SAW THE DEFTONES
November 23, 1998 @ Lupo's in Providence, RI.
Well, I have been waiting to see these guys again ever since seeing a 7 song set at the Warped Tour this past summer. I didn't expect them to come around for awhile, but, when I heard about this, I was through the roof. I thought I'd be going with this one kid, but, things never worked out, never heard back from him, so I was like,"What the hell...", and then I turned to the guys @ work. I asked this one guy, Jeff(no, no, this is not me talking to myself), and he's mid-20s kinda guy, he listens to TOOL, Rageagainst, Korn, and all that alternative/hardcore stuff. So, sure enough, he said he had a friend who was interested in going to the show, I pick up tickets, now everything's set and cool(or as Local H says "Fine and Good"). Well, anyway, needless to say, that's who I ended up going with, Jeff from work. It was a little odd at first, going with someone from work, me being an 18 yr old geek/vagrant and all... His friend never made it, as it turns out, Jeff called him from a payphone after hanging out and looking left and right for this guy, and the guy's brother said that he was hurt at work and couldn't make it. So it goes...
Anyway, on to the show. I usually would place myself down on the bottom floor and hope for a good view, but, last year when I saw the Deftones, people pushing left and right, security were morons, and someone puked about two feet away from my shoes. So, I sure as heck wasn't going to let that happen again. I was able to get a "good spot" upstairs and actually find a chair to sit in. I couldn't see the WHOLE stage(Abe Cunningham and the other drummers), but, at least you could see the main parts of the bands. Got a good view of down below and all the people poking at each other and the mosh scene and all.
Opening band ..... SUUUUCCCCKKKKEEEEDDDD!!!!! I don't even know what their name was, it wasn't advertised. Bands fluctuated at times, but, at least Pitchshifter and Quicksand played. I won't get much into them, because there's not a whole lot to say. Well, moving on. After the nameless band:
Pitchshifter -- I bought one of their cds, www.pitchshifter.com. It's fairly okay, I'd buy it if it was $12 or under, which I did. I'm not sorry I bought it, but, there are many other better cds out there. It was cool to see them live because it gives a whole different outlook of what their music is like, and to actually see the band. The best I can do to relate them to other bands I know of would be somewhat of a cross between Nine Inch Nails and Gravity Kills, with a higher voice-sounding of the guy from Incubus. There. That's Pitchshifter. It actually felt good that I knew some of their songs and the words to them, but, this proved no good to the crowd. They seemed to enjoy them, but, the next band that came on, everyone was yelling for "Chino" because the "Deftones Rule!". I don't believe anybody rules, that's a pretty extreme thing to be boasting, I feel. Ruling and kicking ass are two totally different things, but, I'll leave that up to the reader to decide.
Quicksand -- Alright, I know a couple of songs from these guys, but that's about it. It was pretty painful to sit through their whole set, but, once it was over, everyone seemed to know who was up next. Especially this girl next to me who kept yelling,"Chino I love you!", even though the Deftones hadn't even gotten out on stage yet.
THE BAND EVERYONE CAME TO SEE
Finally, after a half-hour setup and extensive wait, some weird music started up, it's the kind that's played when someone is making a grand entrance or something to that effect. Two minutes of that, then the lights dimmed, people screamed, yelled, and finally, what I paid $18.50 to see ripped into their first song, "Lotion", off of their latest album, "Around the Fur". As you can see above, this is one of my favorite Deftones songs, but needless to say, it was a pleasure as always to hear the tune. I was shocked, because so many people up above were actually singing along to the song as well as myself. Jeff Martell didn't really know any other Deftones songs other than the ones on the radio, but, I think he had just as good a time at the show. I took a look at the various pits formed down below, one guy mistook Lupo's for karate practice, and, at times, boxing practice. A little circle formed where karate man was, and before I knew it, one kid got floored by him. A punch and a kick, and the kid was down.
Chino had on a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, that, every time he kept coming closer to the edge of the stage(i.e., nearer to the crowd) his hood would fly up over his head. The girl next to me kept screaming,"Chino, take it off, baby!" My initial thought was,"Jesus, this isn't exactly a strip club." But, I learned to deal with it and it actually was funny each time she made a comment from then on. From where I stood, you couldn't see the drummer all that much unless you have a giraffe-neck and could see Abe pounding away at his drum kit, much the way when I looked back down, a shirtless, 6'5, 250 lb. skinhead was pounding away at the kids around him. Shame on those bastards.
After "Lotion", they ripped into one of three radio tunes, "My Own Summer[shove it]". Once again, a song practically everyone knew the words to. When he ripped into the chorus of "Shove it shove it shove it...", the crowd followed his words, and the security guards followed his words, too, shoving crowd surfers back into where they belong, and, even once, a big tattooed skinhead was ready to fight with the security guard, until he was practically led by the hand around the side of the stage and back into the crowd. After the summer song, he took a minute to ask the crowd how they were doing. Said it was great to be back in Providence again and to see that all these people have come out to show support for the band. After his one-minute thank you, it was right back to the music. Once again, another song I knew all the words to. By this time, the crowd had given up singing along, because, I don't think they knew the words to "Root" as well as I did. You just gotta know they're going to play "Root", or else they shouldn't be charging $18 for you to go see them. The next song isn't exactly one of my favorites. Actually, it's one of the ones i don't care all that much for, but, it's fun just the same. Yes, they played "Nosebleed"[track #4 off of 'Adrenaline']. It sounded EXACTLY the same as it does when listening to the Deftones "live" cd-single featuring "My Own Summer[shove it]". I think it was right after this song that the girl finally got her wish and he took off his sweatshirt. He looked like the spokesperson for khakis clothes, he was wearing some khaki colored t-shirt, and the standard khakis pants. Couldn't figure out the shoes, but does it really matter ?
After "Nosebleed", they went right into "Mascara". There was a short guitar intro to the song, which made me think they were going to play "Fireal"[track #10 off 'Adrenaline'], but, no such luck. The lights went damn near black for this song, and then they had some red lights shining on the crowd for most of the song. After "Mascara", the Deftones went into what appeared to be the crowd favorite, "Around the Fur", for which I still wonder what the title refers to. After "Around the Fur", the title track for their latest cd, there was a 2-minute on-stage break. Then, they did another slow-down intro, which led into "mx". Chino never really gave introductions for the songs or had a whole lot to say as opposed to last year's show, but, this song was "dedicated" to the "most beautiful girl in the world". He started out with the "You're so sweet.... your smile, your magazines, and your bones....", and that's when they kicked in. Just how the song sounds off the cd.
After "mx", he once again said a little thank you, and addressed the crowd on "not to hurt anyone out there. If anybody feels unsafe, please, go to the security guards here, that's what they're here for, to help you. Be cool to one another."
It's always nice to hear someone say something like that, other than the "Kick ass, break someone's bones, snap their bodies in half, r r r ..." type of thing. Every time I've seen the Deftones, Chino has always preached the "be cool to one another" philosophy of sorts. After his little crowd address, he launched into "7 Words", which the crowd also seemed to know the words to. This song, may I note, is also another favorite of mine. I was surprised that the next song was played so late in the set. Yeah, it was "Bored", the first song of their's I ever heard on the radio. I suppose you can say this is the one that got people to recognize them, either that, or I'm just imagining. Note: By this time, the girl's demand had been met, and Chino was now shirtless.
And, they took a 5 minute break and broke into what turned out to be their last song, which was also the last song the other times I've seen them,"Head Up". I would have left disappointed if they didn't play this song, it being my favorite and all. After about 75 minutes of rocking @ Lupo's, the Deftones left the stage, and there would be no more encore. That was it. But, it was always pleasant to see these guys, because they always pack so much energy into their shows, everyone seems to have a good time, nobody leaves dissatisfied, other than probably with the opening acts(not Pitchshifter, though). After the show, some fruits were handing out some tape singles of stuff I have damn well never heard of. I listened to it earlier today, it's not all that great, I must say, but, what do you expect for free ? And, what do you expect for $18.50 ? A great show... and that's what the Deftones gave us.
