Mötley Crüe performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 13, 2024.

SACRAMENTO — The final day of Aftershock Festival on Sunday was a showcase of hard rock’s past, present and future. The afternoon was more subdued, which made sense for the grueling four-day event. Attendees still brought energy but many retreated to shady areas to rest for a marquee trio of headliners.

Mötley Crüe, Disturbed and Falling in Reverse each brought something different to the stage. For the Crüe it was a nod to the Sunset Strip. For Disturbed it was a barrage of modern rock radio staples. Falling in Reverse arrived with an envelope-pushing, genre-defying spectacle.

Mötley Crüe

Glam rockers Mötley Crüe had a tall task heading into the night, capping off both an evening and a weekend. The band amassed a sizable crowd, taking the stage as a narrated emergency alert system message played over the loudspeakers, before kicking off a set decades-spanning hits.

Mötley Crüe.

“This is the last date of the tour; we’ve been going for two years,” frontman Vince Neil said. “We couldn’t think of better people to play for.”

The 63-year-old singer doesn’t have the range he once did and the high notes certainly didn’t come easy on Sunday. The guitars were turned up a little louder and the band also had two female back-up singers to help Neil push through. When he did try to sing high, the challenges became more pronounced. Ultimately, that ended up being a footnote as attendees themselves helped y singing along to the classics. Opening with “Primary Scream,” Mötley Crüe kept rolling with “Too Fast for Love” and “Wild Side.” The crowd responded well to the upbeat “Shout at the Devil.”

“Sounds like you like the old shit, huh?” Neil asked.“How about we do a couple from the first album?”

The performance was tighter than when the band last came through Northern California, playing Oracle Park in 2022. New guitarist John 5 brought a more distinct energy to the stage. He even got his own moment to solo, mixing some shred in with riffs from memorable classic rock songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin.

“We’re doing our old songs, but we’re also doing some new ones as well,” Neil said, leading into the recently released “Dogs of War.”

The performance likely didn’t change any perceptions of Mötley Crüe. The band’s fans of the band stayed and went home happy, while others took in a few songs before hitting the exits early. After a covers medley, the Crüe closed out with a barrage of hits like power ballad “Home Sweet Home,” “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Kickstart My Heart.”

Falling in Reverse

Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke has a personality that hard rock fans either love or hate, and its something he leans into hard on stage.

The band’s production dazzled. Flames shot out of the stage in various shades of red and in different patterns for just about the entirety of the set. Radke kept up a continuous conversation with the audience between just about every song, sometimes purposefully playing the heel. The crowd surge looked to be pretty tight at the front of the stage, and the frontman paused the show a handful of times to allow security to check on attendees.

Falling In Reverse.

“Are they hurt? [or] are you just trying to get to the front?” he asked. “You’re snitching? Sacramento’s a bunch of snitches, let me see your paperwork!”

The band opened with “Prequel,” followed up by “Zombified” and “I’m Not a Vampire.” At one point Radke stopped the show to remove a piece of equipment off the stage, though it was difficult to see exactly what it was.

“You gotta be an asshole sometimes or shit’s not gonna get done the right way,” he yelled.

Chants of “Ronnie” began to rain down and Radke played right along with it.

“Meeee?” he said in a high pitched voice.

About halfway through the set, he walked offstage, acting like the show was over and the band was done after playing just a handful of songs. A video of the singer played from backstage.

Falling In Reverse.

“What are you guys staying here for? Get out of here!” he yelled. “Thanks for your money, suckers!”

Of course, the band returned to play Southern-rock-inspired “All My Life,” with the entire band donning cowboy hats.

“A good song is a good song, no matter who’s playing it,” Radke said before removing his hat but denying a fan who’d asked for it. “This is a fucking Stetson! This is going in a Hard Rock Cafe somewhere.”

Falling in Reverse closed out with fiery performances of “Ronald” and “Watch the World Burn.”

“Welcome to the cult of Ronnie Radke!” the singer announced as he left the stage.

Disturbed

Disturbed.

“You have to forgive me, there’s a few frogs in my throat,” he said.

The band opened with “Hey You,” following it up with the anthems “Stupify” and “Ten Thousand Fists.”

“My brothers and sisters, speak to me!” Draiman yelled as the band launched into “Prayer.”

Disturbed’s style is well defined by this point, with big choruses, warlike drumming and Draiman’s signature bark. The band showed off all that on Sunday at Aftershock. But it did also mix in a pair of covers, including “Land of Confusion” by Genesis (which Disturbed also released in 2005) and the dramatic balladry of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.” Years later, the latter remains a powerful track, and Draiman’s deep voice really emotes the song well.

The band offered a surprise toward the end of the set by inviting country rock singer Royale Lynn to sing Heart’s Ann Wilson’s part in duet “Don’t Tell Me.” The pair’s voices melded terrifically, offering up a highlight. Disturbed concluded with “Down With the Sickness” and “Inside the Fire.”

Tom Morello

Despite being up against Falling in Reverse, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello pulled in a sizable crowd. Morello played a set full of tracks from the various stages of his career, including both Rage and Audioslave. Along with laying down the riffs, he also offered a positive message, encouraging attendees to be the change they want to see.

“It’s a messed-up world we live in, but this world is not going to change itself. That’s up to you,” he said. “The people who changed the world for the better in radical ways haven’t had any more money, power, intelligence, creativity than anyone here tonight. They just got up and did it.”

Morello adeptly held the audience in the palm of his hand, drawing out emotional responses even during the instrumental parts. He included songs like “Bulls on Parade,” “Like a Stone” and “Killing in the Name.”

Jinjer.

Jinjer

Ukrainian hard rockers Jinjer delivered a divinely powerful set in the blistering midday sun. Frontwoman Tatiana Shmayluk has one of the more diverse voices in the genre, being able to both channel aggression with her screams and haunting melodies while singing.

Rolling through “Just Another” and “Fast Draw,” the band brought energy that felt fresh even on the fourth day of rock bands.

“This track is dedicated to all the women around the world,” Shmayluk said, leading into the powerful “Somebody’s Daughter.”

Speaking to how much she enjoyed playing the festival for the first time, as well as being in California, Shmayluk and the band concluded with “Perennial” and “Rogue.”

From Ashes to New

Pennsylvania rap-rockers From Ashes to New brought attention-grabbing energy. For a band that began channeling influences like Linkin Park, it’s since developed its own signature sound. Singers Matt Brandyberry and Danny Case played off each other, as on opener “Nightmare” and on “Panic.” The band spoke to their own excitement in playing Aftershock for the first time. Two years ago, it had to drop out after the entire band got sick with COVID-19.

Oxymorrons

Queens, New York band Oxymorrons fused hip-hop, punk and hard rock during an early afternoon set. The band spoke about the importance of the song “Look Alive (Netic),” not only because it was its first to chart on Billboard, but also because of its connection to musician Netic Rebel, who was killed during a home invasion robbery. They credited him for their creation.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.