private music<\/a>\u2019, given it\u2019s the album tour, but I think for bands like Deftones with such a lengthy back catalogue of music, sometimes you need to rip the plaster off and say the new era of music is coming whether people like it or not.<\/p>\nThe visuals on the absolutely massive screen behind the band switch up between set piece videos and faded live footage of the band burned into the background which is a pretty cool effect. Several screens also hang over the stage in the shape of a large X and expend the visuals up and outwards across the audience.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m starting to feel a bit more attracted to the \u2018private music\u2019 material the more I hear it admittedly but then my attention is broken by a sudden swerve to \u2018Rocket Skates\u2019 and the flashing red\/blue and monochrome visuals with some super creepy horror-like footage. Followed up right after with a same album banger of \u2018Diamond Eyes\u2019 and the other lighting elements have suddenly came into view with four thin pillars split between the far edges of the stage and a super bright horizonal line across the bottom of the stage.<\/p>\n
If I go back through all the times I\u2019ve seen Deftones previously, they\u2019ve always had a pretty awesome production that\u2019s been beautiful and we\u2019ll suited to the music but this particular setup is massively ambitious and shows Deftones are fully ready for the big leagues at this point. The layout and the like ultimately is very minimalist compared to many shows that have been so stuffed with lightning in as many possible ways such as Electric Callboy, Ghost, Bring Me The Horizon or Sleep Token.<\/p>\n
What really stands out though is just how gorgeous everything looks, there\u2019s the odd moment of intense strobey stuff but the mix of super clean lighting against a gigantic single pane backdrop that mixes archive footage of older films and strong flat colours in other moments is stunning to look at. I genuinely find it hard to concentrate on what the band are doing most of the time because I\u2019m too busy getting sucked into the overall visual feast that\u2019s going on everywhere else.<\/p>\n
The crowd repeatedly opens gigantic voids in the middle of the room to the slightest provocation: it doesn\u2019t matter whether the following heavier moment lasts 15 seconds or a minute, the centre expands and contracts like a lung repeatedly. I\u2019m overjoyed to get treat to a \u2018Koi No Yokan\u2019 \u2018banger, \u2018Swerve City\u2019, easily one of the fattest riffs Deftones have ever made and the audience clearly agrees considering literally everyone below me is all bouncing in unison! And keeping within \u2018Koi No Yokan\u2019, \u2018Rosemary\u2019 right after, beautiful stuff.<\/p>\n
The unmistakable dreamy intro of \u2018Sextape\u2019 bounces around the room, the visuals take on slow motion crashing of waves on a shore and the room erupts into whoops and cheers. The center of the crowd switches from ferocious moshing to a more friendly jumping core with waving arms as they all get lost in the chorus. The rising deep red sun behind Chino that steadily rises as they play through \u2018Change (In The House Of Flies)\u2019 is a real tasteful touch of artistry that makes sitting up in balcony feel like the best choice to soak this all up in.<\/p>\n
As we approach the end of the main set I think I need to give \u2018private music\u2019 another proper look as I think I might have judged it a bit too harshly and need to let it soak in a bit. The newer songs definitely come across quite different in a live context and it wouldn\u2019t be the first time I\u2019ve had to go back to an album after hearing a bunch live gave me a reason to reassess it.<\/p>\n
As for the encore, a good oldie gets a feature of \u2018My Own Summer (Shove It)\u2019 which sees the crowd go into a massive frenzy all over again and finishes with \u20187 Words\u2019 to play things out.<\/p>\n
I think Deftones are truly at the peak of their game now and commanding the proper level of respect and weight that they so truly deserve. This sort of performance is what puts bands on the real peak and top billings of festivals worldwide but I think this is going to finally see them clinch a headliner slot at Download festival and I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if it\u2019s as soon as 2027. It\u2019s been a long time coming and I couldn\u2019t think of them as being more deserving of a headline spot at one of the most well known worldwide rock festivals than they are right now.<\/p>\n
This tour is cementing a legacy for this band.<\/p>\n
All content \u00a9 \u00dcber Rock 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jase Walker As Deftones mark the start of a shitload of incredible shows one after another throughout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[101],"tags":[21759,199,6524,57878,57879,27854,27855,200,27857,57880],"class_list":["post-116156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-amsterdam","tag-afas-live","tag-amsterdam","tag-deftones","tag-denzel-curry","tag-drug-church","tag-gig-review","tag-live-review","tag-netherlands","tag-new-album","tag-tour-dates"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116810703601730681","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Deftones](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Deftones-2026-tour-poster-150x150.jpg\")
As Deftones mark the start of a shitload of incredible shows one after another throughout February this year, the gig gods smile upon me in this cold wet month of our lord. Deftones are finally getting the proper massive traction they\u2019ve been so sorely deserving of for so long and have properly graduated to the biggest arenas across the \u00dcK and Europe. Tonight\u2019s show at Amsterdam admittedly is a bit more intimate when compared with the behemoth shows in the \u00dcK and Germany but I won\u2019t complain because I think AFAS is a pretty solid venue.<\/p>\n