I'm listening to Deftones on my iTunes for the first time in ages. I used to be a MASSIVE Deftones fan. I say used to not because I don't like them any more (because I certainly still do) but I no longer listen to them every second of the day like I used to. I no longer check the Deftones board every few hours to see if Chi answered anyone's questions (he always answered mine and Mel's questions) and I no longer search the net for new pictures of Chino (who I was pretty convinced I was going to marry at some point or another). But, I am still a Deftones fan. I always will be. Around the Fur is in my top 5 albums list. The "Deftones Corner" in my room in still in tack, and looks the same as it did 5 years ago. My love for them will never go away.

This is our story (more or less).

I was 15. I was totally smitten with this boy who was a HUGE Deftones fan. But I wouldn't listen to them, because he refused to listen to my favorite band, The Cure. But then one day, I saw this segment on The Week in Rock. It was about the Deftones. I figured I'd watch it, just to see who these guys from Sacto really were. When I heard Chino say that bands like Depeche Mode and The Cure were influences to him, and that Robert Smith taught him how to sing, I was floored! I picked up Around the Fur a few days later, and fell in love.

Deftones were always lumped into the Nu-Metal category along with bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn. What sets Deftones apart from those other bands is that Deftones have yet to make a bad record. The people who had problems with White Pony or the self titled record didn't want to respect the fact that an artist has the right to change. And from change, great things can happen.

I borrowed Adrenaline from my friend Amy. She wanted to borrow one of my Depeche Mode cds. So for a whole summer, she had my DM CD, and I had her Deftones one. The songs on Adrenaline are amazing. But since I heard Around the Fur before Adrenaline, my loyalty stayed with the sophomore record. The title track, Around the Fur opens up with Abe's hestitant drums, and Chino's aching breaths. Track # 4 (as Melina would later refer to it) was instantly my fav. I mean come on. "Should I ignore the fashion or go by the book/I don't want it/I just want your eyes fixated on me."

The first headlining Deftones show I saw was in the summer of 2000 (I had seen them in 1999 at Ozzfest, but my seats were way far away). They played at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. I was 18, and I was so excited about this show, I couldn't sleep or eat for days before it. I didn't even pay attention to the opening band because the only thing I wanted to see was Deftones (That opening band was Glassjaw by the way, and they would end up becoming one of my favorite bands in college). When Deftones finally took the stage, I was captivated. Not just by the fact that they were putting on an amazing set, but that I was finally getting the chance to see them up close and personal. I was up in the balcony (I didn't yet have the balls to brave the mosh pit) but that ended up being a lucky spot for me. At the end of their set, Abe threw his drum sticks up into the air, and one just happened to land right in my hand. I still have it, and I'll never throw it away.

When I got to college, I met my friend Melina, who may not have knocked on my door that day at the beginning of the school year had I not taped Deftones pictures to my door. Turns out she was a HUGE Deftones fan too. Together, we must've seen Deftones 4 times during that semester. We saw them at Big Day Out in October, and three times in November in Atlanta, Knoxville, and Fort Mill, SC. At Big Day Out, we were just happy to see them and hear "Back to School" live. At the Atlanta show, we were thrilled to take pictures with Steph and chat with Chi. We were also scared out of our minds when the barrier broke during Incubus' set. That night, this guy's finger got crushed as the barrier went down. If we had been one person over, it could've been either one of us. We'd find out what happened to him a few weeks later...

At the Knoxville show, we decided that we had to find a way to meet Chino. And at the Fort Mill show we did. I tell ya, there are certain times when you feel like life is being way too good to you. And that night in Fort Mill, SC, I felt like that. We had spoken to someone in the Deftones crew the night before, Juan, and told him that we'd be at the Fort Mill show. We asked if there was any way he could get us back stage so that we could meet Chino. He said sure, plain and simple. We were amped. But the entire next day, Juan was no where to be found. And we wondered how we'd find him. Then in between sets, we saw him walk across the stage. I shouted his name. He didn't hear me. I shouted louder. He saw me, smiled, and said, "I got you." During the Deftones last song, he handed me two backstage passes.

After the room was cleared out of those who didn't have passes, we were split into two groups; those with D on their passes and those with F/B. Melina and I had F/B. The D's stayed on the concert room floor. We figured out later that the D's had like a meet and greet thing with the band. The F/Bs were taken into a back room behind the stage. Turns out F/B stood for Frank's Birthday, and Mel and I ended up at the foreal real afterpary. We encountered the guy who had his hand crushed at the Atlanta show. We found out that his name was Jeremy, and he told us that the band had heard what had happened to him, and invited him to hang out with them at that show. From that point on, Jeremy was our bud.

I had never been backstage before. And since then, I haven't been backstage at a show of that calibur. The Back to School tour in 2000 was a pretty damn big deal. White Pony had recently been released, and critics were LOVING it. Incubus was riding high with their ridiculously popular record Make Yourself. Never in a million years did I ever think I'd get to be back stage at a Deftones show.

I only wanted one thing out of that night: a picture with Chino. And when he walked into the room, my heart literally stopped. Here was someone that I'd wanted to meet since I was 15, and there he was right in front of me. I figured it would be easier to go up to him right away, because I didn't know how long my nerves would last. I went up to him, said something, and got him to sign my copy of Adrenaline (although I don't remember what I said, and I don't remembering getting his signature either). I was just trying not to pass out. Somehow, I managed to get out that I wanted a picture. Chino said of course. Melina gave the camera to Chi, but he wasn't quite sure how to use it. So she went over to him to show him how. I had already had my arm around Chino to take the picture, and as Melina and Chi were readying the camera, you can bet my arm didn't budge. We got the picture. Melina and I spent the rest of the night chatting with Chi, and some of the guys from Taproot and Incubus. The most surreal part of the night was when Melina and I were talking to Chi (drinking the sodas that he had gotten for us because he knew we didn't drink alcohol) and Brandon Boyd came up to say Hi. Chi introduced us to Brandon, and then to DJ Kilmore. Mel and I found ourselves surrounded by people who made some of our most favorite songs. And we couldn't believe it was all happening. We left Fort Mill around 1:30 in the morning, giddy all the way home. Melina had a geology quiz that day, so I tried to help her study on the three hour car ride back to Athens, GA. We kept getting distracted though, because every few minutes we would shout, "OMG! We just hung out with the Deftones!" I was happy for months. Hell just thinking about how good I felt that night makes me smile now.

The Deftones are heavy, but they're also very melodic. Chino writes great lyrics, and they're not afraid to listen to The Cure, and Sade, and Weezer, and Duran Duran, and be influenced by them. I mean, have you heard their cover of The Chauffeur? Fucking brilliant. Melina and I used to BEG Chi to ask the other guys to play that song, we were so in love with it. We finally got to hear it live when Deftones played the Tabernacle with Denali and Poison the Well a couple of years ago. We both freaked out 'cause it was probably the one song we had always wanted to hear live but had never gotten the chance to.

The new Deftones album "Saturday Night Wrist," comes out Oct. 31st. The first single, "Hole in the Earth" definitely seems to pick up from where the last album left off. I'm definitely going to get it.

So I listen to the indie rock now, and I'm over that whole angry teenager thing. And God knows after loads of bruises and a dislocated shoulder, I am definitely over the whole being front row at metal shows thing. But on days like today, I like putting Deftones on random, and remembering all of the good times I had with their music as my soundtrack.

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I got the new Prids album last week, and I've been listening to it nonstop. It's so good to hear new songs from them. I'm excited that I'll get the chance to see them in a few weeks in Atlanta and then in New York at Drunken Unicorn and The Annex respectively. It's been a while since I've been to a show. I wanted to go to the free Les Savy Fav show in Brooklyn yesterday, but I had no one to go with. We went to Brooklyn on Friday to visit Coney Island. It was crazy crowded, and I have no interest in ever going back again. But the fries at Nathan's were great!

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