So,
London. Its a hell of a town, and Ive been visiting for a couple of days eating fine, multi-cultured cuisine, exploring the sights, hearing the sounds, walking through the past alongside evolution in the
Natural History Museum, roaming an ice cold
Hyde Park to mainly watch the ducks versus swans and what-have-yous on the Serpentine (you know, giving them names and personalities and back stories), seeing
whats-his-face from off of being singer for
Hard-Fi in
Chancery Lane tube station and of course visiting the
Tower of London, not to tickle the jewels and work the sceptre but mostly to be embarrassed by the absurdity of them all. The real stars of the
Tower of London are the ravens. Oh, and the jewelled guns in the
White Tower. Amazing. Thats just rock n roll, that is. Anyhow, tourism, and pretending Ive more money than skirting the outer limits of an extended overdraft like the pitiful student and struggling writer I am, aside the main reason for my visit to
London was a social collective from
Sacramento that go by the gang name of
Deftones. A five piece of whom Ive been dying to see for some time, and am still haunted by a friend of mine having sung down the mic for
Knife Party during their one off gig at
ULU straight after the release of
Diamond Eyes. Regardless, on the
20th of February 2013 I saw them at
Brixton O2 Academy, finally. In the least professional way, this review doesnt include the support as for reasons of
London and an early starting gig. However,
Three Trapped Tigers are a brilliant electronic laced sparkle of shiny post-rock meets instrumental pop. I caught them at
2000 Trees and they were as brilliant live as they are on record. So too are
letlive. if not more so, as their frontman
Jason Aalon Butler becomes an untraceable blur of ricocheting movement every time they play live. I saw them on the
New Found Glory headlined
Kerrang! tour and was
blown away, if youll remember they featured in our
Best of 2011 albums list. So get listening, and be sure (as I will) to catch them the next time theyre around. http://youtu.be/wOrfpzPfVXA The moment
Deftones start playing though, the entire place erupts, everyone still at the bar is downing drinks and running in, the full to standing on stairs balcony has everyone on its feet no seats in use. Meeting, and only encouraging, the rising anticipation head on the band open the set with
Diamond Eyes. The first half of the set blends tracks from their modern classic album of the same name, with well established classics like
My Own Summer (Shove It),
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away),
Feiticeria and
Passenger with just one or two from
Koi Noy Yokan showing their faces. A solid way of easing the new material into the live circuit. As a bona fide cherry popping
Deftones live virgin, there are few thing you realise early on. One of these songs is how impressively tight the band play live and how well they recreate their sound live; thick and dense when it needs to be and airy and ethereal when required too, switching with as smooth a transition on stage as they muster in the studio, but also letting the songs breathe in their live setting not just playing by numbers from the albums. Following these findings you work out just how genuinely astounding
Chino is as vocalist as he sounds near identical to his recorded self; angelic and seductive in singing, intense and threatening in screaming. As you take in all these facts so too does it become abundantly clear just how much their audience loves them. Not an unsung throat, nor unbanged head, among them. http://youtu.be/qksTlo_1Tpw The band love their audience too, with
Chino coming across as possibly one of the most affable frontmen ever. He talks with the crowd, he jokes with the crowd, he steals peaked caps from the crowd to wear, returning when finished and having ensured that it is going to exactly the right home, engages the balcony by wondering what freaky shit they get up to when the lights are out and they cant be seen, offering to buy everyone an apple juice with drummer
Abe Cunninghams credit card, bemoaning
Topmans inability to stock clothes for men and spending a good five minutes just chatting to the crowd right against the barrier about their wardrobe and seemingly trying to set up romantic trists between different audience members. An altogether bloody, nice bloke. Anyway, my own gushing and swooning aside, the band spend the latter half of the set bringing the new songs to the fore as they claim a substantial chunk of it. Not to alienate though, this half of the set is peppered with old school cuts like
Dai The Flu and
Headup, mid period gems in the form of
Bloody Cape and
Riviere and a stone cold classic like
Change (In the House of Flies). From the new though, right back to the old, the encore takes us back to beginning with
Engine No. 9 and
7 Words from the bands first album Adrenaline before they disappear into the night. I didnt want it to end. http://youtu.be/gmwRGwFUg5E
Check out our review of Koi No Yokan and then check out how it placed on our best of 2012 albums list