April 29, 1998
Noise fights voice in Deftones show

TORONTO -- A strange sound rattled off the rafters at the Warehouse Monday just before U.S. rockers The Deftones threw themselves headlong into their much-awaited concert.

Eerie, unsettling, it bounded over the sold-out crowd like an invisible herd of bleating, electric sheep.

The 1,800 fans answered with a roar of recognition as they realized 'it' was the voice of Deftones singer Chino Moreno, processed by effects and looped through a sampler.

The band warranted the excitement: They've helped breathe new life into the Stateside metal scene. They rocked Madonna's world hard enough to land on her Maverick label. And their growing cult fame here carried Monday's show from its original venue, the Opera House, to the more expansive Warehouse.

But then the real Moreno stepped forward to lead his Sacramento, Ca., foursome into the intense Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away), from their current album Around The Fur. It was briefly clear that his voice, even without the electronics, was The Deftones' most complex instrument, snapping in a heartbeat from muffled, off-kilter crooning to an anguished yelp.

It's too bad then, that Moreno had to fight a losing battle against the more basic but much louder strains of guitarist Stephen Carpenter, bassist Chi Cheng, and drummer Abe Cunningham for the duration of the show.

The Deftones gave up the already scant melody on Around The Fur -- and their equally unforgiving 1995 debut Adrenaline -- in favor of searing noise and repetitive, post-metal riffing.

With the exception of the set opener, The Deftones couldn't carve a decent tune out of their granite sound. Moreno may as well have recited from the darker regions of his psyche with a sock stuffed in his mouth.

Unfazed -- and relaxed enough to belt his chinos below his ass -- the singer lurched at the crowd with funky gyrations and daring stage-diving stunts. Three burly stage hands remained within constant reach.

Unfortunately, even the crowd, charged as they were by the sweaty onslaught, seemed unable to lock into the groove. Moreno's stab at leading a round of mosh-pit fist-pumping lasted all of about five seconds.

This was one of those shows that could've looked much better from the stage, but probably didn't.