Deftones: Down With The Kids
Thomas Taylor-Shenton explores Deftones’ legacy ahead of their huge Crystal Palace show next summer.
Earlier this month, alternative metal mainstays Deftones announced a their one-off headline show at Crystal Palace, London in June 2025. This announcement had the band’s British fans equally as confused and as excited, as, despite hints at a new album, it’s been four years since the release of their last album, Ohms(2020), and there have been no rumours of a UK tour. Not only that, LA pop-rockers Weezer are supporting, along with the London hardcore group, High Vis.
I know for certain this shock announcement had my die-hard Dad bouncing off the walls with elation (probably putting his knee out in the process), but it also had me pondering over what the band’s actual demographic is these days. There’s no denying that TikTok has been a big influence in the relatively recent Deftones resurgence, with teens lip syncing to tunes like My Own Summer and Cherry Waves or posting thirst traps of Chino Moreno. To someone unfamiliar with Deftones, it could be assumed that they are a relatively young band, due to the combination of timeless music, and sheer amount of new, younger generation fans. How wrong they’d be.
Deftones released their first album, Adrenaline in 1995, and have since put out 8 more studio albums, including Around the Fur and White Pony. I reckon if you spend no more than five minutes on campus you’d spot at least one Around the Fur tee. I was recently discussing the band’s rising popularity within my generation with my Dad (who I think is desperately trying to gate keep them, although he won’t admit it), and at first it came as a surprise to him how loved they are by people my age. They never really broke the mainstream in terms of album charts, until their third album White Pony hit number 3 in the states in 2000, and have been releasing music for nearly thirty years, but the truth is they are more popular than ever before. I genuinely think Deftones are one of those bands that are just cool, and wearing their merch would appear to just make you cool, not all dissimilar to wearing those Nirvana smiley face tees that provoke accustory “name three songs” conversations.
On a personal level, I’ve always felt a connection to Deftones. I first heard Koi No Yokan when I was 7 years old and fell in love instantly, always asking for it to be played in my Dad’s car. The album really is music fit perfectly for a 7 year old, none of that kids bop nonsense. Because of this, it makes myself, even me, at 19 year old, feel strange about their rise imbued to TikTok fame, so one can only imagine how confused a fan from a similar generation to my Dad, who have been following the band since their formation, would be.
However, as disingenuous the influence of social media on a band’s popularity can sometimes seem, I believe the role it has played on the resurgence of Deftones is a blessing in disguise and loyal fans can only be excited about their favourite band gaining somewhat of a spotlight in the world of modern music, and can only be optimistic about what the band are yet to produce in the future.
Come the 29th June, it will be very interesting to see the mixture of generations that making up the crowd in London, but the volume of younger people is certain to be refreshing to those older generation fans in attendance, and there’s no doubt that everyone lucky enough to experience the show, whether they’ve been a fan for life or area TikTok newbie, will be full of Adrenaline.
Words by Thomas Taylor-Shenton.
