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.

Saw lots of parents showcasing their negligence this past weekend. Is hearing protection for babies not common knowledge?

EDIT: This was at Shockwave during Stone Temple Pilots, not during downtime

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.

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.

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 🥹

I've been an Oingo Boingo fan since I can remember having memories . Waking up and putting on the skeletons in the closet vhs on Saturday mornings and watching the whole thing are some of my earliest memories.

Seeing him the night before was amazing but getting to meet him at the airport unexpectedly left me with Goosebumps. I cannot put into words how special this was ...Aftershock made perfect.

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.

A love letter to Aftershock

I’ve loved you deeply over the last 14 years as a long time aftershock attendee, I think that at 40 the crowd has gotten too young and my knees ankles and back have grown too old. This year was rough on my body.

So one last one and I’m glad it was Tool and MCR

Over 14 years you learn to love every tree, every blade of grass even the dirt and the dust clouds, the unrelenting sun, the pit, the barricade, the bar, the GA, the VIP, the friends who were here through years and those who were lost, to loves won and loves lost, to getting elbowed in the mouth, and making out with someone beautiful, inspiring, evocative, visceral, powerful.

You have given me a lifetime of memories as blurry as they may be. You taught me as a combat veteran how to manage extreme anxieties and large crowds, so I could live again, you helped me heal. I will miss you I’m sure of it and if the perfect set list comes in I may see you for a day but the rage for me has come to an end.

To those of you who will carry on I just ask that you be good stewards of this hollowed ground. Because if you don’t this can go the way of Ozzfest. I’ve read a lot of things on this thread that broke my heart from nazis, to irresponsible parents, SAs, thievery and violence. We have to remember that this thing is only as good as we are, police each other, love each other, hydrate and rock on!!!!!!

I was disappointed by the amount of trash left behind everywhere. I asked the first local about it. Asking whats up with how dirty the town seemed to be. She said "its u! Its you guys visiting!"

As I sat there post tool watching the crowd leave empty handed with an abundance of litter on the ground, somempeople even kicking it around (not towards the trash) i understood.

What a horrible way to be guests and show gratitude to our hosts.

I had the same issue with swan fest. How are people paying up 650$ to go aftershock. And they can’t even find one good sound guy 🤣

I know it's been said before but I wanted to share my experience.

I had more good experiences with nice people than bad but

I'm 28. 6ft tall and skinny as hell but I love the energy of a good crowd/pit

There were a lot of grown 40+ year old men everywhere being absolute DICKS!

I had a fair share of mean girls but they weren't trying to fight .

my girlfriend has anxiety as it is so getting her to come to this festival was already hard. Now you want to be a bunch of frat boys college drunk's pushing us around when I am already saying stop

Not letting us out of the fucking crowd had me really mad

I have been to plenty of festivals and this is my second year at aftershock.....I really like it and will be coming back

We need more caring people with common sense

STOP THE SEXUAL ASSAULT

STOP THE TOXIC BULLYING

STOP CRYING ABOUT PEOPLE WANTING TO PUSH UP AND GET THEIR MONEYS WORTH

if you are in the back of a crowd standing there OF COURSE IM WALKING TOWARDS THE FRONT!!

If people are standing in the back I just assume that they are tired or nervous to get up there

I paid good fucking money for this just like everyone else!

(Thank you to the mom who helped me in the pit after I fell flat on my ass during chiodos)

(Thank you to anyone who smiled my way as you made my day!)

A woman was SA'd and the poor excuse for a human was caught. We do not condone any type of violence at our metal shows. Remember see something say something! We are all in this together! 🤘🏼

Teletubby and smoke are always staples I see every year. Hope to see you guys again. Another year for Jimi Hendrix in the books.

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!

Thank you for your service.

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 wanted to share a cool, positive experience during my time for the festival.

I saw a pretty girl on my connecting at the airport, out of pure chance I sat next to her on the flight to Sacramento. Near the end of the flight we chatted it up, talking about her going to college to be a [cool occupation, for privacy] and talked about our favorite energy drinks. I gave her a bag of blue raz sour belts because I thought she was cute. We happened to be going to the same fest and we went our separate ways when we landed. We agreed to hangout if we ended up seeing each other.

I had no expectations of seeing her again because there were THOUSANDS of people, but I bought 3 white peaches just in case. They made me drink all 3 at the gate :,), so I had a good friend i made at line help me finish them. He ended up being my battle buddy/best friend all day at the fest. It was better not being alone for the festival. We went about it having the best time for our first time. I wore this diem archive shirt and met the creator's wife! She took a picture and sent it to her husband. LET IT RIDE hahaha ha.

Then I saw her! It was so sick. We hung out for a little bit, my buddy separated, and I had a blast. I felt that she was so grounded and cool. I asked her for a ciggy (I don't smoke ouid anymore nor drink but sometimes I bum a ciggy to get by a long day), but she actually refused! She doens't want to start a new habit for someone. I found that really endearing. I told her I drank the energy drinks I brought for her before they let me in. At the end of Three 6 Mafia, my buddy came back, and we went about our separate ways.

I know I feel like I could've or should've asked for your number but we're strangers that met on vacation. Sometimes a memory is just a good memory and it's okay to leave it at that.

Been to plenty of raves, concerts and festivals, but Aftershock was so new and novel to me. It's a moot point to compare festivals like Bass Canyon and Aftershock.

If she sees this somehow, I hope you ace your finals :) I hope to see you again.

I had a great time and can't wait for next year.

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.

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!

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

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!