Deftones Dedicate Reading Festival Performance to Late Bassist Chi Cheng

Deftones bassist Chi Cheng passed away in April of this year, despite spending several years languishing in a vegetative state after a 2008 vehicular accident. The band continued to perform with Sergio Vega taking up the bass in Cheng's stead, but one thing is for sure. Chi Cheng will always be with the Deftones, even if not on this earthly plane. The band dedicated its Reading Festival performance to Cheng this weekend (Friday, Aug. 23).

It was the first time the band performed in the U.K. since the bassist's passing, with frontman Chino Moreno telling the U.K.'s This Is Fake DIY that the musician he called a bandmate for years is gone but never, ever forgotten and that they try to view it with optimism. "It’s something that’s always in our minds, but we try to make it so that it’s more of a celebration of everything we’ve had, and to not let it weigh on us so much," he said. "I mean, we get there and we play and it’s going through our minds through the show constantly. It’d be impossible for him not to," he said.

According to the NME, Moreno dedicated the band's biggest hit 'Change (In the House of Flies)' from 2002's 'The White Pony' to Cheng, who was 42 when he died, saying simply, "This one is for Chi."

Abe Cunningham echoed those sentiments, saying, “It’s a celebration. He’s got a very strong spirit too, and he’s definitely still here."