It took alt-metal heroes Deftones until 1995 to release their debut full-length, Adrenaline, but the California band had been a show circuit regular years before that, cutting their teeth in playing small venues. Playing alongside bands like Korn in their early days, it didn’t take long for record label execs to see interest in the developing band, eventually signing with Madonna’s Maverick Records.
Of course, there aren’t too many videos of the band in their early days (owing mostly to developing video camera technology – it’s obviously much easier now), but a recent video of the band performing “Answers” – from their Like Linus demo album released in 1993 – has surfaced on Youtube. In fact, the live performance is apparently the 2nd earliest ever from the band that’s been filmed, other than a 1990 performance. The date of the performance in 1992 here is unclear, but you can watch it below all the same.
As DeftonesLive kindly notes, “This recording features a different line-up of Deftones, with John Taylor on drums, who had replaced Abe Cunningham in 1991, after he left the band to tour with Phallucy. This is the earliest recording of the band to be put in circulation, aside from a commonly-known 1990 clip recorded at the Cattle Club.”
The video also sees the band in their infancy, with an almost reggae influence that has to be heard to be believed. Talk about a time capsule.
