Deftones at the Hollywood Palladium

Before I went on medical hiatus, I warned everyone about the Deftones selling out and destroying the Hollywood Palladium. While I am far from being back to full health, I was determined to absorb the healing power of Stephen Carpenter's crushing riffs on his custom ESP guitars.

Le Butcherettes




Like an uncontrollable tornado, Le Butcherettes crashed onto the stage. Led by Terri Gender Bender, Le Butcherettes attacked their audience to gain their attention. It was interesting spotting Jonathan Hischke on bass who I recognized from Broken Bells and the highly overlooked Dot Hacker project with Josh Klinghoffer. Sin Sin Sin is their debut album and contains the energy and fury that the band unleashed on stage. While deftones fans are staunchly loyal, Le Butcherettes definitely won over some ears.

Dillinger Escape Plan




Angry. Confrontational. Chaotic. These are just some of the words that come to mind when describing a Dillinger Escape Plan performance. Photographing the chaos on stage is a dicey proposition as Greg Puciato leaped into the crowd seconds into their show.

Using bizarre time signatures and calculating razor sharp guitar riffs, Dillinger Escape Plan bludgeoned the audience with ungodly heaps of volume. They had a core of faithful fans singing along to "Panasonic Youth", "Farewell, Mona Lisa" and "43% Burnt". I was hoping they would toss in their cover of Nine Inch Nails "Wish" but they stuck to their catalog.

Deftones





Deftones have long been one of my favorite bands since I saw them at the Warped Tour in support of their debut album Adrenaline. While many of their contemporary bands have faded out or fallen off, the Deftones have consistently released solid albums and continue to sell out large venues.

Their latest release Diamond Eyes sonically stretches and continues to carve different niches in their overall sound. Opening with the title track, Chino Moreno was enthusiastically jumping all over the place while a screen showed the video behind the band. Having extensively toured with Alice in Chains and Mastodon, the Deftones were tour hardened and flawless in execution. "Rocket Skates" was violently performed with Moreno screaming "Guns! Razors! Knives!".

A double barrel shotgun blast of old tunes "Engine No 9" and "Birthmark" kept the crowd moving at a fevered pitch. As I exited the pit after three songs, I spotted the security guards pushing back the barricade to keep it in place. Sequentially moving up their catalog, "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" thrashed relentlessly as Sergio Vega slammed his Fender Jaguar bass making Chi Cheng proud. The tempo momentarily slowed for the slow burn of "Digital Bath" but quickly returned with "Knife Party" that featured Terri from Les Butcherettes adding curling screams.

The highlight of the evening was the oft kilter thrash of "Korea" with Carpenter mutilating his ESP guitar. "Minerva" had some extra zest as Moreno dedicated the song to Chi Cheng. Carpenter was back in the spotlight again with the pulverizing notes of "Bloody Cape". The shimmering notes of "Cherry Waves" filled the Palladium and I can't remember the Palladium ever sounding better.

Greg from Dillinger Escape Plan came out to sing "Passenger" before the Deftones closed out their main set with "Back To School". Dipping back to Adrenaline, "Root" and "7 Words" finished up the encore as the Deftones wrapped up another stellar show. They stop by the Fox Theater in Pomona this Wednesday and I expect the same devastation.