Dia de los Deftones
The Deftones only have two gigs planned for California this year, and one of them is happening at Petco Park on November 3. The debut edition of the Dia de los Deftones festival promises food, drink, craft beer, and a full slate of music acts ranging from hip-hop to pop, punk, and death metal. “For years, we’ve played on festivals with such amazing and diverse lineups,” says Deftones singer-guitarist Chino Moreno on the band’s website, “and that is what we have achieved with our first lineup for Dia de Los Deftones. We want this event to be a celebration; with the incredible artists we’ve assembled, and the experiences we’re curating for the festival site.”
The Deftones used to be somewhat stand-offish from the heavy metal scene from which they spawned, taking pride in musicianship that nearly qualifies them as experimental or prog, even as it leaves metal fans scratching their heads instead of banging them. The group had since opened their arms and thrown up devil fingers to the metal audience that remains attracted to the head-splitting bass and log-splitting riffs. “Math metal” is as good a description as any for their most recent album Gore, which – as evidence of just how much they’ve loosed up – includes a rare guest guitar solo courtesy of Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains.
The Dia de los Deftones festival bill includes Superfly producer Future, Roman death metal band Vein, Linkin Park singer Mike Shinoda, punk hip-hop duo H09909, “Roll With Us” singer Doja Cat, Australian-LA death pop duo Voww, and hometown heroes Rocket From the Crypt.