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Rating: Chino Moreno is thin (and sings better than in the glory days).
It is common knowledge that a review usually begins with a striking phrase, and I believe this time there's no better one.
But let's do a bit of history.
The Deftones (probably one of the most important bands of the last decade) were in a full-blown crisis: albums not fully appreciated by fans and critics alike, mixed with a bland side project and a "Greatest Hits" that felt like filler, a new work, namely "Eros," already announced on the "Saturday Night Wrist" tour, never completed and suspended just weeks from release, all amidst sporadic low-quality live appearances pointing to an alarming physical condition in some members.
Then, the cherry on top, Chi Cheng, the historic bassist of the band, had a serious accident and ended up in a coma, leaving the rest of the members with the huge responsibility of carrying the project forward without an almost irreplaceable element.
What band wouldn't risk breaking up after such vicissitudes?
And yet...
Recruiting Sergio Vega as the new bassist, the quintet abandoned the "Eros" project to the great astonishment of the press to dedicate themselves completely to a new album, and within a few months, "Diamond Eyes", the album marking the definitive rebirth of one of the pillars of modern rock/metal, was already on the shelves.
And perhaps remembering their epic presence at the Independent Days Festival a decade ago (for the nostalgic, do you remember the special on TMC?), the Deftones return to Italy in a big way alongside our own Linea 77 in Collegno, the same venue for the next Gods Of Metal, for a unique, unforgettable date.
I blissfully miss the Linea's performance, and in a moment, "Diamond Eyes", the opener of the eponymous album, comes on.
From there, it's chaos.
The setlist is generous, varied, intense, and it surprises quite a few people including yours truly, featuring both excerpts from the new album ("Diamond Eyes", "Rocket Skates", "CMD\CTRL", "Sextape", "Beauty School", "Prince", "You've Seen the Butcher") and true "gems" like "Birthmark", "7 Words", "When Girls Telephone Boys", "Lotion", while also playing the usual classics such as "Elite", "Change (In The House of Flies)", "Passenger", "Knife Party", "My Own Summer (Shove It)", "Be Quiet And Drive", "Root", "Minerva", "Feiticeira", "Around The Fur".
Aside from a couple of hiccups (Stephen is off tempo on a couple of seminal pieces like "Passenger") and the disappointment of not hearing any excerpt from the penultimate album, appreciated quite a bit by me (the deadly "Rats! Rats! Rats!" and "Combat" would have made the setlist practically perfect…), the concert borders on perfection: the live rendering of the new pieces is top-notch and all the members seem to have rediscovered a spontaneity and cohesion reminiscent of the group in its early days (1997: "Around The Fur" was included in the list of the 50 greatest metal albums of all time...), with a Chino Moreno in a state of grace.
His voice does not wane in nearly two hours of performance and at times even exceeds the performances on record (the excerpts from "Adrenaline" seemed recorded just yesterday…) while his physical form seems fully recovered, which greatly enhances his already unique stage presence.
Forget the hoodie that used to cover the tons of fat accumulated over years of excesses, Chino appeared in a shirt, tight jeans, and an elegant wristwatch, almost as if to seal his newfound maturity, defying those who remembered him fat, ungraceful, and with a voice to forget. If we then add that at the end of the concert I had the chance to meet much of the band with autographs and short but intense conversations (I even personally handed the demo of my project to a Sergio Vega who came specially), an unthinkable feat for celebrities of this caliber, the sum is that we witnessed a real miracle.
Event of the year.
P.S.: This is a purely personal note. Do you happen to know an Italian band called Helia? (read their latest interview on groovebox) Well, perhaps the only negative note of the concert is related precisely to them, or rather, their former frontman. I met him by pure chance right under the stage and he didn't even bother to acknowledge me, not even something like, "Oh, you too, here to see the Deftones!", and I say, damn, the only concert they managed to play in Umbria was thanks to me, who even hosted them in my house for free for the night... And to think that the bassist of the DEFTONES came especially to greet us and so did Chino and Frank Delgado, who came around to hang out with the fans after the concert... Draw your own conclusions.
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