Deftones – Private Music – Glasgow OVO Hydro, Friday 13th February (Gig revew) - SNACK: Music, film, arts and culture magazine for Scotland

Last year saw Deftones release their tenth studio album, Private Music. It was familiar territory with the band’s familiar metal / shoegaze crossover sound. Unsurprisingly, the record made a huge number of Album of the Year lists, with some critics going as far to say it was their career best. For me it certainly merits the praise but doesn’t quite hit the heights of their second album, ‘Around the Fur’.

Tonight, the sold-out Glasgow crowd bursts with delight as the band take to the stage all guns blazing, firing straight into the surprise viral TikTok sensation ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’. You’d be forgiven for thinking frontman Chino Moreno was the other side of 50 as he manically leaps around the stage. His enthusiasm is not misplaced as the standing section of Scotland’s biggest indoor venue practically becomes one massive mosh pit.

Of the twenty-song strong setlist, seven come from Private Music with ‘My Mind is a Mountain’ being the standout. Its raging guitar riffs complimented with Moreno’s melancholic, signature vocals. There is little let up between songs or time to catch a breath as the band blend one track into the next.

The selected cuts from their back catalogue dovetail to create the perfect set for the purists. ‘Diamond Eyes’ from 2010 sees the Hydro shudder from the opening riffs while Moreno cuts through the crowd with his celestial vocals. ‘Digital Bath’ from 2000’s White Pony which is hypnotic as ever with its contrasting sound of soft, eerie opening verses crashing into dark and heavy choruses.

It’s back to the 1990s for the encore, with a raucous ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ creating mayhem in the crowd, while ‘7 Words’ is the only track to feature from their debut Adrenaline, which would be a fitting singular to describe the night. It’s one final dose of energetic aggression from the band before sending the audience into the February cold.

Deftones will return to Scotland in August when they play Summer Sessions in Edinburgh, as part of their ongoing world tour.

Deftones, Glasgow OVO Hydro, Friday 13^th February, 2026

Setlist:

Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)

my mind is a mountain

souvenir

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