The Deftones are breaking my heart...

[Franko]

I am a die hard fan since the 90s.
I know maybe some more "metal" fans on here might not be that into them, but they had a huge impact on me as a young music fan and guitarist.
I know Stephen Carpenter isn't known for being a "chops" guitarist but his riffs and writing had a huge impact on me.

I bought tickets to see them two years ago right before the pandemic hit. (In total I think i've seen them probably 6 or 7 times)
The gig was pushed back 2 times until 2022 due to covid.
In march it was announced that their bassist was leaving, due to some disagreement in the contract, where he wasn't being compensated as a "official member" even after playing with
them for 12 years and being on 4 studio albums.
The band never addressed these claims and made no statement at all.
Obviously this dosen't show them in the best light.

Regardless, I tried to stay positive. I wasn't thrilled about seeing my favorite band with a "fill in" bassist, but was going to try to enjoy myself none the less.
ONE day before the gig, Stephen Carpenter announced he ALSO would't be playing any of the gigs outside the united states.
The show I was going to was their FIRST canadian date, and the first date without Stephen. My guitar hero wasn't gonna be there. They told me ONE day before.
It breaks my heart into pieces.
I love these guys so so much but I'm not sure what's going on with them behind the scenes.

Thanks for listening to my rant.
I don't really have anywhere else I can say this.
It's just hard being let down by people you admire.

 

[Adieu]

Wasn't that the guy who spent the last 20 or 30 years touring the world in airplanes, but somehow manages to be a flat earther???

 

[Werecow]

He's a flat earther and an anti-vaxxer. All other countries are too rounded for him to travel to, and he might fall off the edge i guess? Listening to him talk, you can just about hear a cog whir in his head every ten seconds or so, but that's about it.

 

[Randy]

Wasn't that the guy who spent the last 20 or 30 years touring the world in airplanes, but somehow manages to be a flat earther???

That's why he's not playing any shows outside the US. He's afraid of flying into space.

 

[BusinessMan]

Much like being a flat earther and antivaxxer, the deftones are not good.

 

[thebeesknees22]

Stephen not touring has more to do with him not being vaccinated and most likely other countries not letting him in I think anyway.


I'm a massive deftones fan (well more like chino fan), but it was pretty crappy how they did Sergio. They did him dirty imho with as many albums as he did with them (and quite possibly some of their best albums)


And well stephen is stephen. He's just a weird dude.

all that being said, I'm still a huge fan of their music.

 

[Triple-J]

Like yourself Deftones were a major influence and are the only band from their generation I still care about but the way they treated Sergio was something of a red flag for me and I'm just not as into the band anymore.
The idea of Deftones touring with a stunt guitarist whenever they play outside the U.S. for the rest of their career is absurd/hilarious but I'm not 100% it's down to Stef's crazy covid conspiracies as a few people online seem to think he has some sort of health issues as his face looks kind of gaunt/weird (maybe he's just had some bad plastic surgery?!) in recent photos/videos.

 

[c7spheres]

The bassist IS a fill in bassist since Chi Cheng. He's a hired gun. If his contract says othewise he'll have to take it to court.

 

[budda]

The bassist has a name, you heathens.

I got in a car accident and had to miss the toronto date with my sparrows family. Sucked. We were also bummed to learn steph wouldnt be playing - totally forgetting he may not be vaxxed thus not entering the country.

 

[Ross82]

I love Deftones but had no idea Steph was a whack head like you guys are saying. That's very, very disappointing to hear.

And now Ray Liota has died.

This fucking world gets more and more unbearable with every passing day.

 

[ArtDecade]

Just be grateful that moron isn't allowed in your country. We are stuck with him.

 

[Ross82]

How the fuck can a guy that has literally flown tours around the globe be a flat earther?

I'm glad I got to see them back around '05/'06 when I still lived in the UK, support from Gojira and it was awesome

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

How the fuck can a guy that has literally flown tours around the globe be a flat earther?

I'm glad I got to see them back around '05/'06 when I still lived in the UK, support from Gojira and it was awesome

I'm starting to believe you can actually smoke yourself stupid.

 

[bostjan]

How the fuck can a guy that has literally flown tours around the globe be a flat earther?

I'm glad I got to see them back around '05/'06 when I still lived in the UK, support from Gojira and it was awesome

 

[wheresthefbomb]

They've been slowly falling off it since S/T came out IMO, both artistically and as humans.

They were a Big Fucking Deal in my teen years and the first four albums still hold a place of very high honor in this household, but I wouldn't be too excited to see them live these days regardless of the lineup.

 

[Ross82]

I'm starting to believe you can actually smoke yourself stupid.

Well I wondered this, but if so then the guy must be huffing pounds of weed a day. I consume a lot of weed on prescription but I haven't turned in to a fucking moron to this level.

 

[c7spheres]

The bassist has a name, you heathens.

I got in a car accident and had to miss the toronto date with my sparrows family. Sucked. We were also bummed to learn steph wouldnt be playing - totally forgetting he may not be vaxxed thus not entering the country.

Bummer. After seeing what's his name, the bassist, (jk) Sergio Vega's statement, and assuming what he says is true (he seems sincere) I totally understand where' he's coming from.
- I love some older Deftones mostly but they're nothing without Steph. Steph is Deftones, ,imo. They simply wouldn't exist or theyd' be a cover band without him. It's the riffs.

- Sergio says he was told he'd be worked into the band over time. 4 albums later should be enough, imo (assuming he's actually wrting stuff with them that's actually being used). - I can understand if they just don't gel with what he's writing, so it's not used, because it don't represent Deftones at the time, and maybe still working with him etc, keeping him on as hired gun, and bring him on when they're comfortable with his actual writing contributions, (if that was the case), but if they just keep leading him on etc then yeah fuck that. However, I wouldn't leave the band over it. That's a first world problem.
- The major problem (and let down) I have with them (Deftones) is that they're still playing junior high school game drama shit. Give Sergio the respect to communicate with him and work with him on whatever the issues is, instead they're re-negotiated contract was basically the same thing as the last 4 albums and when he asked for clarification on what the issues was they (Deftones) just say have a nice day we withdrawl the offer, goobye. After more than decade. Really? after all that? A bunch of butt pussies that can't talk to someone's face, unless of course, they've already been through this a million times with him and have had enough (which I also wouldn't be surprisedat if that's the case). I hate those type people though (if that's what's actually happening) . It's the same reason I hate Billy Joel.

- Fuck Billy Joel

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Between the apparent bickering between Chino and Stef during the recording of Gore + the treatment of Sergio... yeah, there seems like there's some tensions in the band. The treatment of Sergio soured me on them hard, which sucks becauase I loved Ohms + everything else Sergio has been on.

 

[MFB]

There's a great irony to the fact that the photo everyone was using of Steph when they wrote their article about him not traveling due to anti-vax laws had him wearing his "Fuckface" tee, as if he didn't realize that he in fact was the fuckface.

 

[c7spheres]

Between the apparent bickering between Chino and Stef during the recording of Gore + the treatment of Sergio... yeah, there seems like there's some tensions in the band. The treatment of Sergio soured me on them hard, which sucks becauase I loved Ohms + everything else Sergio has been on.

The best thing that should happen from all this is for ESP to release all Steph models without the middle pickup. It's all that matters. It's probably what all the bickering stems from, haha.