Aftershock Festival Day 3 Recap: The Original Misfits, Mudvayne, The Offspring, Gojira, Machine Gun Kelly and more
Aftershock Festival
Day 3
w/ The Original Misfits, Mudvayne, The Offspring, Gojira, Machine Gun Kelly, and more
Discovery Park
Sacramento, CA
Saturday, October 9th, 2021
Review by Jared Stossel
I woke up about an hour ago as I’m setting out to write this, and I’m digesting everything that took place yesterday for Day 3 of Aftershock Festival in Sacramento. I saw a few old favorites, as well as several acts that I’d never had the chance to see, after all of these years. There will be a lot to unpack with today’s recap, so let’s get right into it.
After taking the shuttle over, I ended up getting into the park just before 1 PM. My day was kicked off with a set from alternative rock act Blame My Youth. I was a bit surprised to see a straight-up alternative band on a festival lineup dominated by heavy metal and punk rock, but I was happy to see it and how they won the crowd over. I ended up catching a good portion of the set from Ded, a metal act from Arizona that are currently on tour with Black Veil Brides and In This Moment. For going on stage early in the day, Ded came out full of energy and grit and put on a really engaging performance.
Over on the Coors Light Stage, South of Eden brought some classic rock flair to the masses while Badflower showcased a unique brand of emo and alternative rock, providing a great segue for acts that would follow later in the day. However, I need to comment on the Jack Daniel’s Stage, as I saw nothing but fantastic set after fantastic set all day. August Burns Red and Atreyu, two long-time staples of music scene that I’ve grown up with, brought some of the best performances of the entire day. August Burns Red, currently on the road celebrating the anniversary of their Leveler album, played with a refined prowess that showed why they’ve transcended well above their peers on a technical level in this scene. Despite a lineup change that lost founding vocalist Alex Varkatzas, the band powered through a number of their biggest hits with clean vocalist Brandon Saller (who was previously on both drumming and vocal duties) at the helm.
A few minutes past 5:10, Machine Gun Kelly took the stage. This was one of my most anticipated acts of the weekend, and for good reason. With the exception of The Original Misfits, I think that Machine Gun Kelly was one of the only performers at Aftershock that made the show all his own. The video walls adorning the side of the stage played a video of MGK brushing his teeth, looking out into the crowd as if it were a window and he was looking down on the crowd of thousands. By the time the band took the stage, he launched straight into “title track”, the opener from his pop-punk entry Tickets To My Downfall. While it wasn’t perfect, and was cut a few minutes short due to him taking the stage later than his listed set time, Machine Gun Kelly brought with him a thoroughly entertaining performance.
An important thing to note about this performance is that a select portion of the crowd decided to show up specifically to boo Machine Gun Kelly due to comments that he made at a recent festival about the band Slipknot (I’m not getting into why; the Internet really is a stupid place). Despite the “mixed feelings” that he noted when he took the stage, Kelly noted that he wasn’t even sure if he had wanted to play, but told the crowd he saw a ten-year-old girl get her poster ripped up by guys at another festival, just because she liked his music. “So I’m doing this show for her, and everyone else that came to see me today.” A roar of applause washed over the crowd, drowning out the trolls.
From Machine Gun Kelly’s set onward, Aftershock provided fans with a lineup that evoked some of the absolute best that metal and punk had to offer. Anti-Flag and Body Count closed out the Coors Light Stage with outright ferocity (although I recall some sound issues during Anti-Flag’s set). Gojira proved why they are a Grammy nominated metal act; I had never seen them and was enthralled by how good they sounded. I have seen The Offspring countless times, so I decided to wait it out at the Jack Daniel’s Stage and secure a good spot for Mudvayne, but the crowd was able to watch The Offspring’s video feed, and they still demonstrate that they can put on a damn good show.
Mudvayne, in their second appearance on stage in over a decade, opened with an unmatched brutality as Chad Gray screamed into his microphone while the band hammered away on their respective instruments. Dressed like something out of a 1980s’ sci-fi/horror epic, the Illinois four-piece performed without missing a step, and the crowd in attendance ate up every moment.
On the adjoining stage, one of the most highly anticipated moments in all of punk rock kicked off around 10:00 PM, with The Original Misfits taking the stage and crushing through a setlist of nearly thirty songs. Crushing is a word I don’t use lightly, as guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein pretty much just beats the shit out of his guitar when he plays, and bassist Jerry Only snapped two or three basses over his knee before tossing them into the crowd. Original vocalist Glenn Danzig managed to keep up with them, bringing his trademark “punk-meets-Elvis” vocal stylings into hit Misfits songs like “I Turned Into A Martian”, “Earth A.D.”, “Astro Zombies”, and countless others. The stage, plastered with the iconic skull logo and two gigantic pumpkins on either side, is as representative of the horror-punk icons as anything could be.
I judged Misfits for a long time (okay, I judged Glenn Danzig) and had often looked down upon them as one of the influential punk bands. They had never clicked with me, even though I love punk and I love horror films, comic books, and the like. With that being said, as a reviewer, I must give you my honest opinion. I can’t lie: Misfits put on one of the best punk shows I’ve ever seen. It’s clear why people love them so much to this day, and why they’re considered legends in the scene. This very well may be the last time we ever get to see this iteration of The Original Misfits, with all three people responsible for its original incarnation under one roof. I’m glad I got to witness it at least once.
The Original Misfits Set List
Death Comes Ripping
I Turned Into A Martian
Vampira
Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight
Skulls
Some Kinda Hate
Where Eagles Dare
All Hell Breaks Loose
Hollywood Babylon
London Dungeon
Earth A.D.
Green Hell
Astro Zombies
Hybrid Moments
Who Killed Marilyn
Night of the Living Dead
Horror Business
Halloween
Die, Die My Darling
Devilock
Violent World
Last Caress
Encore
20 Eyes
Teenagers From Mars
Children in Heat
Bullet
We Are 138
Encore 2
Come Back
Attitude
Aftershock Festival
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