Danny Wimmer Presents delivered an impressive 2026 production of Aftershock Festival at Sacramento’s Discovery Park. Running October 1st through October 4th, the four-day festival expanded to five stages and featured more than 140 artists. After attending Aftershock several times over the years, I can confidently say this was my favorite year yet.
I attended Day Three and, by the end of the night, I had logged 23,456 steps.
And that number is with SacRT partnering with Aftershock to provide free rides to festival attendees, making transportation to Discovery Park especially convenient! With a packed lineup, expanded festival grounds, new attractions, and nearly 100-degree temperatures, Saturday was a full day of music and exploration.
I got there in time to catch Stick To Your Guns, a band that holds a special place in the hearts of many longtime hardcore fans. The band brought plenty of nostalgia with performances of “D(I Am)mond”, “Nobody”, and “Such Pain” sparking mosh pits, while newer material like “Spineless” added more emotional depth. The band also provided one of the day’s lighter moments when they realized they had forgotten their stage banner; their sound technician improvised by hanging a tour T-shirt up instead.
One of the most noticeable changes this year was the addition of a fifth stage.
While expanding the festival grounds, this new stage provided even more opportunities for attendees to discover new artists. The festival also featured several pop-up bars and entertainment areas. The Jungle Bird Tiki Bar offered tropical drinks and a colorful atmosphere, while the new Overtime Sports Bar featured five large screens showing live games throughout the weekend. My favorite add-on to 2026 was the dive bar, created in the style of an old-school 1980s house party with Christmas lights, couches, carpet, neon lighting, and loud music.
Other noteworthy fest elements beyond the music were the food offerings. I stopped at local food-truck favorite Bacon Mania, where Shannon and her husband James served fresh (and filling) pork-infused festival food. Nearby, the Jack Daniel’s Karaoke Bar gave attendees the opportunity to take the stage themselves, while Chiodos could be heard energizing the crowd from one of the festival’s stages.
While eating, I wandered back to catch a bit of Wage War before continuing on to the next major performance of the afternoon — Sleeping With Sirens. Delivering one of the strongest performances of the day, Sleeping With Sirens performed favorites including “If You Can’t Hang”, “Do It Now Remember It Later”, “If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn”, and “The Bomb Dot Com V2.0”. The crowd’s response was enormous, at times overpowering lead singer Kellin Quinn as he performed in the afternoon sun with temperatures approaching 98 degrees.
Still, the band maintained an impressive level of energy throughout the set.
Next up was The Story So Far, the Walnut Creek-born band that’s become one of the defining acts of the modern pop punk revival. With a catalog continually evolving through albums Proper Dose and 2024’s I Want to Disappear, the band performed songs like “Nerve” and “Out of It” — even paying tribute to Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory with a cover of “Vegas”. Seeing one of Northern California’s most successful pop punk exports perform at Aftershock added a fitting local connection to the festival.
One of the day’s most significant performances came from The Ghost Inside. The band’s 2015 incident — a devastating collision with an 18-wheeler that killed their bus driver and tour manager and left every member of the band with serious injuries — makes every performance particularly meaningful. Drummer Andrew Tkaczyk lost his right leg in the accident, eventually returning to perform with a modified drum kit. Despite everything, the band released a self-titled comeback album in 2020 and is now back to touring!
This day, the band performed newer songs, including “Wash It Away” and “Death Grip”, alongside longtime favorites such as “Dear Youth”. The entire crowd sang along to “Dear Youth” — one of the day’s most powerful moments.
Several other Aftershock performers could also be seen watching from side-stage in support of the band.
After The Ghost Inside, I returned to the food trucks, stopping at another Northern California favorite, Island Noodles, before visiting the Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards Wine Garden, associated with Tool’s Maynard James Keenan.
Then, it was time for BABYMETAL, the Japanese trio known for combining heavy metal, J-pop, synchronized choreography, and elaborate theatrical performances. The band’s performance was one of the most visually distinctive sets of the day, with tightly coordinated dancing and fun costumes. Their 2025 album, METAL FORTH, has expanded the band’s global collaborations, featuring artists from across the international metal community.
A Day To Remember then brought another grand production to the forefront of the day. Opening with “The Downfall of Us All”, the band sent the crowd into immediate motion. The set continued with “Paranoia”, “Miracle”, “Have Faith in Me”, and “Mr. Highway’s Thinking About the End” with plumes of confetti, smoke, and fire.
The band also invited around 60 fans onto the stage to watch from behind the band!
Pierce The Veil then continued record-breaking momentum from their I Can’t Hear You World Tour, a run that concluded shortly before Aftershock. The band incorporated their Latin heritage into the production by bringing a mariachi band and Día de los Muertos-inspired dancers onto the stage, while performing fan-favorites like “Caraphernelia” and “Yeah Boy and Doll Face”.
The final performance of Day Three was the one I had been looking forward to most — Black Label Society. Led by guitarist and vocalist Zakk Wylde, Black Label Society has spent more than two decades establishing itself as one of metal’s most recognizable bands, combining heavy riffs, blues influences, powerful vocals, and Wylde’s signature guitar work. BLS’s latest release, Engines of Demolition, marked the band’s first full-length album since 2021’s Doom Crew Inc.
After several hours of live music, walking, eating, and exploring, I retired for the night — as I said — 23,456 steps later. From Stick To Your Guns and The Ghost Inside to BABYMETAL, A Day To Remember, Pierce The Veil, and Black Label Society, Aftershock 2026 delivered on its promise to go bigger and harder than ever before.
Photography courtesy of Aftershock Festival
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