It’s been starting to cool off as fall hits Sacramento California, but that could not be said about the music happening during ay two of Aftershock this year!
Check out our top acts of the day!
Hemorage, a band that went viral for playing out of a van at a gas station near last year’s Aftershock, themselves had their Aftershock debut early in the day. They came out hot and heavy, with a hard and catchy bass line, drawing a large motivated mosh pit. The vocalist showcased impressive deep, barking scream vocals. He interacted with the crowd with very specific instructions, telling everyone when to jump, clap, fist pump, and how to mosh. And the crowd loved it. “Thank you for supporting independent music! We’ve been doing this all by ourselves!” Definitely check these guys out.
Another early band that blew our socks off, Vended had the largest mosh pit yet this weekend. It seemed the whole crowd was thrashing along to the beat, and water was being flung into the fray to cool the overheating party machines. “Goddammit you guys are some crazy motherf***ers!” They’ve just released their self-titled album. “We put our blood sweat and tears into this, and I would be sad if you didn’t already!”
Nashville based punk band Winona Fighter featured their female lead vocalist, Coco. Coco blended perfectly some forceful clean vocals and whining clear screams reminiscent of Knocked Loose. Her stage presence was large as she ran, kicked, and danced erratically across the whole stage. As their lead guitarist blasted out some screeching old school metal solos for a couple of crowd favorite songs, Hamms in a Glass, and Swear to God That I’m Fine. The latter they just released last month.
Coming off of a couple huge collaborations with Bad Omens and Knocked Loose, Poppy made her Aftershock debut. And we couldn’t be happier for this recent success as long-time supporters. She marched on stage and immediately let the music speak for itself. Between visceral screams and teeth grinding breakdowns, she didn’t stop a moment to talk as she played all the best from her albums I Disagree, Flux, and her new single VAN.
LS Dunes, a collaboration of some of the greatest names in post-punk and hardcore, guitarist Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance), guitarist Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria), vocalist Anthony Green (Circa Survive), bassist Tim Payne (Thursday), and drummer Tucker Rule (Thursday). Anthony Green showcased an incredible range and control of vocals with ecstatic high screams and melodic angelic cleans. While Frank and Travis ripped on aggressive and catchy guitar, and Tucker and Tim kept perfect timing and rhythm from drums and bass. Anthony was especially excited about being here today, telling everyone, “it feels like we’re alive with the spirit of rock and roll here tonight.” Their brand new single, Fatal Deluxe, is out now.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Aftershock Festival! We have much more coverage to come.
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