Part of MTV's Music in High Places series of location performances, Deftones: Live in Hawaii features the Sacramento nu-metal grungemeisters in largely acoustic mode on Hawaii's Big Island. The idea of the series is to com... more »bine travelogue with "unplugged" performance, although this episode is interspersed with full electric treatments of Deftones songs. The travelogue element of the show is very fine, considering the relatively low-tech cinematography. We see whales leaping from the evening ocean, volcanic steam tumbling at speed over vertiginous clifftops, turtles paddling through crystal clear water, molten lava slithering across quasi-lunar landscapes. Unfortunately, the members of Deftones come over a bit Beavis & Butt-head in the face of all of this natural beauty ("A whole lot of lava, man, it was really cool"). The very presence of these plump, goateed, combat-trousered nu metallurgists feels like a sort of desecration of the spirituality of Hawaii. That said, their acoustic performances of songs like "Knife Party" and "Digital Bath" feel much stronger and soulful than the disappointingly generic electric versions. So maybe some Hawaiian atmosphere did rub off after all. --David Stubbs« less
"Deftones - Live in Hawaii was completely beyond my expectations.The acoustic versions of Knife Party, The Boy's republic, Digital Bath and Change (in the house of flies) are amazing.
Most fans are expecting most of the dvd to be "hard" and have a few soft segments. But it has enough metal and acoustics to make the DVD perfect for the open-minded fan.
Music in High Places shows a more down to earth side of the guys that you probably wouldn't be able to see else where.I suggest purchasing this if you are a fan of Deftones or just a music fan in general."
Give Them a Break
Jacob | Michigan | 03/19/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Ok, some people have been complaining about Chino having a bad voice live, well what do you expect, he was breathing in SULFUR DIOXIDE all day. And even with that he didn't do too bad at all (Other than Digital Bath and Change, those weren't too good, but those are awfully hard songs to sing in the first place). Besides, it isn't like he pulled an Ashlee Simpson and lip synced, or cancelled the show, he still sang live because he has the guts to. The instrumentals were fantastic, but the recording could be somewhat better. He has some amazing screams such as at the end of Headup and Be Quiet and Drive."
Deftones fan
Nichole | San Antonio, Tx USA | 10/07/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I thought that it was great when they showed the guys hanging out enjoying Hawaii, but I wasn't too thrilled with their live preformance on stage. I know Chino was having some trouble with his throat at the time so when we tried to scream on stage it wasn't very pretty. When they were preforming the accoustic version of their songs I thought it was great. It was just that one thing that threw them off. They can play much better than that, but you can't expect them to play perfect all the time. I don't know everything that is on the dvd because I saw it on mtv sometime last year, so they might have some neat things on the dvd."
The acoustic songs make this dvd
M. V. Mollica | Wildwood Crest, NJ USA | 01/20/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"First of all I should say I'm am a huge Deftones fan. I think of them as one of the more talented groups who aren't afraid of trying new things and exploring thier own versatility. I also love Hearing songs stripped down for an acoustic performance.
I have to agree with others that his voice is off during the stage performances. My friend and I had a huge laugh during Change(in the house of flies). It almost seems like his jaw is going to be dislocated.
There are definitely some great parts on this dvd and If you're a fan and you're considering this puchase after reading the reviews then for god's sake man, buy it."
I recommend this dvd to any fans of the deftones
nathan ibanez | london, england | 09/14/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"like i said in the title i recommend it to any fan of the deftones but be cautious,dont expect to see chino and co. rocking the crowd.The scenery is nice and the acoustic performances are totally amazing (knife party,this boys republic) they also incorparate the idea of having some of the songs split into part acoustic and part rock performance (digital bath,change)the only thing that stops this dvd getting full marks is chinos voice as u can tell he shuldnt be singing in his condition but other then that its full marks"