Aftershock Festival Day 2 Recap: Metallica, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Volbeat, and More
Aftershock Festival
Day 2
w/ Metallica, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Volbeat, Seether & more
Discovery Park
Sacramento, CA
Friday, October 8th, 2021
Review by Jared Stossel
While this was technically “Day 2” of Aftershock, it was the first night for most people as fans from all over Northern California flocked into Discovery Park for one of the most anticipated dates of this year’s festival. Tonight would bring some of the best acts in punk rock and heavy metal across the festival’s three stages, including the first of two festival-exclusive Metallica sets (the second one will take place on Sunday night to close out the weekend).
I ended up making my way out to the festival grounds around 5 PM, so I wasn’t able to check out as many of the earlier acts as I had hoped. With that being said, I was able to catch plenty of sets from both Butcher Babies and Dropkick Murphys (one of the only performance overlaps that happened during the day). The former act brought a lot of energy to the Coors Light Stage, and the crowd seemed to really enjoy it. The latter, Dropkick Murphys, displayed their usual brand of loud, raucous Celtic punk on the Jack Daniel’s Stage, really kicking things into the highest gear.
On the other side of the festival, Seether took the stage. I’ve never been a massive fan of Seether, but I decided to check out a bit of their set since I hadn’t seen them in almost ten years. While their music just hasn’t clicked with me, they were in top form and put on a great show. Towards the end of Seether’s set, I managed to make my way back over to the Coors Light Stage to see a bit of the Suicidal Tendencies, who definitely drew the biggest crowd of any act on that particular stage since the festival began. It was hard to even walk to the back of the crowd. A highlight of watching Suicidal Tendencies has always been watching drummer Dave Lombardo; he is without a doubt one of the best in the game. I never had a chance to see him when he performed with Slayer, but I’m glad he’s still performing (and of course, he’ll be hitting the stage with The Original Misfits tonight).
Towards the end of Suicidal Tendencies’ set, I had an idea. Usually, when I’m covering a show, I have my camera in hand. This will dictate where I end up standing for a majority of the show since I eventually have to make my way over to the soundboard or the photo pit for the first two or three songs of each act. Given that I didn’t have my camera this time around, I decided to do something I haven’t done in a while: go into the crowd. Masked up and with a look that said “I’m here, but don’t touch me”, I managed to get a spot close to the stage for Rancid, who sincerely put on one of the best sets I’ve seen them perform out the ten or so times I’ve seen them play in the last fifteen years. They may have been playing “Roots Radical” in Sacramento, but it definitely felt like a Bay Area homecoming show.
Because of my position in the crowd, I was not able to make my way over to watch Volbeat, who closed out the Kolas Stage, but Aftershock projected the video feed from the adjoining stage onto video screens so fans could catch the whole thing. From what I saw, Volbeat were putting on a solid show, and one that proved why they were picked as an act to close out on the festival’s largest stages that evening.
I hadn’t seen Metallica in about ten years until last night. While it was not the absolute “greatest of all time” set that I have seen them play, it is abundantly clear to me why Metallica are still considered one of the greatest bands in the world, and why they are still playing today. Other than a couple minor sound mixing issues, which quickly resolved themselves, the four-piece Bay Area thrash metal legends played through forty years’ worth of material with absolute precision and prowess. They never lost their footing for even a moment, with vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield at the helm, guitarist Kirk Hammett providing stellar guitar work, and one of the best rhythm sections in all of heavy metal, with bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Lars Ulrich leading the charge.
While it wasn’t the over-the-top Metallica shows I’ve seen in years past, the video production wall behind the band was a nice touch. A flurry of fireworks went off at the beginning of “One”, and a neat pyrotechnic trick occurred at the front of the stage as the band powered through Hardwired!…To Self Destruct’s “Moth Into Flame”. For me, the band really hit their stride on “Frantic”, and other highlights included the classic “Master of Puppets”, “Ride the Lightning”, and a powerful three song encore that consisted of “Battery”, “Fuel”, and “Seek & Destroy”. Not bad for my first Metallica show in ten years, and by far the closest I’ve ever been to the stage for one of their shows. This band definitely has me anxious to see what they’ll be bringing to their Sunday night set.
Metallica Set List
Whiplash
Ride The Lightning
Harvester of Sorrow
Cyanide
The Memory Remains
One
Frantic
Moth Into Flame
No Leaf Clover
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Whiskey In The Jar
Fade To Black
Master of Puppets
Encore:
Battery
Fuel
Seek & Destroy
Aftershock Festival
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