In a discography full of big moments, Passenger is still a song that stands out for Deftones. One of the many highlights of 2000's White Pony, its haunting and harsh ebbs and flows still have the power to captivate all these years later. On the original recording, Tool's Maynard James Keenan features and adds his own distinctive howl to proceedings, allowing the track to sway between glacial and gritty, and has joined them to perform it a handful of times in the past.
But back in 2010 in Luxembourg, they were joined by a different special guest. The festival was Rock-a-Field, taking place on June 27, and featured Deftones alongside The Prodigy, Biffy Clyro, Pendulum and Paramore. Playing a set filled with tracks from Diamond Eyes which had been released a month earlier, alongside choice cuts from Adrenaline and Around The Fur, Passenger made its appearance nearly at the end of the appearance. And that is when Paramore's Hayley Williams joined the band on stage. Hayley has spoken at length in the past about the admiration she had for and the influence the band had on her when her own band was starting. In an interview with Vulture, Hayley admitted: "The guys and I didn’t listen to pop punk before writing [2005 debut single] “Pressure“. We listened to heavier stuff like Deftones. We wanted to be darker. Suddenly, we wrote “Pressure,” and that was it — we were gonna write emo bops!" So it just goes to show just how different the band's journey could have been.
And when it came to stepping on stage with such a special band that meant so much to her, Hayley grasped the opportunity with both hands and put her all in. Delivering such cripplingly emotional words with such soul and vigour, she takes the performance to another level completely. Matching Chino Moreno's energy, bouncing around the space they have with unbridled excitement, you see the smile creeping across his face every time words leave Hayley's mouth. It's a special moment for both parties and a performance that has stood the test of time.
Indulge in it for yourself below.
Paramore recently released their new album This is Why via Atlantic Records, which Hayley described as the band's most political collection of songs to date.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she had this to say: "It's our most political album in the sense that, I would expect or I would hope, any single person can find something that they fully understand that they're directly impacted by when it comes to social politics or otherwise," says Williams. "And I don't think that you should have to be a minority or a marginalised person to have enough empathy to see it and to not only see it, but to try and figure out what the step is that you should take. Doing that type of soul searching and also paying enough attention, it just naturally brings up a lot in a person."
