Deftones

The Top Performances of 2025

Original image of Jake Heggie at Grant Recital Hall by There Stands the Glass.

I attended 154 concerts at 72 venues on 140 days during the first eleven months of 2025. Club-hopping accounts for the discrepancy. I didn’t attend any major festivals. The most expensive ticket I purchased cost $65. My total outlay for tickets, cover charges and tips for musicians was more than $2,500. A significant change in my personal life as well as the likelihood of my health insurance premiums tripling next year could mean that 2025 was my last hurrah as an avid concertgoer. If that proves to be the case, the fifty performances listed here are all the more meaningful.

1. Brad Mehldau and Christian McBride at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.

2. Callie Day and Isaac Cates at Grant Recital Hall
My Instagram clip.

3. Wayne Hancock and IV at Live at the Divide (Bozeman)
My Instagram clips are here and here.

4. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

5. Speed, Whispers, Spine and Stakes Is High at the Ship
My Instagram clips are here and here.

6. Swamp Dogg at the Lawrence Arts Center
My review.

7. 10cc at Ranch Mart Shopping Center
My review.

8. Terence Blanchard with the E-Collective and Turtle Island String Quartet at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.

9. OHMA at the 1905 (Portland)
My review.

10. Branford Marsalis Quartet at the Folly Theater
My review.

11. Jake Heggie’s master class at Grant Recital Hall
My review.

12. Angela Hewitt at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

13. Traxman and Xanna at miniBar
My review.

14. Horsegirl, Sweeping Promises and Godcaster at the Bottleneck
My review.

15. Samara Joy at the Folly Theater
My review.

16. Nick Hmeljak, Henry Scamurra, Isaiah Petrie, Jordan Faught and Jaylen Ward at Westport Coffee House
My review.

17. Hayden Pedigo and Jens Kuross at the Ship
My review.

18. The Gesualdo Six at Village Presbyterian Church
My Instagram clip.

19. Militarie Gun, Liquid Mike and Public Opinion at the Bottleneck
My review.

20. Butch Hancock, Bonnie Whitmore, My Politic, Aaron Lee Tasjan and BJ Barham at the Woody Guthrie Festival (Okemah)
My review.

21. Dead Heat, Stakes Is High, Failure Drill and Honey at Howdy
My Instagram clip.

22. Leonidas Kavakos and Daniil Trifonov at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

23. Isaiah Collier at the Old Church (Portland)
My review.

24. Destroyer and Jennifer Castle at the Warehouse on Broadway
My review.

25. David Chael, Danny Embrey, Gerald Spaits and Brian Steever at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram clip.

26. Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift at Knuckleheads
My review.

27. Elvis Costello at the Uptown Theater
My Instagram clip.

28. Deborah Brown and George Colligan at Upcycle Piano Craft
My Instagram clip.

29. Alexander Adams, Seth Andrew Davis and Jeff Goulet with Shanté Clair and Krista Kopper at Grand Avenue Temple
My Instagram clip and snapshot.

30. Maria Ioudenitch and Navo Chamber Orchestra at Southminster Presbyterian Church
My Instagram snapshot.

31. Leonkoro String Quartet at the 1900 Building
My Instagram snapshot.

32. Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds and Dan Jones and the Squids at recordBar
My Instagram clip.

33. Made in France at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram snapshot.

34. Lil Wayne and Tyga at the T-Mobile Center
My review.

35. Bachathon at Village Presbyterian Church
My Instagram clip.

36. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Becoming a Redwood: The Songs of Lori Laitman and Dana Gioia” at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
My Instagram snapshot.

37. Vanessa Thomas, Kara Smith, Michael Pagán and Steve Rigazzi at the Blue Room
My Instagram clip.

38. Crystal Gayle at Ameristar Casino
My review.

39. Joseph Genualdi and Sean Chen at White Recital Hall
My review.

40. Isaac Cates, Oleta Adams and Callie Day at the Church of the Resurrection
My Instagram clip.

41. claire rousey and Gretchen Korsmo at Holocene (Portland)
My review.

42. Garibaldi Trio at the 1900 Building
My review.

43. Les Arts Florissants with Théotime Langlois de Swarte at the Folly Theater
My Instagram clip.

44. Bram and Lucy Wijnands with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestraa at the Folly Theater
My review.

45. Vine Street Rumble at Shawnee Town
My Instagram snapshot.

46. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Cruzar” with Mariachi los Camperos at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.

47. David Finckel and Wu Han at the Old Church (Portland)
My Instagram snapshot.

48. Devin Gray at the Ship
My review.

49. Steve Cardenas, Forest Stewart and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House
My Instagram clip.

50. Deftones, Idles at the Barbarians of California at the T-Mobile Center
My review.



Last year’s concert ranking is here.

September 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Welsh National Opera’s production of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of September 2025

1. Trio of Bloom- Trio of Bloom
Nels Cline, Craig Taborn and Marcus Gilmore.

2. Vox Clamantis- Pärt: And I heard a voice
Spectral spirituality.

3. Olivia Dean- The Art of Loving
Near-perfect pop.

4. Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura- Ki
Spartan piano and trumpet duo.

5. Cécile McLorin Salvant- Oh Snap
My kind of mixtape.

6. Atmosphere- Jestures
My review.

7. Mulatu Astatke- Mulatu Plays Mulatu
Ethiopian twilight.

8. Rochelle Jordan- Through the Wall
Don’t stop ‘til you get enough.

9. Les Arts Florissants- Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice
Oui français.

10. Jeff Tweedy- Twilight Override
One’s too many and thirty ain’t enough.


The Top Three Reissues and Reimaginings of September 2025

1. Joni Mitchell- Joni’s Jazz
One side now.

2. Kassa Overall- CREAM
My review.

3. Gary Bartz- The Eternal Tenure of Sound: Damage Control
Slow jamz.


The Top Ten Songs of September 2025

1. El Michels Affair featuring Norah Jones- "Carry Me Away"
Surf.

2. Kali Uchis featuring Raven Lenae- “Cry About It!”
Rainin’ in my heart.

3. Mariah Carey featuring Anderson Paak- “Play This Song”
Grown-and-sexy.

4. Rauw Alejandro featuring Mon Laferte- "Callejón de los Secretos"
Boulevard of broken dreams.

5. Tortoise- “Layered Presence”
Slow and steady.

6. Danny Brown- “Starburst”
Glitchy and twichy.

7. Black Lips- “Sx Sx Sx Men”
Filthy numerology.

8. Speed- "Peace"
Only one mode.

9. Lorna Kay- “I’m Never Drinking Again (Again)”
Hair of the dog.

10. Mike Reid and Joe Henry- “History”
Lovely lament.


The Top Ten Performances of September 2025

1. Callie Day and Isaac Cates at Grant Recital Hall
My Instagram clip.

2. 10cc at Ranch Mart Shopping Center
My review.

3. Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds and Dan Jones and the Squids at recordBar
My Instagram clips here and here.

4. Isaac Cates’ Affirmations: A Night of Worship with Oleta Adams, Callie Day, Angela Crawford, Alicia Peters-Jordan and Chrystal Rucker at the Church of the Resurrection
My Instagram clip.

5. Devin Gray at The Ship
My Instagram clip.

6. Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sánchez at Helzberg Hall
My Instagram snapshot.

7. Deftones, Idles and the Barbarians of California at T-Mobile Center
My review.

8. Henry Scamurra, Isaiah Petrie, Spencer Reeve and Jade Harvey at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival
My Instagram clip.

9. Nathaniel Gumbs at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
My Instagram clip.

10. Rex Hobart and the Honky Tonk Standards at SarKoPar Trails Park
My Instagram clip.



The previous monthly recap is here.

Concert Review: Deftones, Idles and Barbarians of California at T-Mobile Center

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I had ninety minutes to slap together a 400-word concert review of Deftones’ performance at a Kansas City casino in 2011. Assigned a general admission pass by the daily newspaper, I had no choice but to immerse myself in the ecstatic ebb and flow of the pit.

The debilitating volume and turbulent physicality rendered me insensible. My assessment was almost certainly incoherent. Deftones’ headlining appearance at the T-Mobile Center on Wednesday, September 17, made me realize I needn’t have felt inadequate about the tight deadline 14 years ago.

The ephemeral sludge and psychedelic crunch of Deftones’ performances is rooted in vibe rather than intellect. Much as it did for 1,200 fans in 2011, the band induced 12,000 people into a narcoleptic trance last night. (My seat in a remote corner of the arena was comped.)

I had a similar experience at Dia de los Deftones in San Diego in 2018. My memory of sets by Future, Ho99o9 and Doja Cat is more distinct than my recollection of Deftones’ metallic impressionism.

The punks in Idles don’t share Deftones’ murkiness. In addition to explicitly addressing immigration and fascism, front man Joe Talbot led the crowd in a chant of “Free Palestine.” Here’s a clip of "Gift Horse".

If Idles embodies the spirit of ‘76, The Barbarians of California represent the crassness of television beer commercials. The magnificence of the band’s stoner rock riffs was negated by the cheesiness of vocalist Aaron Bruno. Most everyone lapped it up.

August 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Národní divadlo Brno’s production of Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of August 2025

1. Linda May Han Oh- Strange Heavens
My review.

2. Aruán Ortiz- Créole Renaissance
Créolité.

3. Emily D’Angelo, Ben Bliss, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Metropolitan Opera- Tesori: Grounded
My review.

4. Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin- Ghosted III
Haunting.

5. Pino Palladino and Blake Mills- That Wasn’t a Dream
Too good to be true.

6. Sara Ruiz- Telemann: Fantaisies Pour La Basse de Violle
Viola da gamba.

7. Endlings- Parallel 03
End times soundtrack from Raven Chacon and John Dieterich.

8. The Good Ones- Rwanda Sings with Strings
Rapturous.

9. Miguel Zenón Quartet- Vanguardia Subterránea
Basement tapes.

10. Deftones- private music
Public record.

The Top Three Reissues, Reimaginings and Compilations of August 2025

1. Woody Guthrie- Woody at Home, Vol. 1 + 2
My review.

2. Anat Fort- The Dreamworld of Paul Motian
My review.

3. Antone’s 50th Allstars: 50 Years of the Blues
Tough Texas blues.

The Top Ten Songs of August 2025

1. Cécile McLorin Salvant- “What does blue mean to you?”
All blues.

2. Gabriel Jacoby- "Be Careful"
Voodoo.

3. Earl Sweatshirt- "Gamma"
Everybody loves the sunshine.

4. Patricia Brennan- "Antlia"
Lost in the stars.

5. Sam Gendel- "Stair 1"
Spiral.

6. Chance the Rapper featuring Jamila Woods- "No More Old Men"
Wisdom of the ages.

7. Carin León and Kacey Musgraves- "Lost in Translation"
Cómo se dice “fun”?

8. Margo Price and Tyler Childers- "Love Me Like You Used To"
A la Loretta and Conway.

9. Rodney Crowell- “Maybe Somewhere Down the Road”
Perspective.

10. Brad Mehldau- “The White Lady Loves You More”
Elliott Smith as chamber music composer.

The Top Ten Performances of August 2025

1. Horsegirl, Sweeping Promises and Godcaster at the Bottleneck
My review.

2. Seth Davis, Jeffrey Goulet, Alexander Adams, Shanté Clair and Krista Kopper at Grand Avenue Temple
My Instagram clip and snapshot.

3. Lil Wayne and Tyga at T-Mobile Center
My review.

4. Ann Pham, Sherry Dou and Ann Marie Rigler at the 13th Annual French Organ Music Festival at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
My Instagram snapshot.

5. Aaron Sizemore, DeAndre Manning and Brian Steever at the Music House
My Instagram clip.

6. Adam Galblum and Eddie Moore at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram snapshot.

7. Bobby Watson at Jay McShann Pavilion
My Instagram clip.

8. Kitty Degler and Robert Pherigo at All Souls Unitarian Church
My Instagram snapshot.

9. Mike Bourne & KC Boogie at Black Dolphin
My Instagram snapshot.

10. Moon City Big Band at Franklin Park
My Instagram clip.



The previous monthly recap is here.

September 2020 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the English National Opera’s production of Benjamin Britten’s “Death in Venice” by There Stands the Glass.

Screenshot of the English National Opera’s production of Benjamin Britten’s “Death in Venice” by There Stands the Glass.

Top Five Albums

1. Prince- Sign O’ The Times (Super Deluxe)

Eight hours of electrifying brilliance.

2. Steve Arrington- Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions

The glorious comeback of the famed funkateer.

3. The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection

My review.

4. Ainon- Drought

My review.

5. Deftones- Ohms

Veterans in fighting form.


Top Five Songs

1. Alicia Keys featuring Khalid- "So Done"

Me too.

2. Elizabeth Cook- “Stanley by God Terry”

Dim lights, thick smoke and loud, loud music.

3. Tyler Childers- "Long Violent History"

Southern man.

4. Conway the Machine featuring Flee Lord, Havoc and Lloyd Banks- "Juvenile Hell"

Ain’t no cure for the summertime blues.

5. Gillian Welch- "Picasso"

Both recently released sets of “lost” material are astonishingly excellent.


Top Five Livestreams

1. Bad Bunny- atop a bus in New York City

2. Midwest Chamber Ensemble- at BRC Audio Productions

3. Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle- Verzuz battle

4. Melissa Aldana Quartet- at Smalls

5. Hyde Park Jazz Festival (Alexis Lombre Quartet, Greg Ward’s Rogue Parade, etc.)


I conducted the same exercise in August, July, June, May, April, March, February and January.