Deftones have started performing venerated White Pony cut Passenger live after five years.
The US nu metal giants added the track back to their setlist on August 1. It was at a concert at the Metro in Chicago, held to let the band prepare for their set at Lollapalooza in the same city two days later. The song’s last live airing was in November 2019.
Footage of Deftones playing Passenger can be seen in the video below and starts shortly after the 40-minute mark.
Passenger was released as part of the White Pony record on June 20, 2000. The song featured Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan on co-lead vocals.
Keenan reflected on working on the track with Deftones in a 2020 Revolver interview: “I don’t recall whether I showed up with completed lyrics or not. Like I said, it’s been awhile. But this visit I was able to assume the role that I’ve become accustomed to. Most pieces in place, [now] navigate the puzzle in front of you. Love that track.”
Despite never being released as a single, Passenger became one of the most popular songs on White Pony. It has 104 million streams on Spotify at time of publication, making it the third-most listened-to track on the album after Change (In The House Of Flies) (416 million) and Digital Bath (114 million).
Passenger has been played live 450 times total, per setlist wiki setlist.fm. In 2010, Deftones performed Passenger with Keenan’s parts being handled by Paramore vocalist Hayley Williams.
Deftones are currently touring without guitarist Stephen Carpenter. Carpenter pulled away from doing international shows with the band in May 2022, saying in a statement: “With everything going on in the world, I’m just not ready to leave home and leave the country yet.” The guitarist had previously voiced anti-vaccine views.
Last month, Carpenter explained in an appearance on Rock Feed that struggles with anxiety contributed to his stepping away from Deftones’ overseas touring. “I think, like every single one of us wrangles with getting on a plane in some way… And so for me, that anxiety, when it came around, it was right around the time of when the pandemic started and I had already just made that decision,” he said.
Deftones will next play at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco with System Of A Down on August 17. They’ll then headline Dia De Los Deftones in San Diego on November 2. Both shows are sold-out.
