Rock Monsters Romania

By Eduard Istrate

Having a younger sibling is quite a journey. For the first decade and a bit  of their life, everything you do shapes their personality into the person they eventually become. After developing a personality, you might find that you are learning things from a younger version of yourself, usually a better version. If you are a chess enthusiast, a younger sibling might eventually show you a brilliant opening strategy you had never thought of. If you are a cinephile, your younger sibling might tell you the name of the best movie you will ever see in your life. For me, a fan of the broader genre of rock ever since I could listen to music, this moment came when my younger sister convinced me to actually listen to Deftones.

Before this moment, I had only heard two Deftones songs, and I think there is no need for me to tell you which two songs those were. Not because I wouldn’t want you to know, but because I am sure you don’t need me telling you in order to figure that out. While I could recognise those songs as being played by Deftones, I had never actually listened to them before my sister told me she actually likes them. I felt like they were some sort of cringe attempt at an emotional band. While that is the case, it’s part of their charm.

On the 8th of June, I attended a Deftones tribute band show. They are called “Deftones Tribute MX,” a name which points to the last song on the album “Around the Fur.” The band came all the way from Bulgaria for this show, and for that reason some of my friends told me this was going to be a great concert, since cover bands from Bulgaria are apparently pretty good. The band did not gravely disappoint from a musical point of view, but I did have my objections.

I did think that on some of the songs the singer’s voice felt like it was not meant to sing Deftones. While he does have a good voice, it seemed to me like it was not like that of Chino Moreno. Not necessarily because of some inability to sing like him from a technical point of view, but because their voices just seem very different in essence. Also, I did expect them to play some songs which they didn’t get to, but I did appreciate that they asked for feedback regarding what songs they should be playing from now on. So, for my own personal feedback, “7 Words.” Please.

When I arrived at  the concert, I found something that legitimately surprised me. It seemed to me that I had estimated the public to be demographically much more different than it was in reality, especially age-wise. I thought most people there would be somewhere around my age, in their early twenties. I was wrong. The public consisted either of people way younger or way older than me. With some exceptions, of course. This is not a critique, I can say that on one hand it was a pleasant surprise. That is because I had no idea the younger generation still listens to this kind of music. I thought my sister had some sort of niche taste in music for her age, but apparently this sort of music has been revived by the 2010-ish born kids. Seems to me like a good thing. 

I would also like to take a moment to appreciate the fact that the Deftones tribute band played for around 3 hours straight. This is incredibly hard to do, and after a performance like this most artists feel totally drained. While I did respect the effort they obviously put into their performance and their stamina to actually be able to put their act into practice in the way they did, I did notice that people started going outside more and more throughout the show. People lost their patience, smokers feel the urge to smoke around 40-50 minutes for example. Even the people who don’t need to smoke might want to go to the bathroom, grab a drink or talk to a friend about what they thought of the performance up to that point. Playing shows of this length is a dangerous game, from which you might leave with the respect of half of the people who bought tickets for the show. That is because the other half have been missing for most of the show.

To conclude this review, I think the band has a really good initiative. They found something they like and they are willing to show other people the value they see in it. The most important thing, I would say, is that they never forget what their primary objective is. As long as they keep that in mind, everything comes with it in time, but staying true to that objective is a very hard endeavor. Because of that, many projects fail. Many people lose their sense of self. But, in spite of the harsh road ahead, it might be the best way to actually succeed.