6 May 2026 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Clea-marie Thorne
Three and a half years after the last time they graced Australian shores, Sacramento alt metal legends Deftones are back for a run of shows up the Australian East Coast to celebrate their new record, Private Music. With two dates in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne, these were shows that were not to be missed, and we were lucky enough to be invited to Night One in Brisbane.
Out first was South African singer-songwriter Ecca Vandal. Vandal is an artist I’ve become familiar with lately, after her song ‘CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE’ was featured on the latest WWE 2k26 video game, and honestly, the track is a banger. Vandal mentioned during her set these were the first Brisbane show in about seven or eight years, so it’s cool to see her back on such a massive stage such as the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The set was exclusively songs from her new record, Looking for People to Unfollow, which drops on May 22nd, and featured released songs like ‘BLEED BUT NEVER DIE’, ‘SORRY! CRASH!’ and the aforementioned ‘CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE’, plus some new ones like ‘EYES SHUT’ and ‘VERTICAL WORLDS’. Already amped for her return back to Brisbane. Hopefully she doesn’t leave it another eight years.
Ecca Vandal – BEC – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
New York post punk icons Interpol were out second, and while musically, the set was filled with a spattering of songs across the bands long catalogue, the set was light on talking, or really any crowd participation, outside of a “Hello, we’re Interpol” three songs on, and small talk about the bands newest song ‘Wings on Fire’ before thanking Deftones for bringing them on tour. The lack of real interactivity isn’t something I am used to, but the musicianship was next level. We got four tracks off the bands debut record, ‘Obstacle 1’, ‘The New’, ‘Roland’ and ‘PDA’, plus other notable tracks like ‘Evil’, and ‘The Rover’. The final song of the set was ‘NYC’ which ended the set on a high, as Brisbane was loving every second of the set. Interpol fans aren’t there for a high level of interaction, they are there for the music.
Interpol – BEC – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
Before we knew it, it was time for Deftones. A weird electronica song played over the speakers, but no one realised this track was going to be the introduction to the set. Then, as the song peaked, all the lights cut, as Deftones made their way onto stage and began a monster 21 song set with ‘Be Quiet and Drive’. The lighting board that had sat unused for most of the show, came alive with insane visuals that would get more impressive throughout the night. With shots of the band layered on mountains, we got ‘milk of the madonna’, before getting one of my favourite tracks in ‘Diamond Eyes’. The Brisbane crowd was moving and getting louder for every song, and when the intro riff for ‘Feitceira’ kicked in, I felt the floor shake.
Vocalist Chino Moreno ripped an insane scream, and donned a guitar as the tone completely changed for ‘Digital Bath’, and then he moved to the back riser between drummer Abe Cunningham and keyboardist Frank Delgado for ‘Tempest’. It wasn’t until this part of the show that I realised there were this strange light poles on the stage that ran from the roof to the stage floor. From a distance, they looked like separations of the backboard, but they were just giant slim lighting fixtures, and they really got a showcast as ‘Swerve City’ started up. We then got the second song from Private Music of the night, with the lead single ‘my mind is a mountain’ getting a showcase.
Deftones – BEC – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
“The fuck is happening” Moreno finally said to the crowd, as the realisation set in that we were eight songs deep in, and time was utterly flying. Moreno talked about how gorgeous the crowd was looking, and said he wanted lights up to see more of Brisbane, which Brisbane cheered for. “Damn, y’all are out here on a wednesday?” Moreno joked, as a clip of the infamous “Democracy Manifest” meme played over the speakers into ‘Mascara’. That then led into another ‘Around the Fur’ track, with the title track playing next to a monster ovation.
The halfway point of the set started with a Diamond Eyes triple threat of ‘Beauty School’, ‘Sextape’, and my other favorite song, ‘Rocket Skates’. When Moreno got his guitar back before ‘Sextape’, the amount of women screaming would have made The Beatles cry. And the crowd, and myself included, got loud for the “Guns/Razors/Knives” line in Rocket Skates. As the song finished, there was this dope visual of a car ripping donuts in a parking lot, and as that was playing, Moreno was doing the same thing on the back riser to the beat of the track. Moreno yelled for lights up again, as he wanted to tell Brisbane how much he loved us, before ‘initial source’ began.
Deftones – BEC – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
Moreno let out a big thank you to the crowd, and checked in to make sure the crowd was good, before he started running around on the stage from left to right and back again as ‘Hole in the Earth’ started, which doesn’t feel like the song to be blowing that kind of energy on. Then, came the biggest and coolest moment of the night in my opinion. From a singular note, the crowd exploded, as ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ started. With nothing but a red background on the lightboard, and a slowly rising sun as the song progressed, the aura and moment of this song felt fucking HUGE, as Brisbane belted out the “I watched you change” line louder and louder every chorus. A chilling and beautiful moment, shared by 13k people inside that room.
Deftones – BEC – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
The main part of the set finished off with ‘Genesis’ and ‘departing the body’, before the band left the stage for the encore. Cunningham started the encore off with the familiar drum beat of ‘Cherry Waves’ as Brisbane ripped the biggest circle pit of the night to probably one of Deftones more depressing songs, which simultaneously was something I should have expected, but totally didn’t. Moreno gave a shout out to Ecca Vandal and Interpol for being on the tour, with a final thank you to Brisbane. Moreno exclaimed “All of this, this is for you”, as they ripped through their biggest two songs last, in ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ and ‘7 Words’ to close out not just only of the best Deftones shows I’ve ever seen, or one of the best shows I’ve ever seen inside the Entertainment Centre, but one of the best live sets I have ever seen in my 20 years of seeing live music. This will be a core memory show until the day I die.
