Picked up tickets to see Deftones with The Mars Volta at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on the first leg of their North American Tour 2025. This is my first concert at the UC (though I have been here before to see the Blackhawks) and I’m curious to see how the venue works for a show like this. Tickets were surprisingly affordable though I really don’t care as I try to see as many Deftones shows as I possibly can.
It’s March in the Midwest which means weather can be unpredictable but today it was relatively warm for the season and all the snow and ice are currently melted. Traffic was awful though which is usually to be expected given the time of day. I did snap a quick shot of the skyline from a distance as the daylight was fading and turning some pink colors (that car in front of me has white paint).
I had parking reserved in a garage about a mile away and hoofed it the remaining distance. By the time I reached the gate it was night but honestly the UC looks better that way with the exterior lights.
Fleshwater
Unfortunately due to the sucky traffic I completely missed the opening act Fleshwater. Had not heard them before, but after the show I checked them out – not bad at all, kinda upset I didn’t get to hear them live. Their sound brings me back to mid-90’s MTV grunge garage band days and that is a good thing.
The Mars Volta
Over the course of many years and many beers in many bars, myself and my past compatriots have put a healthy amount of coin in the jukeboxes playing The Mars Volta catalog (much to the dismay of other patrons/drunks that just want to hear pop diarrhea). That being said I fully admit I don’t follow them like a die-hard and didn’t know what to expect here since – far as I remember – this is TMV’s first tour in quite some time. Turns out they played entirely new stuff and nothing else which confused pretty much everybody seated near me.
I was definitely digging the sounds but it was a lot to absorb. Definitely slower and less chaotic than the old stuff, less of an acid trip and more art rock. The lighting was similar to putting a lava lamp into a blender – cool to watch, but a nightmare for me to capture any reasonably good photography. No big deal – you don’t get to see what I saw or hear what I heard, but go listen to their album Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacio (which was released a week after this show) and pretend you were there. Setlist here.
Deftones
As would be expected for a pretty big famous rock band like the Deftones, their setup is astonishing even from way up in the cheap seats where I am sat. Setlist here. Photos were tricky due to the outrageously large video screens and lighting. Sound quality was good. Way up in the nosebleeds I found myself amongst the old heads and we probably all had sore necks from headbanging – sign of a good show. I’m pretty sure this first photo is from Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) to open things up.
Fairly certain this was during My Own Summer (Shove It). The way camera phones are unreliable with focus sometimes you get happy little accidents, and this one pulled focus on the crowd quite sharply which was kinda neat.
Sextape had a giant lady with sparks shooting out slow motion like from an angle grinder.
Rosemary had these crazy anime-style movie clips and those big light bars had what I can best describe as a “sizzling” effect.
The rest was all blown out by wild lighting, and honestly I gave up trying and just enjoyed the damn show. Lots of headbanging, so much headbanging. Overall great show by the band. Audio in my seats was a little bit blown out but still passable (if not a little too loud…wait, am I getting old?!).
Final view as everyone was making their way to the exits. I was directly in the center line but pretty high up the arena. Stage is basically where the opposite side hockey goal would be for a ‘Hawks game. Don’t be shy about the cheap seats (but maybe bring some binoculars).
