Deftones guitarist Stef Carpenter set to miss European tour
“With everything going on in the world, I’m just not ready to leave home"
By Joe Goggins
Deftones lead guitarist Stef Carpenter has confirmed that he will not be joining the group on their imminent European tour.
The axeman posted a videoed statement to the alt-metal outfit’s Twitter page, saying he was “not ready” to leave the United States, without giving further reasoning. He played with the band on their US tour in recent weeks, as they finally took their critically acclaimed ninth studio album, ‘Ohms’, on the road.
“Hey, everyone, it’s Stef,” said Carpenter in his video statement. “As much as I would love to be on the road with my brothers right now, playing for all of our incredible international fans, I have chosen to remain playing domestically for now.”
“With everything going on in the world, I’m just not ready to leave home, or the country, yet. But, for now, our great friend from Sacramento, Lance, will be fulfilling my duties. Give him some love, have a great time. I wish I could see every one of you — thanks for understanding.” Carpenter did not go into more detail, but is a noted anti-vaxxer. In 2020, he told the Tin Foil Hat with Sam Tripoli podcast: “[There’s] never been one single vaccine that’s ever worked ever. All poisons, you can never get it out of your body, [your] body has no means to expel it, it’s stuck in you forever and you just suffer with whatever it becomes.”
He also cast doubt on the effectiveness of face masks against the spread of COVID-19, saying: “Most people know that it’s bullshit. The germaphobes…we can’t do anything but try to help them out, because they genuinely believe that there’s a deadly virus going around.” Assuming he is unvaccinated, he would have found traversing mainland Europe, and its myriad COVID-related border requirements, highly challenging.
His absence from the tour means he will not take the stage at Download Festival next month, or at an unusually intimate London show at Kentish Town Forum on June 13. In addiction to a slew of Ohms tracks, classics like ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’, ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’, and ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ have been given regular airings on the US run; there is no indication this will change in Carpenter’s absence. They are joined on the Download lineup by fellow metal heavyweights Kiss, Iron Maiden, and System of a Down.