According to NME, rock and metal band Deftones performed the song “Melanie” for the first time in nearly two decades at this year’s Dia De Los Deftones. The band broke out the song on Saturday, November 7 as they headlined their Dia De Los Deftones festival at Petco Park in San Diego, California.

“Melanie”, which they wrote for the 2008 album Eros, an LP that Deftones were recording at the time their late bassist Chi Cheng was involved in a car crash in 2008. He remained in a semi-comatose state for several years, and so the group decided to shelve the album and start fresh with fill-in bassist Sergio Vega, eventually returning with Diamond Eyes in 2010.

Cheng passed away in 2013 and Eros has remained unreleased. In 2014, on the one-year anniversary of Cheng’s death, Moreno shared a studio version of “Smile”, the only track to ever be liberated from the album, and they only played it live in 2019. At Dia De Los Deftones 2026, they have played “Melanie” from that record for the first time since 2008 and the frontman told the audience afterwards that “This song doesn’t exist”.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat