Papa Roach performs at Aftershock Fest in Sacramento on Oct. 8, 2022. Photos courtesy Nathan Zucker and Steve Thrasher. SACRAMENTO — The third day of Aftershock Fest, on Saturday, was also a celebration of the artists who have been putting in the work for years, or in the case…

Jared James Nichols plays Aftershock Fest in Sacramento on Sunday. Rendering: Adam Pardee/STAFF. I was supposed to chat with Jared James Nichols – the terribly talented upstart guitarist who’s making believers out of players like Zakk Wylde and Joe Bonamassa – Saturday night, the night before he plays the…

KISS performs at Aftershock Fest in Sacramento on Oct. 7, 2022. Photos courtesy Steve Thrasher, Lexie Alley and Nathan Zucker. SACRAMENTO — Discovery Park sizzled both literally and figuratively Friday on the second day of the rock and roll circus that is Aftershock Fest. The heat ruled the day,…

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…

Metallica performs at Aftershock Fest in Sacramento on Oct. 10, 2021. Courtesy Aftershock. SACRAMENTO — Aftershock Fest couldn’t contain Metallica to just one night night. For the first time in the festival’s history, the Friday headliner returned on Sunday to close out the weekend with a second set. One thing…

Mudvayne performs at Aftershock Fest in Sacramento on Oct. 9, 2021. Courtesy Aftershock. SACRAMENTO —Saturday night Aftershock line-up was marked by two reunions, of sorts. The night was headlined by The Original Misfits, with vocalist Glenn Danzig and bassist Jerry Only. The reunion, which came in 2016, followed three…

Metallica performs at Aftershock Fest in Sacramento on Oct. 8, 2021. Photos courtesy Aftershock. SACRAMENTO — Metallica frontman James Hetfield was clearly back in his element performing in front of tens of thousands of fans at a sold-out Aftershock Fest at Discovery Park. “Are we having a good time?”…

After a series of cryptic messages on My Chemical Romance’s social media accounts, the rock band announced its long-awaited reunion tour Wednesday morning. In a YouTube video titled “A summoning…,” produced by frontman Gerard Way, MCR took the video’s protagonist on a chronological ride referencing imagery from the band’s…

Chris Cerulli of Motionless in White photographed backstage at Aftershock in Sacramento, California on Oct. 11, 2019. Last weekend’s Aftershock Festival had not only great hard rock acts onstage but an opportunity for festivalgoers to see what many of those musicians are up to outside of music. Many of…

Tool performs at the Aftershock Festival on Oct. 13, 2019. Courtesy of Aftershock. SACRAMENTO — Northern California’s annual hard rock festival, Aftershock, continued its upward trajectory as one of the premiere national events for heavy music. What began back in 2012 as a one-day and one-stage event has ballooned…