by Rocktropolis - www.rocktropolis.com

Judging from the number of Family Values shirts at the sold- out Hollywood Palladium on Wednesday (Nov. 4) night, you might have thought you were at a Korn show. As it was, the more than 3,500 on hand to see the Deftones kick off their tour with Quicksand and Pitchshifter were treated to more insightful lyrics, and an equally intense show.

Newly reunited Quicksand -- in their first American show since that fateful night in 1996 when frontman/ guitarist Walter Schreifels announced onstage that it would be the band's last show -- gave the strongest performance of the evening, but clearly the night still belonged to the Deftones. The mere hoisting of an enormous Deftones banner behind the drum kit 20 minutes before the band took the stage was enough to elicit the collective roar of the crowd.

The Deftones' set went much like vocalist Chino Moreno's attire. After nearly five minutes of quiet warm-up music built the crowd's anticipation, the band burst out with "My Own Summer (Shove It)," the opening track from Around the Fur. Despite the energy, though, much of the band's early set (with Moreno in a long-sleeve collared shirt) was plagued by monotonous rhythms and songs that blended together.

Midway through the set, with Moreno stripped to a long sleeve black T-shirt, the band hit their stride with the one-two punch of "7 Words" and "Bored" and didn't look back. Surrounded by flying dreadlocks on either side (guitarist Stephen Carpenter to his right and bassist Chi Cheng to his left), Moreno proved himself to be metal's resident crooner -- that is, when he wasn't screaming or running from one end of the Palladium stage to another.

By the end Moreno, down to a T-shirt, was taunting the crowd as if he was going to stagedive as the band's energy peaked, but he barely uttered a word all night before thanking the crowd after "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)." The band wasted no time in getting to their one song encore, "Headup," jumping into the song before the guitar feedback had even stopped. Having raised the energy level throughout the entire set, there was no place to go but down or home, so the band chose the latter.

Earlier in the night, it was apparent that much of the crowd was there to see Quicksand. The post-hardcore legends took the stage with "Fazer" and did not let up through "Thorn in My Side." Fans knew every word to the old songs, before the band teased the crowd with the lone new song of the night midway through the set. Schreifels' voice sounded strained at times, but it seemed hardly believable that the band had taken any time off. The band maintained their mastery of lulling the crowd to a quiet trance before assaulting them with layers of guitar, particularly during an extended version of "Delusional" (from their 1995 album Manic Compression). Quicksand closed a too-short set with Schreifels thanking the crowd for their continued support and the band approaching perfection with "Omission" (from their debut album Slip).

Pitchshifter opened the night with a brief, but energetic set. The British industrial act, who sound very reminiscent of Gravity Kills on album, offered a much more dynamic and upbeat stage show. Singer J.S. Clayton showed ample leaping ability to go with his not-so-British sense of humor ("It's good to be back in America. England's cold and the women are ugly," he remarked before "W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G."). New songs "Genius" and "Please Sir" ended their set, but the highlight came from their 1993 album Desensitized. "Triad," which was introduced as an anti-fascist song, started with a dark, almost gothic feel, but soon picked up and left the crowd and the band pogoing.