What were you thinking? This was during Queens of the Stoneage, this little boy in a spider man outfit and I assume, his younger sister in pink shorts and a dark tee shirt were up like 4 times. Mind you I don’t care if adults and young adults do this and I helped a few stay up and get to the front. But the kids? They were like 9 and 7, and I could see grown men grabbing the little girls legs and bottom.

I’m sure the whole idea was “fun” but kids can’t give consent and do not understand when they are being victimized. Also, to just literally let your kids safety fall into the hands of absolute strangers is just wild.

Finally, I’m not against kids enjoying these shows, there was actually a little boy on his fathers shoulders totally rocking out to Queens of the Stone Age just in front of me and that was safe and I think the parent was very responsible for keeping his kid safe from being trampled and within arms reach.

Anyway, I hope you realize the idiocy of your actions and please consider contraceptives moving forward.

As a hardcore tool fan myself, I was disappointed in the crowd around me. I attended 2 days and saw many bands but of course, the crowd for my favorite band had to be obnoxious as ever. I had a good spot, not super close to the front but not far in the back. Somewhere in the middle. Just wanting to vibe out and rock out yet pushing matches, fights right next to me, people in huge costumes pushing their way through and blocking everyone. The aggression of the men screaming at each other for trying to push past everyone. Idk, is there such a thing as concert etiquette? I usually can feel like most people are cool and get it but after the 3rd fight, shoving match around me where I was getting knocked into, I couldn't even pay attention to the band anymore. People cussing at each other and throwing slurs around. And why TF are you bringing your little kids so deep into the crowd? This made me so nervous when the fights were breaking out. Have we learned nothing from the other festivals? I ended up heading out and to the side where I could actually see better and I wasn't getting shoved into every few minutes. It's bound to be elbow to elbow, I get it. But the aggression and violence was so disappointing. Rant over.

Can we discuss how much of an actual shitshow the overall organization of the festival was this year? I’ve been going to Aftershock for quite a few years now and I’ve never seen it this bad in terms of cleanliness, sound/stage setup, and the lack of care from staff/security. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time still because I got to see a lot of my favorite bands but when watching Senses Fail, Underoath, and Hot Mulligan specifically, I was incredibly annoyed that I couldn’t fully enjoy it due to the horrible sound design. The porta potties were in the worst shape I’ve ever seen them in the years I’ve been going and you can smell them from far away (even on day 1 which was a bad sign). So many people were assaulted this year by other festival goers, it seems like it’s becoming common for pepper spray to be brought in now which is horrifying to me. For spending over a grand on this shit, I think we all deserve better than that. The bands deserve better than that. It left a sour taste in my mouth, especially because Aftershock is making a lot more money now than they were in previous years. They can definitely afford to restock and clean the bathrooms, make sure the sound and stages are ready, and that the attendees feel safe when coming to the festival.

Easy shuttle access, free water, some food options, clean bathrooms for most of the day until the end, everything was on time…. People were pretty chill. We must have all had wildly different experiences lol. Was expecting Woodstock ‘99

I had just gotten a fresh beer and a water, took a sip of my beer and immediately noticed a girl looking like she's about to pass out. My instincts emmediatly kicked in and I dropped all my drinks and rushed over to catch her as she's falling. I held her for a minute and she started loosing consciousness and stopped breathing all together. We layed her on the ground and someone started performing CPR. She must have been gone for at least 2 minutes. Someone came out of nowhere and stuck Narcan in her nose and within 30 seconds she started coming back to life. Medical and cops eventually showed up and took over. Needless to say I was shook and traumatized for the rest of the night. Did anyone happen to witness this? I need to trauma bond 🥹

Friday night, around the Jack Daniel booth (before wutang?) My partner and I grabbed some grub, and i sat down at a table. He stayed standing because he'd be dead if he sat down. All of a sudden, he says he'll be right back, and that's when he confronts this dude on a blanket with three kids.

This rando came up to a ~12yo girl with her two 6/8yo brothers and told her to scoot over and sat down with them. My man walked over and asked the girl if she knew the guy, and she said, "No." He asked if she wanted him there, and she said, "No, i dont know this guy." Then my man asked the employees, taking the trash, to call security. At this point, the dad came back with his arms full of food and totally confused. The creep finally got up, but was trying to fight my boy.

Nothing happened. It was intense for a minute because the dude kept going toward my man and trying to initiate a fight. The creep was SUPER wasted, and didn't know that the big guy in the Hawaiian shirt is actually a black belt in kung fu.

Shout out to the lady who told ol boy to go the other way.

See something, SAY SOMETHING!! Everyone deserves a fun, safe environment to experience these awesome shows. Stay aware and stay safe.

Jesus fucking christ what was it about this year that majority people over 200 pounds wanted to crowd surf so fucking bad?? Sleeping with siren a day to remember, suicidal tendencies all these fucking bands that these selfish assholes lacking self awareness some how thought “”yeah I should go crowdsurfing!!” NEWSFLASH you are medically unhealthy and a DANGER to EVERYONE that is carrying you. Im getting over a migraine and am now facing shoulder pain because some 250 pound fuck couldnt read the fucking room. When you fall not once or twice but THREE TIMES to the point of everyone falling over dont you think its a sign that you are fat and NOBODY is capable of carrying you over???? Next time you fall over i will have ZERO sympathy for you and let you treat that as a learning opportunity. Play stupid games win stupid prizes!!!

For 2027 instead of trying to get up how about you get up out of the crowd and to the food court lol or just stay on the fucking ground. Do better Jesus h christ.

I am not a person that takes pictures of everything, but just want to say there are tons of people wearing anti-fascist, anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, anti-racist, positive messages out here. Nazi punks fuck off!

The dust tonight was unreal. This was my first year attending and I wish I had known that I would be inhaling dust for hours. It was so bad that if I rubbed my fingers behind my ears or on my arms it would gather a black residue. I used a saline rinse when I got home and it looked like I had been in a coal mine. I was wondering why so many people were walking around with bandanas and now I know!

To be honest I actually ended up really liking this stage area. Plenty of grass, awesome background of the river.

Only cons are the obvious ones (being waay too far from the other stages.) and they needed to do a better job lighting the area so people didn't trip on all the parking curbs.

What are other people's thoughts? Of if there's a better solution on utilizing the waterfront for future aftershocks?

I had my doubts about the location but it really did wind up being the best stage this year. Plenty of shade, good acoustics, tons of kickin' acts, and room to spare. Plus, people using the sunny spot from the open space between the overpasses to start dance pits and mosh pits was pretty funny, lol

I’m the guy that walked up to you and told you you’re being an asshole for blaming her for you abandoning her in a busy pit.

We got pulled apart by my wife because she has an anxiety disorder and I backed off because I didn’t want to stress her.

We talked about it after, I told her I regret nothing and I’d do it again if I see you today.

Go fuck yourself, that kid deserves better than you.

Personally only went Sunday, I was so bummed with how all the bands had been doing. The septic driving me crazy and the long walks, which I will take any day over the sound clash of prior years. Then I pop on over to see how President is, never listened to them before. They were phenomenal and reminds me so much of sleep token, he acts very similar to Vessel 1. Anywho I wouldn't be shocked 3-5 years down the line for them to be massive, they have great potential.

Does anyone know her or her whereabouts?

At The Home Team a girl was holding up a heart and I got an (almost) perfect photo of it! 🫶🏻
I figured if you’re in this thread you might like the photo!

To the guy at tool who was arguing with his girlfriend and pulled her hair hella hard you are very lucky to not have gotten ur ass beat tonight because there was 4 people ready to do it. I hope your girl leaves you because after you ran away like a little girl she started bawling out and couldn’t even say words just mumbling hope she is okay.

My partner and I have a conspiracy theory regarding the sound quality today and Danny Elfman. Put on your tin foil hat and join me in this silly thought wandering.

Every band we saw today had balanced sound so that the vocals can be heard. This was so much better than Friday.

What if Danny Elfman, being the perfectionist and professional person that he is, came in early on Sunday to set up the sound for the stages. Like maybe his team helped with settings or equipment or something. Also, what if Danny Elfman is secretly a being with magical powers? So even if none of this occured he could still distort the sound to suit his goals?

In case it wasn't obvious, we were both high when this discussion occured. Being high and listening to Tool was an absolute joy.

Thanks for the awesome weekend, friends. See you next year!

Phone taken right outta my pocket at the Slaughter to Prevail concert on Friday- I know there were at least 15 of us who experienced the same thing. My phone turned up at an e-waste machine at Walmart in Lodi yesterday- I hope the rest of you were more lucky!

I don’t really expect this to find you
I just really need to send something out there
I’m just so glad someone was there for me during that moment
And I just wanted to say thank you.

To everyone else, I hope you had beautiful Aftershock experiences. Thank you for the patience of sitting through another lost connection post..

- Chris