Deftones played the biggest UK headline gig of their career with a huge gig topping the bill at Outbreak x All Points East in London last night (Sunday August 23). Check out photos, footage, the setlist and more from what went down below.
The Sacramento art-metal pioneers followed on from their massive winter tour closing show at The O2 back in February by returning to the capital to headline the Sunday of APE 2026’s first weekend – a day in collaboration with Outbreak festival after previous nights were topped by Lorde, Jorja Smith and Tems.
The line-up of the day reflected the broad influence and influences of Deftones, from the gothic post-punk of Interpol to the brutal energy of IDLES via the genre-smashing curiosity of JPEGMAFIA and emo heroism of AFI.
Playing the first of two London gigs that day before they headed to Village Underground for an intimate late-night afterparty gig to launch new album ‘This Mirror Weighs A Ton’, Interpol pulled a huge crowd to the East Stage for a pristine and punchy career-spanning set heavy on their debut ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’ (a favourite of Deftones’ frontman Chino Moreno).
Joined by The Walkmen drummer and Paul Banks’ MUZZ bandmate Matt Barrick as Sam Fogarino’s spinal surgery recovery continues, the NYC indie heroes tore through highlights ‘Evil’, ‘Rest My Chemistry’, ‘The New’, ‘Slow Hands’ and ‘PDA, with the classic essence of the band bleeding from two new numbers ‘See Out Loud’ and ‘Wings On Fire’ before their eighth album arrives on Friday (August 28).
A huge crowd remained at the East Stage for a fiery and infectious set from Aussie punks Amyl & The Sniffers, as singer Amy Taylor used her platform to speak out for women’s safety and a free Palestine as well hitting out at all “the right wing shit” permeating culture and politics. The mood of resistance continued on the other side of Victoria Park as IDLES pulled one of the biggest crowds of the weekend to the West Stage.
Opening with the wire-y diatribe against “racist c**ts” on new song ‘Levitator’, Joe Talbot and co. made their only scheduled London show of 2026 one to remember. Doing a roll call for “any scumbags in the audience” ahead of “new British national anthem” ‘I’m Scum’, Talbot led the crowd through widespread chants of “Free, free Palestine”, as well as opening up the pit with a headliner-worthy set of modern rock anthems ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’, ‘Mother’, ‘Dancer’, ‘Danny Nedelko’ and ‘Mr Motivator’. A huge summer is expected for IDLES in 2026 with their “most exciting album” yet just around the corner.
Enjoying a new lease of life after ‘Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)’, ‘Sextape’ and ‘Cherry Waves’ all went viral on TikTok in recent years – bringing a new spotlight on their immaculate back catalogue as well as love to their acclaimed 2025 album ‘Private Music’ – Deftones find themselves at the peak of their powers, now filling the field of the 50,000 capacity All Points East’s main East stage as far back as the eye could see.
Among the crowd were former Savages frontwoman turned solo star Jehnny Beth, Foals drummer Jack Bevan, Dead Man’s Shoes icon and musician Paddy Considine (who got inked with a ‘White Pony’ tattoo on the band’s last UK run).
While clearly grateful and touched by the occasion, Chino Moreno kept crowd banter to a minimum as he led Deftones through a powerful and emotionally-driven set that drew on the extremes of their arsenal from the brutal to the tender, from the sexy to the sinister, all bathed in stunningly cinematic visuals spread across All Points East’s vast screens.
The aforementioned viral tracks landed the best among the capacity crowd, but that’s not to diminish for the love reserved for the likes of the groove of ‘Swerve City’ and ‘Rocket Skates’, the pummelling ‘Milk Of The Madonna’, deranged majesty of ‘Change (In The House Of Flies)’, beloved rarity ‘Risk’ and feral closing old-school favourites ‘Lotion’ and ‘7 Words’.
With never a lull moment, Moreno and co played to their full emotional spectrum to create an unmatched atmosphere for Deftones’ latest finest hour.
Deftones played:
‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’
‘Around the Fur’
‘My Mind Is A Mountain’
‘Feiticeira’
‘Swerve City’
‘Mascara’
‘Rocket Skates’
‘Risk’
‘Rosemary’
‘Tempest’
‘Locked Club’
‘Sextape’
‘Infinite Source’
‘Entombed’
‘Xerces’
‘Korea’
‘Change (In the House of Flies)’
‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’
‘Milk Of The Madonna’
Encore:
‘Cherry Waves’
‘Lotion’
‘7 Words’
Speaking to NME about their accidental viral success last year, Moreno said: “Even if we thought about it that way – ‘Oh, we need to make something for everybody’ – I think we’d be fooling ourselves to think we had a formula to do that.”
Asked about their secret, he replied: “The answer is that I don’t know. I would like to think that it is because we’ve written good songs that have stood the test of time and transcend generations.”
Deftones’ summer tour continues with dates in Ireland, Scotland, France and Portugal, before they cap off the year with appearances at Sick New World in Texas and their own curated Dia De Los Deftones. Visit here for tickets and more information.
All Points East, meanwhile, concludes this weekend with two massive days headlined by Tyler, The Creator before Twenty One Pilots play the closing show on Sunday. Visit here for tickets and more information.
