Deftones, a nu-metal band, and Gojira, a heavy metal band, performed in Denver at the Ball Arena on Wednesday, April 25.

Vowws, a Los Angeles-based “death-pop” duo, started off the show with a thirty-minute set. The duo is not very well known, and their style was nothing special, but Vowws had a better gothic sound. Unfortunately, the crowd was pretty much dead throughout their whole set.

After Vowws, Gojira began excitedly performing their set. I had never heard of them before the concert and figured neither had anybody else, but a majority of the crowd had Gojira shirts from previous tours. They were surprisingly good and, in my opinion, even better than Deftones. Each of their songs had unique chord progressions and the “not-so-great” arena sound fit in with their set. I would definitely recommend them, and if they came back to Denver on their own, I would see them again.

I had tickets for Deftones since May when the concert was supposed to be in September of last year, but it was sadly rescheduled to this April. After six months of waiting, I finally got to see them play, but it was very underwhelming. Arena shows usually do not have the best sound and at some moments in the show, you could hear terrible high-pitched feedback coming from the microphones which makes you wonder who did the soundcheck beforehand. 

They mostly played songs off their 2016 album Gore, which is arguably their worst album, and after that, they just played their hits with a few good songs mixed in. If you have been a die-hard Deftones fan since the 90s, like a lot of people who came to see the show, the sound probably did not bother you, but if you have only liked the band for a couple of months, you most likely just wanted Gojira to come back on stage. 

Deftones definitely is not going to be the headlining show of the Ball Arena for 2022, but it is always a good time to go to concerts. While I would not see them again, I am glad I went. All in all, I left with my ears ringing and new albums to go home and listen to.