by Gabe - GValdes@agco.com

This was only the second time seeing Deftones ever since I originally saw them in The Ritz in 1995 when they toured with Life Of Agony and Anthrax. Back then they created a buzz but now they concreted a roar from the fans in NYC. After arriving in Roseland, Glassjaw a local band from NYC came on and warmed up the crowd a bit with some decent riffs and good vocals from the lead singer. He sang with good melodies and a Chino like scream. The bass player was pretty good but the band was ok. At the end of their set, the singer repeatedly beat himself over the head and tied the mic cord around his neck and the guitarist played some awesome feedback from his guitar. Overall, I don't know how they got a record deal from Roadrunner when they don't sound like a Roadrunner band.

Anyway, the crowd began to get restless but then the lights dimmed and Chi came out toasting the crowd with a Bud and the rest of the band came together and ripped into Be Quiet and Drive. The crowd went nutso!!! Multiple pits sprang up and bodies went flying. Then they immediately went into My Own Summer and Bored. The band played with a lot of energy and emotion last night than I 'vet ever seen in other concert showings. Then Chino thanked the NYC crowd for showing much respect and brought back some memories about playing in a venue called Coney Island High that held about 30 people in the West Village around 1995 and called it "a broom closet pit" The set list in order:

Be Quiet and Drive
My Own Summer
Bored
Nosebleed
Root
To Have And To Hold
Change
Mascara
Dai The Flu
Lotion
Around The Fur
Digital Bath
Feiticeria
Korea
7 Words

Encore

Engine #9
Head Up

Their set lasted over an hour and played the best songs on all of their albums. Chino sounded great hitting the high notes on Digital Bath and the band played Digital Bath and Change harder than the album cuts. Chino spent a lot of time in the crowd stage diving to Bored, Around the Fur and Root. After finishing the set with 7 Words, the crowd screamed for more and Deftones ablidged with Engine # 9. The crowd began to chant for Head Up and Chi egged the crowd to chant louder. Chino then motioned to Steph and he ripped into the beginning riffs of Head Up. The pits were at it's highest intensity and extremely brutal. Some people had to be carried out with some injuries. I was a bit disappointed when they didn't play Teething as an encore but this set proved to be an awesome set after all. Afterwards, I was able to sneak into the V.I.P. section of the club an snag a couple of autographs from Steph and Chi on my Adrenaline cd cover. Chino was occupied talking with the bigwigs of the industry and the pigeon heads that were hanging out. I didn't see Abe at all. The show was awesome and it was well worth the 5 year wait to see them. Attached is a scanned picture of my CD cover of Adrenaline cover with Steph and Chi's autograph.