SACRAMENTO — Saturday night’s Aftershock headliners were proof that age is nothing more than a number. Combined, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest have a century’s worth of experience under their belts, the bands’ frontmen are in their ‘60s and ‘70s, but the effort and energy of their performances rivaled rockers half their age.

The night’s bill was rounded out by a pair of early aughts modern rock mainstays in Breaking Benjamin and Staind, both with plenty of hits.

Iron Maiden

Headliners Iron Maiden brought technical mastery to their high-powered, two-hour set filled with classic metal. The sextet led by frontman Bruce Dickinson came out of the gates firing, opening with “Caught Somewhere in Time” and “Stranger in a Strange Land.”

“In the words of the Scorpions, ‘turn the spotlights on the people,’” Dickinson said. “Look at all of you, what must have about 140,000 here, right?”

The stage design was subdued by Iron Maiden standards, with and array of strobes and an illuminated backline doing the lion’s share of work. There were no onstage airplanes or samurai warriors, at least.

“I see Chile out there, there’s Brazil out there as well,” Dickinson said. “There’s people from everywhere in the world, not just the good old U-S-of-A.”

The charismatic frontman worked all parts of the stage, chatted with the crowd and served as emcee,  keeping the momentum going. Iron Maiden continued with “The Writing on the Wall” and “Days of Future Past.”

“It’s very festive out here; is it Christmas already? Is it Halloween?” Dickinson asked, noticing the strings of colored lights hung across the trees in Discovery Park. If he felt like saying something, the singer went for it, even if it didn’t seem to make any sense. At one point he asked one attendee with a raised hand if he was holding a pineapple. He also asked whether anyone owned a DeLorean.

“No one gave a fuck what it was until they put it in a movie,” he said as a lead-in to “The Time Machine.”

Iron Maiden’s technical prowess was second to none and their crowd noticed, taking it all in with appreciation. Dickinson hushing the crowd at one point ahead of a jam that became “Death the the Celts.”

Midway through the set, Iron Maiden monster mascot Eddie made an entrance with a blaster and a gun battle ensued between him and Dickinson as explosions rocked the stage. The band closed out its main set with “Fear of the Dark” and “Iron Maiden,” before an encore of “Hell On Earth,” “The Trooper” and “Wasted Years.”

Judas Priest 

Rob Halford and company delivered what may be the best performance of the weekend. The 73-year old frontman moved much slower than in his younger years, but his larger-than-life rock star aura—and his powerful voice—have held up impressively well with time.

“What’s up maniacs, the Priest is back,” he announced.

The 13-song set hit all the classic hits as well as a pair of songs from the band’s latest album, Invincible Shield, including opener “Panic Attack.” Halford shimmered with a long black coat accented with silver. He’d mouth words to the crowd, arms extended, between songs without using a mic.

Beyond a light touch of reverb, Halford’s supreme range had him hitting the highest notes. The hits arrived early with tracks like “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” and “Breaking the Law.” Halford was flanked by guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, rocking back and forth to beat of the drums. The guitarists came together for a dual attack on “Turbo Lover.”

“This band has been together over 50 years, we can’t do this without your support,” Halford said, giving thanks to fans while naming off the band’s albums through the years; an impressively long list. He rolled out onto the stage on a Harley Davidson for “Hell Bent for Leather,” performing part of the song seated and using the bike as a prop for the rest of the performance.

“What goes better than California and Judas Priest?” drummer Scott Travis asked heading into the encore. “We can play one more song or three more, the choice is really up to you.”

The band closed out with a blistering rendition of “Painkiller,” “Electric Eye” and rousing singalong “Living After Midnight.”

Breaking Benjamin

Pennsylvania hard rock band Breaking Benjamin played a set filled with hits and loaded with pyrotechnics. The band balanced memorable songs with a hard-edged performance and impressive visuals. The band also introduced a new member, dressed conspicuously like singer-guitarist Ben Burnley in matching black T-shirts and ball caps.

“This is my boy, he’s in training, he’s kind of like the hype guy,” Burnley said. “He’s backing vocals, soon to be main vocals, and I’ll be rolling around in a wheelchair like Frankie Valli.”

Sure enough, Burnley’s son—also Ben—remained on stage for the entire show. The elder Burnley was self-deprecating about his older age, and used it to encourage the crowd to get louder.

“The older I get the more you guys gotta sing,” he yelled. “I’m over here killing time so I can catch my breath, just taking pills for the pain.”

In the past, Burnley had delegated some of the vocal duties to guitarist Keith Wallen and bassist Aaron Bruch. On Saturday, the frontman did it all himself as the band provided a solid foundation on its riff-heavy rock tracks.

The performance included “So Cold,” “Blow Me Away” and “I Will Not Bow.” While the band didn’t play new songs, the ominous “10:16” message the band posted to social media appeared onscreen. Does it mean a new song is on the way next week? Breaking Benjamin concluded with “The Diary of Jane.”

Staind

Much like Breaking Benjamin, Staind played a hard-edged set full of singable modern rock. Frontman Aaron Lewis took the stage with his signature stoic persona, which can sometimes come off as disinterested, while belting powerful, yearning vocals. The band opened with explosive new song “Lowest in Me” before moving to “Eyes Wide Open” and “Fade.”

“How ya’ll doing? It’s a pleasure to be here today,” Lewis said as he lit up a cigarette, one of many during the performance.

Mike Mushok provided the pulse for the band, head-banging and playing guitar passionately, even during there slower songs. The band continued with “Right Here,” “Not Again” and the acoustic “Outside.”

“This next song goes out to all the haters,” Lewis said, leading into deep cut “Wannabe.”

The final stretch was laced with hits like “It’s Been Awhile.”

“Thank you for allowing us to do this for 25 fucking years,” Lewis said. “Some of you may have even been conceived to the song.”

The singer has long been outspoken about his conservative his political views. After the final note of closer “Mudshovel,” Lewis disparage President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris while throwing his support for Donald Trump. This brought raucous cheers from portions of the crowd and elicited groans from others.

Bad Wolves

One of the early surprises of the day was SoCal hard rock band Bad Wolves. The band packed fans in at their stage, stretching well beyond a highway overpass nearby. The band wasted no time riling up the crowd and getting the pit moving, opening with the double-bass pulse of “Bad Friend.” Vocalist Daniel Laskiewicz isn’t so new to the band anymore and took a more confident role in the performance. “DL” stalked the stage, moving back and forth.

The set included “Die About it,” the upbeat “Killing Me Slowly” and “Lifeline.”

“All that shit that’s going on out there doesn’t count in here,” guitarist Doc Coyle yelled.

The band continued with its heaviest songs like “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and “I’ll Be There,” leading to its memorable cover of the Cranberries “Zombie.” The crowd didn’t need much coaxing to get in on the act.

Deadlands

Long Island, New York metalcore upstarts Deadlands are in the midst of their first national tour, and are turning heads. It was a point noted by vocalist Kasey Karlsen midway through the band’s afternoon set.

“This is our first time at this festival, and the fact that you guys are standing from the barrier to the trees is crazy,” she yelled.

The quartet has the chops of a band well beyond their years, striking a balance between a ferocious metal attack with big choruses, which translated to the stage. Karlsen’s vocals were just as dynamic, her scream pushed the meters into the red while the melodic vocals soared.

“That was the most beautiful wall of death I’ve ever seen,” Karlsen said after splitting the swollen crowd into two during one of the
heavier tracks.

Alien Ant Farm

Alien Ant Farm pulled off an impressive performance early on Saturday. While the band has big, anthemic songs, it also mixed in new tunes. Of course everyone was waiting for their cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” Once the band got to it as the seat closer, some attendees started an impromptu conga line.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.