by Ben Carter - carter_ben@hotmail.com

What I experienced from the show I was at proved that the DEFTONES are the best band existing right now.

They played an unscheduled show, Friday, January 29, at the Electric Factory in Philly. Ozzy cancelled the night before because of throat problems and the Deftones graciously scheduled a show the next night.

The show started at 9 and two bands I have never heard of opened up. The first, some piece of sh*t band named Stinking Lizaveta went on. They were by far the worst band that I have seen. They could be categorized something like "hobo-death metal," they were horrible. They had no singer, just a guy who played the upright base would announce the next song. The drummer was some skank-ass lady, and the guitarist had a huge beard and smelled so bad. The second band was a local group named Drop Zero. They actually weren't that bad. They were a rap/metal band and the singer had a cool voice but was a dork cause he wore a gay little hat and tried to dance around the stage like Michael Jackson.

Welp, the lights dimmed and the band everybody was there to see finally came out. By this time, the crowd was filled with energy and was anticipating a great performance. Chino came out wearing all black and some sort of jacket with a fur collar. The lights suddenly went on, and the band busted out with To Have and To Hold. It wasn't that hard of a song but Chino's vocals were beautiful. Immediatley after that, they roared out wiht lotion, which got the crowd to go so crazy...I was in the front row and Chino came down to the crowd, just to the right of me. He was standing on a railing and needed balance so I reached over and grabbed his hand and held him up while he screamed! It was incredible! Then came Summer, Root, Nosebleed (during which I caught Chino on a stage dive), Around the Fur, Bored, Engine No.9 - the whole place went crazy when Chino busted out with Wicked, Birthmark - also unbelievable...

Without a doubt, the highlight of the set came when they played Be Quiet and Drive. After they played Birthmark, the lights dimmed and everything was quiet except for Steph playing some soothing riffs. I couldn't really understand what Chino was singing because it was so low - it was more like he was just sqeaking out words. Then, after about 3 minutes of this foolery, Chino slowly and calmly sang the first verse of Drive; with only Steph playing. It got silent after he said "...to get away." There was a slight pause and all of a sudden Chino screamed FAR!!! The stage got bright as hell as the band blasted their shit and the whole f*cking place went busted nut!!! It sounded so phat! Nearing the end of the song, the wholed band except Stephan, who kept playing slowly, left the stage. I thought that the show was over but Chino was still singing. After a few tranquill minutes, Abe appeared with Vargas, and Chino was last to come back on. Once again, another pause came and they blared the last verse of BQAD! It was incredible.

After this amazing performance, they closed with Headup, which rocked the whole dang house. Chino thanked everybody for coming out on such short notice and the crowded screamed back "THANK YOU!" Walking through the trench to head off stage, Chino gave some people love and I got to shake his hand. This is one piece of poop I will never forget.

Basic info:

Tix: $15
Time: 9 pm
Place: Philly, PA
Venue: Electric Factory
Opening bands: Stiking Lizaveta, Drop Zero
Tour: unscheduled show, Black Sabbath Reunion
Set List: To Have and To Hold, Lotion, Summer, Root, Nosebleed, A T F, Bored, Engine NO.9, Birthmark, Drive, Headup.