This summer, while working for Hot Press Magazine, I’ve been lucky to witness some incredible concerts, but this Deftones show in Dublin by MCD Productions felt almost like a spiritual experience.

There is a powerful biblical metaphor about the “lost sheep” being more precious to God than the ninety-nine that never went astray. In the chaotic religion of rock ‘n’ roll, that lost sheep is Chino Moreno.

Watching Deftones command a 15,000-strong crowd at Dublin’s IMMA – Irish Museum of Modern Art wasn’t just an incredible sonic experience, it was a masterclass in human reinvention. For anyone who remembers the mid-2000s, Chino was the definitive sex symbol of alternative rock. But after the iconic era of the White Pony album, a brutal comedown followed. The band was fracturing, Chino was fighting severe substance addiction and clinical depression, gaining well over 100 kilograms and visibly burning out. Back then, he could barely move on stage, his legendary scream often cut short due to severe shortness of breath. Today, after years of internal repair, he hasn’t just returned to the stage. Today, Chino is arguably in the absolute best physical and vocal shape of his life.

When a pop star looks flawless at 50, we credit their nutritionists. But when a frontman who dragged himself through the trenches of self-destruction undergoes such a radical transformation and launches into 90 minutes of gravity-defying leaps, it hits differently. It triggers a collective catharsis. His performance proved that your darkest, heaviest chapters don’t have to define your ending; they can just be the prelude to a massive rebirth.

Musically, Deftones are experiencing an unprecedented renaissance, fueled by a massive surge of Gen Z fans discovering them online. With the raw, bruising post-punk energy of IDLES opening the night, the whole event felt modern and incredibly alive. Deftones themselves are currently riding the wave of their 10th studio album, Private Music, bringing back that heavy yet ethereal shoegaze-metal balance. Hearing new tracks like “My Mind Is a Mountain” live, alongside the timeless, bone-chilling shifts from whispers to screams in “Be Quiet and Drive” and “Change,” proved that Chino’s voice is just as dangerously sharp as it was two decades ago.

While this massive stadium season is slowly drawing to a close, the calendar isn’t finished yet. There is still one major, final boss left on the horizon, and I am more than ready to hit the fields under the rain for Electric Picnic. See you in the mud 🙂

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