DEFTONES DIDN’T PLAY A GIG. THEY DELIVERED A MASTERCLASS IN CHAOS, ATMOSPHERE, BEAUTY AND EMOTIONAL WEIGHT
For us at Blue Reef Records, the Auckland gig felt personal. Deftones are one of Sacramento’s defining bands, and as a label built with one foot in Sac and the other in Aotearoa, watching them tear through Tāmaki Makaurau felt electric.
From the opening notes of Be Quiet and Drive, the arena exploded with energy. Thousands of voices merged together as the band shifted between crushing heaviness and haunting vulnerability.
Meanwhile, the setlist felt almost unreal. Songs like Digital Bath, Sextape, Rosemary, Cherry Waves, My Own Summer and Change, still sounded futuristic decades after release.
At the same time, newer tracks from Private Music sat perfectly beside the classics. As a result, the performance proved that Deftones continue to evolve while much of modern rock circles familiar ground.
There was also something special about the crowd. Older fans who grew up on Around the Fur stood beside younger listeners who found the band through TikTok edits, Spotify playlists and YouTube rabbit holes.
There are bands you love, and then there are bands that completely change the way you hear music. For generations of indie rock, shoegaze, post-hardcore and alternative artists, Deftones have been that band.
One moment, you are drowning in distorted guitars. The next, you are floating through ambient textures that feel cinematic and deeply human.
That balance is why indie artists connect with them just as much as metal fans do. Deftones made experimentation feel exciting and unpredictable. They showed artists that heavy music could also be atmospheric, proving that beauty and brutality could exist in the same song.
Countless indie artists are still chasing the feeling Deftones created decades ago, and after seeing them live in Auckland it’s easy to understand why.
INDIE. AMPLIFIED.®