Deftones 2025 tour review: 37 years of beauty and brutality as rock’s longstanding trailblazers

Don’t label them as metal. Don’t call them shoegaze. It’s futile to try to define them at all.

For 37 years, Deftones have avoided all blanket assumptions — especially nu-metal, where they may have been lumped forever if not for a challenging and regularly brilliant discography (shown most recently with 2020’s “Ohms”).

While the elder statesmen of rock are either reluctant to give up their mantles or skittish on who may bear their torches next, a lively and raucous sold-out crowd of 15,550 fans moshed, rejoiced, and sang their hearts out at Newark’s Prudential Center Wednesday night.

Playing their largest Jersey headlining show in nearly 20 years, the group born from Sacramento powered through an almost hour-and-a-half set with vigor and precision.

Deftones at Prudential Center Photo Credit: Clemente RuizClemente Ruiz

Deftones struck the perfect balance of understanding everything they’ve been through in the band’s history through the 20 songs they played, ranging from crowd favorites to devoted deep cuts. The era-hopping set moved from 2000’s transcendent “White Pony, (“Feiticeira,” “Digital Bath), to 2006’s “Saturday Night Wrist” (“Hole In The Earth)” as the band teetered on the brink of destruction, and 2010’s Diamond Eyes (“You’ve Seen The Butcher,” “Rocket Skates”) and 2012’s Koi No Yokan (“Swerve City” and “Rosemary) which saw Deftones reclaim their creative mojo.

The night began with two “Around The Fur” favorites: “Be Quiet and Drive” and “My Own Summer (Shove It).” rontman Chino Moreno, 51, was as spry, charismatic and energetic as ever. Throughout the night, he effortlessly switched from his trademark high-pitched yelps to melodic singing while furiously running around an extensive, elevated stage. The band rarely paused outside Moreno, thanking the crowd for coming out. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter stood in the back and furiously strummed the band’s seismic and memorable guitar parts as the music overtook him.

Accented by a huge LED panel in the back, the screens displayed members of the band in psychedelic colors as they performed. Deftones would play with a distinct visual that personified the songs. For example, footage of a camera peering around in a living room — like an intruder drenched in deep red — synced with the sexy and carnal intro guitar chord in “You’ve Seen The Butcher” (2010).

A huge X-shaped panel either complemented what was playing on screen or was lowered to add extra lighting. It all came together as the band played their best-known hit, 2000’s “Change (In The House of Flies),” as Moreno went to the back of the stage and picked up a guitar. A sunrise slowly crept up as the song progressed, and once they got to the chorus, it had reached full height.

Call it a metaphor for the band itself. Every new project and show is a new day for Deftones, within the spectrum of hard-rock, where most bands never emerge from shadows of the past. Sure, the 30s and 40-year-olds in the crowd have followed the band since their 1995 debut, “Adrenaline,” but there were equal, if not more, 20-year-olds right in front of the barricade. For all the flack Gen-Z gets for not knowing music history, they are actively seeking bands with staying power.

During the encore, the band played the majestic “Minerva” (2003) with a black and white ballerina performing a routine through city lights. But they couldn’t send everybody home on that note. The show ended with Adrenaline’s harder-edged “Bored” and “7 Words.” The beauty and brutality of Deftones are alive and well, with sold-out arenas to prove it.

Related coverage:

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com

Deftones 2025 tour review: 37 years of beauty and brutality as rock’s longstanding trailblazers | Review