Friday began much like Thursday, with a spot of rain. But this quickly gave way to the typical Aftershock sunshine, which very well highlighted these amazing artists that we came to see. But unlike last year, the weather was not the one to melt our faces off, it was Chino Moreno of Deftones.
Violent Vira had a great turnout early on in the day which she treated to some heartfelt emotional lyrics that fans might find readily relatable. More than just a serenading, Vira has some incredible vocals, ranging from a clean crisp angel song to gritty earthly growls.
Lacuna Coil are veterans of the rock game and boast a cult following that is easy to see from their passionate crowd. They burst onto the stage with some of the most impressive dual vocalists of the day, including deep throaty screams and hauntingly beautiful clean singing. They surprised the crowd with a guest appearance by Randy Blythe of Lamb of God to sing their collab song together, Hosting the Shadow.
“Have you guys heard of Mathcore?” The Dillinger Escape Plan asked us. Before launching into some of the most skillful complex guitar work we’ve heard this weekend. Rhythmic and hypnotizing, constantly changing time signatures, and punctuated by deep cutting screams.
Knocked Loose played to a crowd with an intense brutal energy. So much shoving and kicking and elbows. But even still, there was camaraderie among the fans to pick each other up when they got knocked down, and make sure lost valuables made it back to their owners. The vocalist has a very unique scream style that carries a whole lot of emotion, and is emphasized by heart-thumping breakdowns and crunchy guitar riffs. They’re always one of our favorites to see live.
Turnstile opened with no cameras and was almost completely backlit on stage, which made this show feel so intimate and personal. They gave us melodic skater punk type beats with catchy lyrics that had the fans singing along incredibly loud. When the camera did kick on, it almost exclusively showed the crowd, dancing and singing, making all of us part of the performance as well. This was possibly one of the most memorable sets of the weekend, and we’re looking forward to seeing what Turnstile does in the future.
Wow, Aftershock is already half over? How could that happen? While we reflect on the undeniable performances of Thursday and Friday, we still have another two days of absolute stunners to look forward to. See you there!
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