Social Distortion performs at Aftershock Fest in Sacramento on Oct. 10, 2021. Courtesy.

Aftershock returns as Northern California’s loudest fest and the largest hard rock festival on the West Coast with four full days of music in Sacramento’s Discovery Park Oct. 6 to 9. While the bill is heavy on rock, Aftershock boasts an eclectic range of headliners in Slipknot, KISS, My Chemical Romance and Muse.

The latter replaced the Foo Fighters when the band dropped out following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Last year’s event was the first to experiment with a fourth day of programming with a part-day lineup on Thursday. That led to 145,000 attendees packing Discovery Park. This year, promoters went further with four full days and 90 acts.

Unlike BottleRock Napa and Outside Lands, which entices attendees with culinary and drink offerings, Aftershock has always emphasized the music, with two main stages and two side stages. There are, however, a handful of beer, spirits, wine and cannabis vendors.

My Chemical Romance’s Saturday headlining set is a long time coming, as the band dropped out from last year’s event.

Further down the bill, fans will find generations of rock from legacy acts to upstarts. There’s Evanescence, Bring Me the Horizon, Lamb of God, Rob Zombie, Spiritbox, Halestorm, The Warning and local band The Alive. Sacramento’s Papa Roach will play its hometown for the first time in years.

Northern California is an infrequent stop for hard rock acts, and Aftershock is the lone festival here specifically targeting fans of heavy bands and artists.

Aftershock has seen consistent growth from its 2012 inception, when Stone Temple Pilots headlined the inaugural one-day event. The event has been at Discovery Park every year, save one, when it was moved to the nearby Gibson Ranch.

It’ll will be followed the following week by the inaugural country music GoldenSky Festival, also presented by promoter Danny Wimmer Presents. DWP will keep some of its infrastructure in place for the event, headlined by Tim McGraw and Sam Hunt. Tickets for Aftershock are available online.