Show Recap: Aftershock 2024 Once Again Proved to Be an Explosive Four Days of Great Tunes
Earlier this month, MetalSucks guest correspondent Sean Murray headed out to Sacremento’s Discovery Park to attend this year’s Aftershock Festival. As a roving reporter of sorts, our guy braved the elements, got up close and personal with scores of people, and waded through the throngs of excited rock and metal fans just looking to have a great time.
The following is his account of how things went down each day, along with daily photo galleries so you can live vicariously through Murray’s experience. We’d like to give a huge shout out and thank you to Danny Wimmer Presents for hooking us up with access to this year’s festivities. Those guys always put on some killer festivals, so be sure to check out next year’s Aftershock, along with any other festival that Danny Wimmer Presents… presents…
Thursday
I arrived shortly after noon and took a first lap of the festival grounds with a fellow photographer, to get the lay of the land, and see actual walking distances between stages. I was here two years ago, and few things have changed since then, so I had a general idea of the layout to start with.
While on my little tour, I caught two acts: Jeris Johnson and The Funeral Portrait, who were playing simultaneously on different stages. Both had pretty sizeable crowds for Thursday at lunchtime.
Heading to one of the main stages to check out Orgy was a trip. I haven’t heard much of them lately but wanted to reminisce about the old days.
Return To Dust was next on the bill, and being one of Danny Wimmer’s new projects, it was worth checking out. He has been heavily promoting them on his socials and they were definitely worth the trip to the far stage. Throughout the three songs I shot, their heavy grunge grooves were infectious, and lead singer Matt Bielawski’s vocals were at times giving me early Alice in Chains vibes. Being a product of the Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots era, it was great to see Return to Dust doing the genre justice and keeping it alive.
Fresh off my 90’s grunge flashback, Sevendust brought the crowd out in droves. Lead singer Lajon Witherspoon had them eating out of the palm of his hand. He asked for circle pits, called for crowd surfers, and the throngs of people watching happily obliged.
Being a fan of Every Time I Die, I was intrigued to check out the new hot thing, Better Lovers. Having ex-Dillinger Escape Plan (another band I loved) lead vocalist Greg Puciato behind the mic was an added bonus.
DWP always tosses a few random non rock/metal bands into the mix and Cypress Hill were definitely one of them today. Like one huge sing-along, for 45 minutes, we watched as Sen Dog and B-Real took us on a trip down memory lane with hit after hit. Straight back into the rock, Ministry came out with “B.D.E (Big Dick Energy)”, “Goddamn White Trash”, and “Just Stop Oil”, which had the stage emblazoned with Confederate and American flag backdrops, making quite the statement.
Cut over to Halestorm, who had Lzzy Hale celebrating her 41st birthday, she walked on stage wearing a playful tiara and wasted no time telling the crowd to raise their horns. Songs like “I Miss The Misery”, “Love Bites”, and “I Get Off” had the crowd going insane from start to finish.
Moments before Halestorm walked off stage, an alert was sent to everyone’s phone, warning them of mature audiences, and extreme visuals for Rammstein’s Til Lindemann. At Louder Than Life weeks previous, I saw parents covering their children’s eyes and walking them away from the stage. In the list of shock rockers, Til Lindemann is probably the wildest I have ever seen live. While his stage performance is quite tame, with all members of the band wearing red latex and leather bondage gear, it’s the digital backdrop that we were being warned about. During the set, we saw a person get their lips stitched shut, a morbidly obese person dances naked, and female genitalia close up singing along to the lyrics of “Golden Shower”.
Choosing direct support for a band like Slayer is as difficult as one would think, but DWP chose wisely. For more than an hour, Pantera honored the late Abbott brothers and their legacy to heavy metal with a dozen of the band’s fan favorites. Halfway through their set, they played a tribute video to the fallen brothers set to “Cemetery Gates”. The crowd responded in full force, testing security for the first time today with more crowd surfers than they could handle. In the first three songs, it almost became impossible to take photos, and we were ushered out at the end of the third song for our safety.
After the loss of a day in Louisville at Louder Than Life, DWP offered fans free tickets to witness Slayer at Aftershock. I’m not sure how many people took them up on that offer, but there wasn’t an empty space near the main stage in the moments leading up to the start of their set. Fans were treated to 20 songs for over an hour and a half, with enough pyrotechnics to level a small village. At times 12-14 streams of fire were more than 20 feet in the air. It was nonstop and relentless throughout the set, but fans loved it and screamed louder for more.
Friday
I headed in early to check out a local-Ish band Black Map. Being a California-based group, they brought in a bit of a crowd, especially for 11:30 in the morning opening the festival day. Budderside, another California-based group opened the stage closest to the west entrance where people were starting to arrive in waves.
Vended, fronted by Corey Taylor’s son, Griffin, opened the mainstage today, to a larger crowd than I’ve seen them draw in a while. There was something about today’s performance that was different. I’ve seen them a multitude of times over the past two years, and each time there was something off, but today it was all on point. The music sounded full, and the vocals were crisp and clear. No real stage antics… just straight metal music. The crowd responded in full force, warming up for the day to come and the painful night of Slipknot mosh pits to end it.
I was told not to miss British Lion as it was Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris’ other group, so of course I made sure to check them out. With no expectations at all, I found them to be a good solid rock band. Punk rockers Bayside, on the smallest stage, brought back heavy Warped Tour memories, while Dropkick Murphys brought the party to the main stage. Vastly different crowds at each, both had infectious energy in their own way.
Rise Against, who are currently on their fall tour, gave us a ten-song set of hits, with lead singer Tim McIlrath stopping at points to let the crowd take over. With nine albums under their belt, they essentially only touched on four of them over the 50-minute set, leaving the crowd with more when they tore into final song Savior.
Evanescence followed with an hour of music that showcased not only lead vocalist Amy Lee’s talent, but also the entire band. With only five albums to their name, they touched on four with 2021’s The Bitter Truth getting most of the spotlight over the 14-song set.
Direct support tonight came in the form of Five Finger Death Punch. While our publication was not permitted to cover them directly, I still roamed over to catch their set. Lead singer Ivan Moody, looked good, after falling through the stage at Louder Than Life and breaking a rib. He commanded the stage and most importantly the crowd. If he called out, the crowd answered. Commencing with “Welcome to the Circus”, they touched on five albums throughout their set and even treated the crowd to their infamous cover of The Animals’ “House of The Rising Sun”. The band shot guitar picks at crowd members with pinpoint precision, and Ivan even picked a child out of the crowd with his parents to watch the set from side stage, making for one family’s unforgettable night.
Slipknot ended the evening with their 25th anniversary setlist, that doesn’t touch on anything after 1999. Setting some of the fans into a frenzy on social media after the performance, it was fun to see how many “band wagon” fans there really are. I would not call Slipknot mainstream music by any means, and most fans are faithful and have been dedicated for years, even dressing in full outfits for an entire day of 100+ degree heat at times to show their love. So, to see so many people upset by not hearing non-nostalgia-tinged tracks like “Snuff”, “Custer”, or “Psychosocial” was amusing to me. For me it was great to see absolutely no theatrics. Just nine guys on stage, having a great time putting out some amazing metal music.
Saturday
Starting off today with another throwback to my youth was Alien Ant Farm. One of the openers on the main stage, the crowd stopped as they entered the main gate, and it was a good-sized crowd by the end of their set. New Years Day, fronted by Ash Costello has grown over the years and brings a reasonable sized crowd. With the sun beating down, and the stage in direct sunlight the energy level was a bit lower this afternoon but would pick up into nightfall.
In my opinion, Rival Sons is like a mastery class in music. With lead guitarist Scott Holiday’s solo capabilities and Jay Buchanan’s vocals the 30-minute set was more of a jam session than anything. There was no rush, or emergency, just four guys on stage having a great time. While they only played a few songs, it felt like a full set.
With Coal Chamber dropping off the festival, they called on their good friends in Dope to replace them. Dope jumped at the chance and was a great addition to an already packed stage lineup today. Sleeping With Sirens came to party! Lead singer, Kellin Quinn danced all over the stage while guitarists jumped off every riser available. It was all out chaos onstage, and the crowd was no better, with crowd surfing and mosh pits nonstop over the 40-minute-long set.
Anthrax saw drummer Charlie Benante doing double duty, having been on stage in previous days with Pantera. Thrash metal is strong in California, with lead singer Joey Belladonna working the stage, like a rabid animal trying to escape capture. At times he paused to raise a mic to the crowd as they shouted back lyrics to songs like “A.I.R.”, “Caught in a Mosh”, and “I Am the Law”.
Calming the crowd down was Staind, with lead singer Aaron Lewis leaning on a mic stand with a cigarette in one hand belting out songs as the crowd sang along. The songs would flow slower to heavier and back again before ending with heavy hitter “Mudshovel”, that tore the crowd into a frenzy.
If there was an award for best bring your son to work day, Breaking Benjamin’s Ben Burnley would win in a landslide. Set center stage between two speakers was a small mic stand, and when Breaking Benjamin took the stage, Ben’s son, also named Ben, stood front and center, guitar in hand, ready to play. Taking ques from dad throughout, Benjamin Jr. did as dad did and enjoyed every minute of it. There were times in the set when Sr. would point out that one day his son would take over and he would be side stage in a wheelchair watching proudly. Hopefully that time is still far away as Jr. is only 10 years old.
The next and last time slot before the headliner was the toughest, with Judas Priest, Tech N9ne and Lorna Shore all playing at the same time. As far as I could tell all three stages were equally as packed, and Tech N9ne even took to his socials in awe of the crowd stating:
“When I saw that Judas Priest and Lorna Shore was going on the same time as I was I had no idea I was gonna walk on stage to a crowd so huge that I couldn’t see where the people stopped”
That statement in its own explains the diversity of the crowd here at Aftershock this weekend.
With the darkness creeping in, there was only one band left tonight. Their only festival appearance for 2024, Iron Maiden currently on their Future Past Tour was set to close tonight. Before going onstage, the stage lights dimmed, and spotlights were put on the crowd who waved flags and showed off their shirts with pride. One older gentleman in the front row, had flown in from Hawaii for his chance to see them for the first time in his life. For two hours Bruce Dickinson ran the stage, throwing his mic stand in the air, with the energy of a teenager. The band, who are all in their 60’s, had more energy than I’ve ever seen, rivaling even some of the youngest bands on the bill this weekend. With 17 studio albums to choose from, we got the best of the best with 15 songs touching on seven albums. A perfect ending to a great day of rock and roll.
Sunday
While walking in on Sunday, Point North and Drowning Pool rang through the air. A slow start to the fourth day, the crowd trickled in slower than previous days, possibly due to the late-night ending of Iron Maiden. Powerman 5000 was on a smaller stage, and pulled a huge crowd with more adding as the set went on. Murv3, the bassist, was the most entertaining, dancing, and posing in odd positions making faces at the fans, and overall having a great time onstage. Lead singer Spider One, meanwhile, thanked the crowd for coming out.
From Ashes to New and Jinjer followed with more of the masses showing up ready to throw down on this last day. Badflower saw lead singer Josh Katz jump into the crowd and surf while singing, trusting the crowd to keep him up, the energy was electric. Although the set times early on were shorter than one would hope, it gave enough time to play through hit songs and throw in a few newer ones to make the crowd want more.
Nothing More, with a fresh new album Carnal, started heavy and didn’t let up. Walking out on stage and dropping straight into hit “House on Sand”, the crowd responded with multiple mosh pits and absolute insanity behind the barricade. Directly into “If It Doesn’t Hurt”, and then older hit “Go to War” the heavy songs kept flowing. It wasn’t until they went into “Angel Song” when Disturbed frontman David Draiman joined Jonny Hawkins onstage that the crowd became so loud it was almost unbearable.
It was a hard sell to follow that set, but Skillet was a prime choice to try on the main stage. On a side stage across the park was a smaller group Set It Off. While not quite Skillet’s size, the crowd flocked to them in droves to party and have an all-around great time during their half hour set.
Seether and Shadows Fall hit their stages at the same time, with what I would think was a pretty even split on the crowd. Leaving Shadows Fall I couldn’t see the end of the crowd, and there were even California state patrolmen watching from the freeway above while blocking a lane from gawkers. Lead singer Brian Fair, with dreads down to his ankles headbanged around the stage flailing his hair everywhere working the stage like Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe before he cut his dreads.
Meanwhile, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine played the smallest of stages, while Ronnie Radke and Falling in Reverse played a quite larger mainstage. Morello brought out his son Roman to guest on RATM hits, while once again pyro flew through the air on Falling in Reverse’s stage. Ronnie and his stage antics are always fun to see, as he paces back and forth on a riser, tossing the mic around, and cracking jokes at the crowd. After “All My Life”, he pretended to toss his Stetson into the crowd, and when people jokingly booed that he didn’t, he cracked jokes about fans taking everything from him if they had the chance.
Disturbed played as direct support tonight. For more than an hour we saw this quartet from Chicago play through their catalogue, including covers like “Land of Confusion”, “The Sound of Silence” and newest one “Don’t Tell Me”, which had David Draiman pull Royale Lynn on stage to cover Ann Wilson’s part. No flames, or gimmicks, just raw untamed music from a group that has been doing it for more than 28 years.
Chosen to close out four days of metal and mayhem was none other than Motley Crue. An amazing intro on the video boards pumped the crowd up, while Motley Crue followed through with a 16-song set that saw the crowd sounding better at times singing along than the band themselves. Playing two newer songs with “Dogs of War” and Beastie Boys cover “Fight for Your Right”, they touched on seven of their nine studio albums over their hour and a half set.
With a band like Iron Maiden on the bill… who after all of these years, are still top notch, full of energy and running the stage, I would have been intrigued to see Motley Crue have the same level of stamina, to end the weekend on a high note. Instead, I walked out after a few songs with thousands of other people who decided Disturbed was how their night should end.
