Stephen Carpenter reveals when he expects to return to live duties with Deftones

Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter has confirmed that he will return to the stage this November after a lengthy absence from the live circuit. The news was shared via the social media accounts of his side project, Sol Invict.

“Thank you for all your kind words, feeling good and excited for you all to hear the new Sol Invicto record Loosely Aware. See you all at DDLD!” read the post. DDLD refers to Dia De Los Deftones, a yearly Deftones-curated festival, set to take place on November 2 at San Diego's Petco Park.

Carpenter was notably absent from the band's 50,000-strong San Francisco concert on August 17 and Lollapalooza before that, following his May 2022 statement that he will be sitting out on any future international tours. Eightfourseven guitarist Lance Jackman filled in for him alongside fellow stand-in guitarist Shaun Lopez.

Earlier this year, Carpenter opened up about his struggle with anxiety and why he doesn't want to tour as frequently as he did before.

“I'm sure you're aware that I haven't traveled internationally now for a while. It's just simple,” he told Rock Feed.

Deftones – Change (In the House of Flies) [Stephen Carpenter Play-Through] - YouTube

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“I think, like, every single one of us wrangles with getting on a plane in some was. And so for me, that anxiety, when it came around, it was right around the time of when the pandemic started, and I had already just made that decision.

“And that was because we were getting ready to go on a trip, we were going to travel to this far-off destination, and I was like, ‘Look, you know if I got to go all that way and then get stuck out there and then they want to jab me with something.’ I was like, ‘There's no way I'm going to do that.’

“Like all the anxiety that I deal with when it comes to that, I was like, ‘Look, I can just put a stop to this by just not doing it anymore.’ And it's like, I'm going to lose out. You know, it's a bummer. I want to go out there and I want to perform those shows and be around all the people that support us and enjoy us. But I'm like, it's a decision I made for myself.”

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Carpenter also talked about the impact the decision has on the band. While his bandmates have supported his decision, there’s still an element of struggle and compromise.

“They would love me there too, so that's not the easiest thing. But I'm very grateful that we have our friend Lance, who actually steps in and does all my parts of the music. And I'm just very grateful that I have that to give for the other guys so they can go [on] because they want to keep going.”

The 2024 edition of Dia De Los Deftones marks the festival's fifth anniversary. Alongside Deftones, this year sees IDLES, Sunny Day Real Estate, HEALTH, Paris Texas, Duster, Gel, and Qendresa join the lineup.