Live Review: Deftones at Madison Square Garden (2025/04/03)

w/ special guests The Mars Volta and Fleshwater

Ticket Price: $362.45

Kicking off a sick run of shows this April with Deftones tonight and what an incredible evening! I forgot about the horrendous purchase experience when they initially went on sale but it all felt worth it after the amazing one hour and forty minutes set. I had higher expectations for the opening acts but they both lacked something.

As cool as I imagine it is to play a legendary space like Madison Square Garden, there are some bands that are simply better suited for smaller venues. In my opinion, the opening act, Fleshwater, is probably one of those bands. Their music was fine and they had a strong stage presence but the mix didn’t sound great. I feel like they just didn’t have enough oomph to fill a venue the size of MSG. I am not too familiar with their music so I was more indifferent about their performance. The Mars Volta on the other hand was not up to my expectations.

This actually makes two shows in a row for The Mars Volta to leave me less than satisfied. The San Francisco show was a bit different because they at least played some of their bangers. On this tour they are playing a new album that has not even been released. At first thought it sounds pretty cool; hearing the album live before it is ever released to the general public. However, the last couple of TMV albums have been total duds and this album had similar vibes. They used to be known as one of the most prolific post-hardcore bands, a genre defining band with one of the most unique sounds that is instantly recognizable, but they have morphed into some kind of art rock band that wants to make ballads at 60-70 beats per minute. It’s honestly kind of sad because the musicians in the band are truly some of the best and it feels like this direction they have taken limits their creativity.

It wasn’t all negative and some of the songs had some of those classic TMV moments. The new vocalist they brought on was great and harmonized well with Cedric but I don’t know if I will be seeing TMV again unless they are part of a package with a band like Deftones. They just don’t have the same pull they once had and I think their day has past.

Deftones on the other hand tore the house down; this is a band that knows how to put on a performance. Compared to the previous two Deftones shows I have seen this was by far the best. As I have said several times in past posts for Deftones and Crosses, Chino’s other band, Chino is in incredible shape for 51 years old. His voice is still as powerful as ever and was running around the stage, jumping up and down, all night. It seems like they are all in a positive place in their careers and it shows in their performances.

San Francisco last year was a great show as well but the festival-style environment didn’t have the same production value that the show tonight had. They also welcomed back lead guitarist, Stephen Carpenter, who has joined the band on and off for the last few years as he was battling some personal issues. Fret no more, he’s back and the band didn’t miss a beat.

They played an absolutely killer set that featured a bit of everything from their entire discography. The peak moment for me was seeing “A Hole in the Earth” live. Saturday Night Wrist was such an impactful album for me but the band has said it is one of their least favorite albums so they don’t usually play any songs from it when they tour. They’ve started unveiling songs in their recent shows and they played one of my favorite songs of their entire collection. The other songs that particularly stood out were “You’ve Seen the Butcher” and “Around the Fur”.

To say the mosh pits were lively would be an understatement, the boys and girls were getting rowdy tonight. I actually could have been closer but they had a second barrier in the middle of the floor, similar to breakwaters that help calm incoming waves before hitting the shore, so I decided to grab a spot against the rail. It was almost a perfect combination of a front row experience and being in the pit at the same time, but without anyone actually pushing me. Able to feed off the energy of the chaos in front of me but enjoy the show with a great view.

There was some magic in MSG tonight and I am glad I got to be a part of it. Thank you Deftones for another incredible show and I hope we get another chance to rock out together again soon.

Cheers and keep rocking!