Aftershock Festival returns to Sacramento's Discovery Park: All you need to know about who's playing
SACRAMENTO – Rock music fans from across the world are flocking to Sacramento's Discovery Park for four days of the Aftershock Festival.
More than 90 bands are performing, with more than 160,000 people expected to attend.
Organizers say about 65 percent of the crowd is coming from outside the Sacramento region. It's also bringing in fans from more than 35 countries.
Visit Sacramento CEO Mike Testa says Saturday night is expected to have the biggest attendance on record.
"When you've got people from out of town, that means they're going out to breakfast, they're patronizing the local businesses, and it ends at 9 or 10 o'clock and no one's going back to their hotel rooms and going to bed – so that economic push spreads out of the festival grounds," Testa said.
Doors open at 11 a.m. Thursday, with the festival running through Sunday, Oct. 8.
Who's Playing?
Each day of the festival will see more than a dozen different bands take the stage.
The opening night headliners on Thursday are Incubus, Avenged Sevenfold, and The Cult. Friday's headliners are Godsmack, Tool, and Limp Bizkit.
Saturday's full lineup features more than two dozen bands, but Turnstile, 311, and Korn get top billing.
Sunday night's closers are Queens of the Stone Age, Rancid, and Guns N' Roses.
While the headliners are probably more than enough to pack Discovery Park, a deep bench of supporting acts from across hard rock eras will also be performing.
AFI and Stone Temple Pilots are among the lower-billed acts on opening day. Megadeth, Skillet, and Converge are scheduled for Friday. Corey Taylor (of Slipknot fame), Polyphia, and Dethklok (yes, the band from the cartoon Metalocalypse) play on Saturday. Closing day will see appearances by I Prevail, Daughtry, and Badflower.
Other interesting bands that may be worth catching include Babymetal (playing on Saturday), a "kawaii metal band" from Japan, and Sacramento's own Dance Gavin Dance (performing on Sunday).
Are Tickets Still Available?
If you're willing to pay a pretty penny, 4-day general admission tickets are still available on the Aftershock website for $429.99 plus $86.39 in fees. Weekend 4-day VIP passes are sold out. Single-day general admission tickets are also still available for all days except Friday.
What If I'm Not A Rock And Roll Fan?
Country music fans get their own two-day festival the week following Aftershock with GoldenSky. Happening Oct. 14 and 15 also at Discovery Park, Dixon's own Jon Pardi and Maren Morris headline the first day, while Eric Church and Parker McCollum close out the second night.
People looking to rest their eardrums can also check out the Sacramento Greek Festival, happening the same weekend as Aftershock. The event takes place Friday through Sunday at 600 and 616 Alhambra Boulevard, with admission being $5.