Following the departure of longtime bass player Sergio Vega last month, Deftones have recruited a new member to assume touring duties: former Marilyn Manson bassist Fred Sablan.
In addition to serving with Manson between 2010 and 2014, Sablan has also played with Chelsea Wolfe and Peter Hook and the Light, and formed punk-rock supergroup Heavens Blade alongside Youth Code's Sara Taylor, Rob Zombie's Piggy D and Suicide Silence's Alex Lopez in 2018.
Making his live debut at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon last Thursday (April 14), Sablan provided the low end for a 19-track set including classics My Own Summer (Shove It), Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) and Sextape, as well as newer cuts like Genesis and Ohms. Check out footage below.
Also present for select songs on the set was a new touring guitarist whose identity remains officially undisclosed. However according to sources (via Theprp.com), the player is Lance Jackman, guitarist for Eightfourseven, Horseneck and Will Haven.
Deftones are currently on tour with French metallers Gojira and Aussie industrial rockers Vowws. The trek continues tomorrow (April 20) at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Upon his departure from Deftones last month, Sergio Vega attributed his exit to contractual issues, revealing that he'd never been made an official member of the band, despite repeatedly asking to become one.
“Covid was a breaking point for a lot of people and I started to question my place in the band and the future that I wanted for my career,” he said in a statement. “I really started to need something stable, because, at that point, my contract with them was canceled.”
He added that he was asked to fly to LA to help work out an “internal band situation” during the pandemic and obliged, on the condition that he wouldn't go back to his old contract temporary contract with the band. Despite his request, he was offered the “same deal” as before.
“At that point, it was clear there was no opportunity for growth for me, so I declined the offer,” he continued. “And then I called the guys immediately to see where the miscommunication was to resolve it but there was no response. A couple of days later, I received an email from their lawyer that their offer was withdrawn and that they wished me the best.”
Despite the split, Vega made it clear that he was thankful for his time with Deftones, adding that they had “truly changed” his life.
“I wish [I] had the chance to tell you this in person,” he said. “I want to know that I appreciate all the years we spent together, writing, performing, being taken into your worlds. I learned a lot from each one of you. When you brought me in, you created a new sense of passion for music that I will always cherish and carry with me.”
Vega joined Deftones in 2009, after the band's founding bassist Chi Cheng was left in a coma following a car crash in 2008. Cheng showed signs of improvement in the years that followed, but was never able to make a complete recovery, and passed away in 2013.
