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Dia De Los
Live at Petco Park
November 8, 2024 Review by Kevin Gomez
Dia De Los Deftones is a must-see event that only seems to grow in popularity and lineup each year.
More than 22,000 rabid fans packed in the sold-out event, jamming into Petco Park Stadium in San Diego, braving the cold weather and rumors of possible showers. Those rumors became a reality but didn’t seem to detract the spirit or energy of those in attendance.
Kicking off the All Souls stage was Health, the industrial rock band from Los Angeles. They opened with “IDENTITY” AND “GOD BOTHERER.” You could definitely tell the influence that Deftones, and even Nine Inch Nails had on their sound. It should come as no surprise that Health teamed up with Deftones lead singer, Chino Moreno for the song, “”Anti-Life” in 2021.
The noise trio provide a loud and powerful set while the day was still light and sunny. “HATEFUL” saw lead vocalist and guitarist, Jake Duzsik provide almost gentle vocals against B.J. Miller’s heavy beat.
The Calaveras stage gave early concertgoers a nice sonic boom with Buster, Gel and Qendresa. The final band to play the Calaveras Stage was Paris Texas, who gave one of the most unique and exciting performances of the day. Hailing from Los Angeles, the band combines elements of hip-hop and alternative rock.
If you’re not familiar, their performance was very reminiscent of Tyler, the Creator, which makes sense that the band just got added on to support “Tyler on his upcoming world tour. They opened with “Sean-Jared” and “BULLSEYE,” but the one you need to check out is “PANIC!!!” and if you were fortunate enough to catch their set you’ll understand why.
PARIS TEXAS
Fans were treated to a special performance by Seattle emo gods Sunny Day Real Estate, who are always a treat.
Reunited in 2022, Saturday’s performance saw the band play their iconic “Diary” album in its entirety.
Just a few songs in, it was clear the influence Sunny Day had on Deftones, particularly their more melodic and moody songs like “976-Evil” or “Teenager.”
Lead singer and guitarist Jeremy Enigk sounded just as good as he did on the record 30 years ago on songs like “Seven” and “In Circles.” The band continued to breeze through the album including “Pheurton Skeurto.”
Almost as if on cue, as if the weather gods recognized this legendary album was concluding, as the band led into the album’s closing number, “Sometimes,” rain began to lightly drizzle down, making for the most beautiful and serene visual while they played.
“Pillars” featured lovely falsettos from Enigk and drumming so intense William Goldsmith almost fell out of his chair. They closed their set with “Novum Vetus,” their first new music in a decade.
Following a momentary pause in the weather, just minutes before Idles’ set was to start, the rain really started to come down steadily – almost as some kind of ominous omen of what was to come.
After their set at Ohana, I knew this audience would provide a more eager and rowdy reception and they did just that.
As they have all tour, the English band opened with “IDEA 01,” a slow and deliberate track that could lull you into thinking they are a slow, quiet band.
“Colossus” begins with an almost spoken word by charismatic lead singer Joe Talbot that gradually builds up into a heavy finish, while guitarist Lee Kiernan walked into – and on top of – the crowd, who carefully balanced him up. Midway into the song, Talbot began swinging around the microphone like a madman.
Before “Gift Horse” began, Talbot instructed the crowd to split in half, and fans obeyed and parted like the Red Sea, setting up an anticipated wall of death. Before launching into the song, Talbot asked, “Are you ready for love? Well, Viva Palestino!” and fans collided into one another making for a scene of total chaos.
For “I’m Scum,” Talbot and the crowd chanted “fuck the king” back and forth. Talbot mentioned how honored and grateful they were to share a stage with Deftones.
The highlight of their set for me was their passionate rendition of “Danny Nedelko” that seemed to ramp up the entire crowd before closing with “Rottweiler,” leaving everyone out of breath.
There had been some mystery and even conflicting stories about Deftones guitarist, Stef Carpenter since late summer. The band first announced his absence at a warmup show they did in Chicago in August, which also led to him missing Lollapalooza the next night. His presence was definitely missed just a few weeks later as Deftones co-headlined Golden Gate Park in San Francisco with long-time friends, System of a Down. To say there was some concern about the elusive guitarist in general, but especially whether he would show up Saturday was an understatement.
One of the loudest ovations all night was as the lights went down and none other than Carpenter was the first one to walk on stage and greet fans with a big smile, waves, and pointing to fans.
It may be hard to explain if you’re not a hardcore Deftones fan, but the music, the vibe, and just the overall energy is different with Carpenter there.
Fans didn’t even mind the nearly 30-minute delay (allegedly due to technical lighting issues) or the heavy rain that had started, for a chance to see him reunited with Sacramento’s finest.
Deftones opened with a trio of songs off of “Around the Fur,” the popular “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away),” “My Own Summer (Shove It),” and the rare “Lhabia,” which had not been played since 2018.
There were certainly a few years where lead singer Chino Moreno was partying too hard, which was audibly affecting his vocal range and his ability to perform on stage. Since at least the last year or two, he seems to be living cleaner from his diet and overall lifestyle. Moreno was hitting those high notes like on “Beauty School” and screams like he does on “Hexagram.” This is the best Moreno has looked and sounded in years.
I loved how they went from complete silence in between songs to the machine-gun drumming of Abe Cunningham on “Rapture.” Just a few songs later, Cunningham was serving up heavy backbeat on “Headup” that just highlights what a phenomenal drummer he is.
Truly he is the backbone of the band. By playing songs off their earlier work, like “Rickets,” and something from 2020’s “Ohms,” like “Genesis,” it really showed the growth that Carpenter had made on his playing.
Early on Carpenter seemed more interested in playing loud and fast, often being lumped into the “nu-metal” category. Over the years, we’ve seen his playing become more complicated, patient, and technical.
“Genesis” ended up being the perfect way to end their regular set.
But the boys were not done as they returned to the stage one last time with Moreno thanking fans for braving the storm and the delays.
He then took everyone home with the popular “7 Words” that had 22,000 fans jumping up and down and screaming their lungs out. And with that, another Dia De Los Deftones was in the books.
There are at least 22,000 reasons we can all look forward to Dia de los Deftones 2025!
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