The Setlist Draft: Curating Our Perfect Deftones Show
Thursday, 17 July 2025
Written by Huw Baines
Photo: Jimmy Fontaine
Alt-metal icons Deftones are back in a big way, with their 10th album inbound alongside a slate of UK and Ireland arena dates that will be of interest to anyone who likes their moshing served with a side of yearning, sexy sadness and existential questioning. ‘Private Music’ (very Deftones title, you have to admit) is poised to land on August 22, with shows following in Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin, Cardiff and London early next year (tickets are on sale at 9am local time on July 18). In the latest edition of the Setlist Draft we call up a few names that we’d like to see included when the lights go down.
When the moment calls for...people to lose their shit
‘Around the Fur’ is always well-represented on any Deftones setlist — with good reason, because it’s essentially perfect — but it’s been a couple of years since Lotion got a run out. A whirlwind of a song, driven on by gnarly screamo verses that segue into one of Chino Moreno’s most expressive hooks, it’s the upping of the ante with the “I feel sick” refrain that really kicks hard. Its initial monotone delivery sets the table for a truly feral breakdown, which comes around a couple of times for maximum damage. Run it into the snaking Dai the Flu, as they do on the record, and you’ve got something very cool up your sleeve.
When the moment calls for...something quintessentially Deftones
There are plenty of examples throughout Deftones’ catalogue of Chino being happy operating at extremes, but the ‘Saturday Night Wrist’ rager Rats!Rats!Rats! is right up there with any of them when it comes to balancing throat-stripping carnage with something effortlessly melodic. Its effectiveness probably has something to do with the treatment of his voice within the context of the song as a whole, with space around his screams during the verses to create a jagged, stabbing sort of intensity before the chorus lands out of nowhere, all goo goo eyes and floating backing vocals.
When the moment calls for...something skyscraping
Every now and then Deftones decide that they’re the best arena-filling indie-rock band in the world. From 2012’s ‘Koi No Yokan’, Entombed is a prime cut from this sub-genre — a sparkling, beatific song that’s actually about feeling helplessly trapped by love. There is a brilliant back and forth between guitars and electronics with around a minute left on the clock, mirroring the lyrical dynamic as the riffs threaten to break out only to be enmeshed by crystalline keys. This hasn’t made a setlist since 2017, so it’s due its flowers.
When the moment calls for...a celebration of a one-off
Surrounded as it is by Knife Prty and Passenger, songs that stretch and toy with Deftones’ existing approach in fascinating ways, Korea felt like something of an outlier on 2000’s genre-reshaping ‘White Pony’. But in isolation it remains an absolute monster that comes off like Be Quiet and Drive’s aggro sibling. Stephen Carpenter matches Chino’s energy in the chorus, his riffs one step removed from panic chords while keeping the low end molasses-thick. The penultimate segment — rolling guitars, Frank Delgado’s scratches, Chino’s yowls — tees up the final vein-bursting chorus perfectly. Let the mayhem commence.
When the moment calls for...a reminder you aren’t done yet
My Mind is a Mountain’s lurching, gut-wrenching intro cadence couldn’t belong to anyone else. The first taste of ‘Private Music’ is a reminder that they’re still a band of immense power and vibrancy. This will be greeted like a returning favourite come the autumn, balancing churning riffage with an ageless Chino vocal and Abe Cunningham’s unmistakable loping grooves. With producer Nick Raskulinecz back on board after helming ‘Diamond Eyes’ and ‘Koi No Yokan’ back to back more than a decade ago, early evidence suggests that ‘Private Music’ will scratch a lot of itches.
Deftones Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu February 12 2026 - BIRMINGHAM BP Pulse Live
Fri February 13 2026 - GLASGOW OVO Hydro
Sat February 14 2026 - MANCHESTER Co-op Live
Mon February 16 2026 - DUBLIN 3Arena
Wed February 18 2026 - CARDIFF Utilita Arena Cardiff
Fri February 20 2026 - LONDON O2 Arena
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