Deftones

July 11, 2007

Commodore Ballroom

 

            The Grammy award winning band, the Deftones, rolled through Vancouver this past week entertaining fans with three shows at the Commodore Ballroom. After a sold out show last night, on July 11th the bands returned for their second show.  Vancouver is the sole city on the tour that was scheduled for three consecutive shows. So, how does the band keep the shows interesting? Easy, they let the fans choose their set list. The band set up a survey through their myspace, and after 39, 000 votes the dream set list will be played on the third night.

           

            The trio from Toronto, Die Mannequin, opened the night with crunchy guitar riffs, pounding drums, screaming, and a whole lot of fun. This young band, fronted by 20-year old Care Failure is a mix of youth, rebellion, and attitude. Care frequently stepped off the stage, and over the barricade to be right in with the crowd.  As hard as it is for an opening for a huge band like the Deftones, Die Mannequin brought lots of energy, and most importantly looked like they were having fun onstage.

 

            Next up was from first to last. The band looked comfortable; one could hardly tell they’re still readjusting from the departure of former lead singer, Sonny Moore. Matt Good has since stepped up to the vocal plate, and although some fans are disappointed, Good filled the role effortlessly. The band played tracks off their 2004 debut album Dear Diary My Teen Angst Has a Body Count, 2006’s Heroine, and new tracks from their upcoming album. They even switched up their set with guitarist Travis stepping up to the microphone, bassist Matt Manning taking over guitar and their drum tech on bass.  The band mixed rough screams with softer vocals, while bassist Matt Manning and guitarist Travis wildly thrashed around with their instruments.  The band closed the night with “Ride the wave of Pestilence” before leaving the rowdy, anxious crowd.

 

            Finally, once the lights dimmed, people came flooding down the stairs and off their seats to the floor. The Deftones, complete with massive amounts of strobe lighting, opened their set with “Korea” off of their 2000 album White Pony. With Five albums to choose, from the band played over 20 songs, for sweaty, excited, thrilled fans. Within no time, rough circle pits developed throughout the venue, while fans cheered on their feet, and head bangers rhythmically moved back and forth. 

 

 Musically and vocally the band sounded good live; however, they had little to none crowd interaction making the show feel repetitive and boring. They burned through the paces, hitting all the right notes, and chords but lacked any kind of interaction outside of their performance, except for the standard “ How you doing Vancouver?”.  Unlike Die Mannequin, the Deftones looked like they were going through the motions, playing the parts.  From screaming single to single, the Deftones blazed through “Hole in the earth”, “Hexagram”, “Minerva”, “Digital Bath”, “My Own Summer” and “Bored” before leaving the stage. After chants of “def-tones! Def-tones!” the band reemerged for an encore playing three more tracks before closing with “Engine #9”.  While the band delivered the hits they didn’t have any connection with the audience, but all around fans were satisfied, and amazed by the hard rock show.

 

The show ended right before 1am, with hundreds of sweaty people hitting Granville Street. Some left satisfied, some disappointed, and some amazed, but the majority much too drunk, left screaming “Yeahhhhh, DEFTONES!”