The show continued to ebb and flow with some softer songs like ‘Entombed’ and ‘Beauty School’ and the euphoric ‘Cherry Waves’ sprinkled in among much heavier numbers like ‘Rocket Skates’.
‘Digital Bath’ was the first song where all the phones came out. But it was when the opening chords of ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ rang out that the whole arena lit up. It was the second song of their I ever remember hearing, and the one that I played on repeat.
The band has had a revival to a whole new generation of ears through TikTok.
Tom Grut
Moreno belted, crooned and screamed against the backdrop of a glowing and slowly rising sun – only one of the many intricate backdrops through the night.
Even without the music, the vignettes lighting up the screen behind the band were spectacular and engrossing enough to warrant their own art installation. The bloke next to me taking a few drags on a curious smelling cigarette really seemed to be loving them.
Moreno took a few brief interludes to thank the crowd. But he’s clearly a man who lets the music do the talking.
He gave everyone a minute or two to catch their breath before the band launched into an encore of ‘Cherry Waves’, heart-pumping ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ and closed out with a blistering ‘7 Words’.
Then the house lights flashed on and broke the spell.
Let’s hope it’s not another decade and change before they’re back.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
