Temperatures passed the billion-degree mark. Aftershock attendees could be seen swimming and tubing down the rivers of sweat flowing between stages. More weed was smoked than on Snoop Dogg’s entire pilgrimage to Jamaica, and clouds of dust rivaled the worst sandstorms of Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, it was a riotously rockin’ good time at Aftershock’s sold-out 2014 incarnation, as the sun scorched 30,000 metalheads to cinders and Rob Zombie, Mastodon, Lacuna Coil, Rise Against, Five Finger Death Punch and more delivered a juggernaut of hard rock and metal to Sacrament’s Discovery Park.
Aftershock Review, Day One: Sweat, Dirt & Metal Rule The Day
Check out Crave’s Day 2 Aftershock review below, where the crowd was often times just as entertaining as the acts we all braved the solar lava to see.
Tongue-Singing Champion: Tim McIlrath of Rise Against
How the hell does a dude sing with his tongue sticking out constantly?
Sight For Sweaty Eyes: Lacuna Coil
Black-clad Lacuna frontwoman Cristina Scabbia had the crowd enraptured with her delicate crooning before bursting into each chorus with roaring fervor, despite triple-digit temps and the sun unmercifully beating down during their midday set.
Mid-day Metal MVPs: Mastodon
Ginger-Viking guitarist Brent Hines volleyed vocal duties with bassist Troy Sanders in a grimace-and-roar-off as the crowd tripled in size between the first and third songs. Those familiar with the band’s live show won’t be surprised by the little onstage variation, but the excellence in performance of such intricately crushing psychedelic-prog rock is captivating no matter how many times we’ve seen them.
Seriously, you’re blocking my view with that hair.
(Squeeze) Yep, they’re metal.
Hate Bait: Ivan Moody of Five Finger Death Punch
Hey bro, let’s write a song about breaking “faggot” bones and declaring war on anything and everything. Manifesting a juggernaut of hateful negativity for the sake of entertainment Five Finger Death Punch frontman Ivan Moody’s lyrics are dumb-thug rage-baiting nonsense without a hint of objective cause beyond raw aggression.
Little Kids at 100-Degree Metal Shows = You Suck at Parenting
Dude. Leave your kids at home. The little ones pictured above were both crammed breathlessly against the rail while maniacal fans went completely apeshit around them to Five Finger Death Punch. All around them, people were beating each other senseless in the churning pit-cauldron, with countless intensity-overwhelmed fans pouring over the security barrier like a human waterfall while 5FDP’s Ivan Moody threw “motherfucker” around every three seconds. The kids looked equally overwhelmed, exhausted and downright scared whether music was playing or not. Can’t find a babysitter? Don’t go to the show. These kids were absolute troopers, but to those who brought these adorable little rockers to a rage-filled sweat fest of violence, body-crushing crowd packing and ungodly heat, you’re terrible parents. Seriously. You suck.
First-time crowdsurfing champ (“Ohgodohgodohgod”)
Looking like Jillian from Workaholics, this brave soul took a shot at crowd-surfing and succeeded – but not without a bit of panic. She didn’t lose her golf visor, sunglasses or even her earplugs = bonus points.
Fashion Over Breathing: Skeleton Girl
To hell with the plight of girls in heels – this picture was taken as temperatures hit 104 degrees in Discovery Park. How this girl remained conscious with a hood and skeleton mask while crushed at the very front of the pit is beyond us, but hats off to dedication.
Zombie-Funk Apocalypse of Fun
Rob Zombie channeled James Brown on Sunday as the horror-metal legend and his apocalyptically-clad cohorts delivered a maniacally awesome headlining set that eschewed the standard doom and gloom of the genre he’s mastered, for something much more funky. The man acted like a goddamned metal-funk kingpin who jived, strutted and roared his way through a wildly celebrated performance in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. Rolling through every classic jam from “Living Dead Girl” to “Super Beast” and back again, Zombie and his goth bell-bottoms inspired a maniacally aggressive pit and girls flashing their goods like it was the pre-smartphone era.
“I’m feelin’ those lighters”
There may or may not have been a tear of nostalgic sentimentality streaming down Fred Durst’s face as this picture was taken.
See you next year Aftershock!
Huge thanks to Danny Wimmer Presents and Ashton-Magnuson Media for putting together another great, sold-out Aftershock fest.
All Photos: Johnny Firecloud
