SACRAMENTO — Business picked up substantially at Discovery Park for the sold-out second day of Aftershock Festival. The crowds were bigger, the acts’ productions were more ambitious—and the sweltering heat had no intention of leaving.

The top of the bill on Friday felt like a tribute to the heaviest bands of the late ‘90s. But in addition to bands like Tool, Godsmack and Limp Bizkit, the lineup included a handful of acclaimed up-and-comers.

Tool

Prog-metallers Tool, which last played Aftershock in 2019, performed an impressive headlining set that brought an ideal mix of new material and familiar standbys. A Tool concert is like a living organism. Each aspect from the lighting to the performance has its own ebbs and flows.

Enigmatic frontman Maynard James Keenan stood shrouded in shadows, though he seemed to be slightly closer to the rest of the band and slightly better illuminated than at previous NorCal shows. The band fired on all cylinders with a thrilling heavy metal symphony that combined heaviness and complexity.

Keenan didn’t talk much. “Aftershock,” he said before Toll kicked into “Jambi” and “The Pot.”

Song after song, the visuals grew and expanded much like the band’s music. Background video screens were joined by spotlights, flashing strobes and lasers that shot in all directions.

While the band has toured heavily on its most recent album, Fear Inoculum, the majority of the set came from Ænema.

Drummer Danny Carey brought his unique blend of warlike rock rhythms, bassist Justin Chancellor hyped up the crowd a number of times and guitarist Adam Jones dazzled with his heavy riffs and harmonic tones.

The sky was filled with multicolored lasers during “Rosetta Stoned,” and the heaviness escalated for “Forty Six & 2.”

Keenan’s stage presence was captivating even if he was hard to see for much of the show and didn’t say much between songs. The singer took a fighter’s stance, getting low and banging his head to the music. Even his pacing back to the riser had an urgency that added momentum.

Expansive 12-minute opus “Invincible” was masterful. Tool closed with a combination “Stinkfist.”

“Thank you Aftershock, you all smell wonderful,” Keenan said.

Just when it seemed Tool was done, the band threw in a fan-favorite—but infrequently played—“Ænema,” which put a ribbon on the entire set.

Limp Bizkit

While there were plenty of blockbuster moments to fill Friday night, the clear winner was Limp Bizkit. The band’s set had been anticipated since Fred Durst and company backed out on a 2021 billing.

Limp Bizkit’s shows have become a wild card as of late, with different set lists from night to night. At Aftershock, an American flag draped DJ Lethal’s riser and Fred Durst took the stage dressed like north Texas high school principal with tucked plaid shirt, cowboy hat and large belt buckle.

He spoke with a deep Southern drawl and was in character for just about the entirety of the set. It sounds bizarre and ridiculous—and it definitely was—but it also made for one of the best performances in the festival’s decade-plus history. It was certainly a unique performance that won’t be replicated.

While the Nu-Metal Cowboy persona may have been a schtick, the performance was tried and true Limp Bizkit. From the opening song, “Break Stuff,” Durst had the massive crowd in the palm of his hand. Between songs he talked to the crowd in strange nonsequiturs that just made sense.

“I think Gavin Newsom is somewhere backstage,” Durst said, to a mixed reaction. “Wait, I think it’s actually Gavin Newsom and Gavin Rossdale.” OK then!

The band was loose, mixing in impromptu covers of Metallica and Ministry songs. DJ Lethal added in Bon Jovi and country tracks between songs that kept the crowd singing. Thousands of camera phones went up for “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle).”

Durst brought a young fan with a mohawk on stage to sing along at one point. The moment may have been a bit big for the boy, who stayed mostly quietly, but it’s likely one he won’t forget. Despite recent headlines about his antagonizing character on stage, Durst seemed endearing.

“I want you jumping like we did back at Woodstock ‘99,” he commanded the crowd late in the set. “But this [Aftershock] has much better promoters.”

After playing “Full Nelson” and “Take a Look Around,” Durst made a final announcement about the closing song.

“This is against the rules, and we’re definitely not supposed to do this, but we’re gonna do it,” he said. “We’re gonna play ‘Break Stuff’ one more time.”

The set ended where it started, with fans losing their minds to this spectacle.

Godsmack

Massachusetts hard rockers Godsmack delivered a pyro-heavy set of mostly newer material for this year’s Lighting Up the Sky.

“The songs may not be perfect but we’re trying, we’re getting old up here,” singer-guitarist Sully Erna joked. “We wear braces, everything hurts, we can’t see.”

From concussive blasts to columns of flames, there was plenty of heat to go around from opening track “When Legends Rise.” Braggadocious anthems like “1000hp” kept the energy moving. At one point, Erna asked that all the lights be turned off and for men to put the ladies with them on their shoulders.

“You do all the work at the gym but you sit at a desk working for T-Mobile,” he said. “Put it to good use for once!”

Another time, Erna also asked his crowd to light up the stage from afar.

“I want this place to look like a concert back in the ‘80s,” he said.

Of the new tracks, “Surrender” worked particularly well. A staple of the Godsmack’s set is the “Batalla de los Tambores” drum-off between Erna and drummer Shannon Larkin. It hasn’t changed dramatically over the years, but it remains fun, with the band throwing in solos and snippets of AC/DC, Aerosmith, Metallica and Led Zeppelin.

The band finished out with older songs “Whatever” and “I Stand Alone.”

Megadeth

Thrash icons Megadeth drew an impressive crowd to their set as the sun began to make its descent. Opening with “Hanger 18,” Dave Mustaine and company brought a distinct heaviness to the material.

Mustaine sang and shredded throughout the last show of the band’s current tour.

“Most of these bands today are going other places, we’re going home,” Mustaine said. “Let us take your energy home with us.”

It was easy to hear Mustaine’s influence on early Metallica. That comparison was most evident on tracks like “Mechanix,” which has drawn comparison to Metallica’s “The Four Horsemen.”

Most of the eight-song set pulled from Rust In Peace.

Coheed and Cambria

Proggy rockers Coheed and Cambria focused primarily on the music during their hourlong midday set. Singer-guitarist Claudio Sanchez kept the banter to a minimum and the music up to 11.

Of course, the band included fan favorites like “A Favor House Atlantic” and “Welcome Home,” but there was plenty to go around.

Sanchez was a capiving figure with his black curly hair down to his shoulders. He played a number of interesting-looking axes, including one with two necks and a red Gibson Explorer. Most of the songs came from 2022 concept album Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind.

The band mixed in “The Liars Club” and “Ladders of Supremacy,” before closing out with “Welcome Home.”

Bad Omens

Festival emcee and SiriusXM host Jose Mangin had it right when he introduced Bad Omens as future headliner at Aftershock. The Richmond, Va. rockers are touring on the heels of one of the best rock albums, The Death of Peace of Mind.

The band took to the stage at the hottest point in the day in coats and ski masks with screamy rocker “Artifical Suicide.” The energy level was, but not quite to the liking of vocalist Noah Sebastian.

“I’m gonna need this mosh pit to be a bit moshier,” the intense frontman yelled.

Wish granted. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy that didn’t subside until the end. The stage was outfitted with multidirectional flame and smoke cannons that accentuated the big moments.

On songs like “Nowhere to Go” and “Limits,” crowd-surfers were flying as Sebastian called for a wall of death.

The crowd sang along at full throttle to “Just Pretend,” a hard rock tune that’s become a TikTok sensation and made Bad Omens a household name in some circles.

As the band concluded with “Dethrone,” the crowd applauded security workers in the front who adeptly managed the army of crowd-surfers.

Skillet

Skillet has become a staple at Aftershock, playing the festival a handful of times over the years, bringing energy and relatability to the stage.

“It doesn’t matter what you believe in, who you voted for, or any of that stuff,” frontman John Cooper announced early on. “Music is what unifies all of us.”

From handheld smoke guns to hydraulic risers, Skillet brought all its toys for the midday set. The band opened with “Feel Invincible” and the energized “Rise.” Others included “Psycho In My Head,” from the expanded version of its latest album, Dominion.

Cooper dedicated a song to a young fan battling cancer and recorded a video message to her right on stage before launching into “Hero.” Drummer Jen Ledger had plenty of vocals.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.