[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

so...

we tried to buy tickets online, cuz that was the only place they were selling the, for this small deftones gig at the SPACELAND of all places!

it sells out expectedly in two seconds, and so my friend was in the neighborhood and went to the door, asked the owner whats up, he said there will be 15-30 tickets for sale at the door, so he picks me up, we post up at 1PM in front of the venue with a small line of say ten folks..

then this dude comes out and tells us all to bounce, and that if he sees us loitering around we cant get in at all..

so me and my friend go across the street and post up in the side of some stores and wait for FIVE HOURS stalking the front to see when this hardass dude lets us line up..

just before 7PM the bumrush is getting ready, dozens of us are in our three-point stance, and I use my spidy sense and the power of prayer to get to be the THIRD PERSON in front of the venue at 7pm, with NO ONE challenging me cuz EVERYONE there remembered seeing the RASTAMAN all fucking day long, even all the roadies and security..

so we stand there from 7PM until 10PM when they FINALLY let those of us without tickets in, and I get the FIFTH ticket out of 15!

I'm in and its the shit!

deftones come on at 1130, the opening band "These Arms Are Snakes" was also the shit, a noiseish group, very satisfying for an opening act...

when deftones comes on in this shitty little hole in the wall, with 250 us, surprisingly NOT PACKED LIKE SARDINES cuz they limited the entrance, went ABSOLUTELY NUTZ!

I decided this would be my night to crowd surf, and so by the third song I prop myself up, and as fate would have it, people behind me just grabbed my feet and through me up without even asking! so I was up for an ENTIRE SONG, crowd surfing for the first time, at the deftones, my favorite distorted guitar band, and it was rapture...

they threw me to the stage, did a flip, ran off, got thrown out, which was not even a drag because I was so excited to have finally gotten to surf, and by the GRACE AND GLORY of OUR GOD, the same hardass owner remembered by long day outside and vouched for me to get let back in after one and a half songs..

it was pure triumph! I went back inside a hero, cuz as I said, EVERYONE remembered the RASTAMAN, and everyone was estatic to see me let back inside!

thank you deftones, for this last guerrilla show which was a throwback to the Around the Fur days in 98/99 with the guerrilla club tours to fuck off the arena rock show bullshit!

"so god bless you all, for the song you saved us..."
oh yeah, the gloved hand in the center of every shot at this gig throwing up gang signs and raised fists is me at the last deftones secret gig october 07, I was surprised you can see me, the whole time

i'm also the gloved hands in this one

[greedrex]

here's a happy bunny!
good for you!
rastaman vibrations!

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by greedrex

rastaman vibrations!

Is positive yeah, live if you want to live!
InI vibrations is positive yeah, thats what we've got to give!

 

[o'connor]

cool, glad you had fun man. how was the sound?

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by o'connor

cool, glad you had fun man. how was the sound?

actually the soundguy had the guitars way to hot into the PA mix, for the small place they should have kept them cool, cuz the amplifiers were plenty loud enough as monitors

[This Is Not Here]

hooray for you!

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Live Review

Deftones - Spaceland, Silverlake

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:11:43
Beware the water...



Deftones' "surprise show" at Spaceland in Silverlake played out like a classic film noir. However, instead of femme fatales and criminal conspiracies, the audience got Chino Moreno's sensual, schizophrenic croon and Stephen Carpenter's six-string warfare. It was more than just a concert; it was one moment of sonic transcendence after another. In the tiny room, the sound flipped from decadent decay to brutal beauty with the shift of a guitar chord. However, Moreno's entrancing and destructive voice captured the crowd. It was beyond "hypnotic." It was pure aural kidnapping. Moreno stayed at the wheel, and the audience was a more-than willing passenger.

Announced a mere day before via the band's MySpace page, the show sold out almost immediately. Since the band hasn't played a gig in over a year, kids clamored for a spot up front. In the early afternoon, droves of fans arrived at the venue just to get close to witnessing the sonic explosion the evening would bring. Fitting the band's nihilistic imagery, Spaceland had the perfect combination of tacky hipster panache and '70s dirtball sleaze. The venue's sparkly chartreuse back curtain made it resemble a high school auditorium. It was the perfect quirky little club for what will be a legendary show.

In true noir fashion, Deftones went thematically deep into a seedy underworld. There were songs about seduction, abduction, addiction and eerie existentialism. Or were there? That's the best thing about the Deftones: that mystique. Very few bands have it. You could psychoanalyze the lyrics for a year and never know what Moreno truly means. That's why the audience clung to his every word.

Intellectual trappings aside, Deftones still slay on stage, and this particular show channeled an unbridled live ecstasy. From the second Moreno uttered the words, "Uh oh," the band was primed to go off. Opening song "Hexagram" swung like a guillotine, as Moreno sprung across the stage with unmatched fury. The crowd immediately exploded, bouncing with every riff. On "My Own Summer," Abe Cunningham and Chi Cheng's drum n' bass groove dripped sex, while "Lotion" was a kinetic aural riot somewhere between The Cure's swoon and Bad Brains' psychosis. "Around the Fur" evoked images of a downward spiral so deep Trent Reznor couldn't even comprehend it—Hollywood's drugs, depravity and dire loneliness collided in the song's hellish landscape.

"Beware" was the soundtrack to a personal apocalypse, complete with crickets. However, the evening's one new song, tentatively titled "Melanie," proved simultaneously rapturous and deadly. Moreno prefaced it by saying, "You haven't heard this one yet." The song's sharp riff clashed and killed, while the chorus soared. The singer lunged into the crowd, and his voice sailed across Carpenter's tidal wave of distortion during the hook. The new cut was edgy and vibrant—like all great Deftones songs are. "Change," "Knife Party" and "Digital Bath" added that classic space rock element to the show. The band excelled in conjuring gorgeously dark imagery through Frank Delgado's bleeding synths and Carpenter's torrential guitar work. "Hole In The Earth" kept up the space theme before "Passenger" brought everything back to that sexual darkness that the band does all so well.

Moreno's raw, refined rage got better with age. He commanded the crowd with a combination of youthful charisma and wise bravado. In between songs, he smiled, "I see a whole lot of motherfuckers I know out there. I'm glad you made it out to this." They were even happier to be there. This was set for the fans. Cuts like "Root," "Nosebleed" and "7 Words" eliciting massive and crazed crowd responses from the airtight club. One fan swung from a speaker as Moreno poured his soul out with each scream. The set covered every permutation of the Deftones' sound, from 's lovelorn look at high school to s vile embrace to 's stoned sonic space travel.

Since 1995, Deftones have been the future of rock music. They've influenced alternative music's zeitgeist with every evolution. However, most of the general music audience has always seemed one step behind them. Hopefully, with 2009's offering, the audience finally catches up. Rock music needs Deftones now more than ever. How many bands have created a mystique and weathered trends the way that Sacramento's favorite sons have? How many artists explore darkness through such beauty? Just like any classic noir tale, it was a combination of sex, violence and shifted perspectives. Isn't that what all great art is about?

—Rick Florino
09.19.08

[someone went to college]