Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing the Deftones at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City. I didn’t just see them I photographed the show from the photographers pit, that’s the area in between the stage and the crowd. It’s a great place to see a show, maybe even the best, depending on who is playing. For the Deftones, it’s great as long as you don’t get hit in the head by a crowd surfer reaching for the stage or a shoe thrown from the mosh pit. I avoided the shoes, but I was hit a few times by crowd surfers, but it really only made the show that much more exciting. After all, nothing goes better than a little contact and power chord metal.

This was my first time seeing the Deftones. I was impressed with two things the most, first, the intensity of the band especially the lead singer Chino Moreno and second the intensity of The Deftones fan base. Chino darted back and forth on the stage, jumping off of risers and twirling his mic cord around all the while belting out iron clad lyrics. Meanwhile his bassist Chi Cheng was head banging throughout the set only taking breaks to twirl his electric bass. This makes for a great show, but with so much movement it is hard at times to snap a good shot. But I was up for the challenge, so make sure you check out some of the pics.

The energy that Chino and company delivered was equally matched by his loyal black-shirted fan base. After being up-close in the pit for the allotted 3 songs, (in most venues a photographer is only allowed to shoot the first three songs of any band) I returned to my seat in the orchestra section of the venue. There, standing among the sold out audience, I was able to take in the full intensity of the crowd, the moshpit, the crowd surfing, and the intrepid few fans who actually attempted climbing up towards the stage, only to be stopped by security.

The Deftones have been around for almost 20 years now and judging by the overwhelming adoration of their fans and the endless amounts of energy they exude in their shows, it’s clear their alternative brand of power chord heavy rock is going to stay on the scene for some time to come.