November 2021

opening salvos of music. Most bands expressed their relief, delight, and thankfulness for being back on stage again after such a long absence. Even bands that are touring tend to be on shorter schedules and face venue restrictions that limit crowd size. These festival appearances, then, are the first large audiences most have seen in a long while. Friday saw Metallica’s first set to wrap the day up. Before that, the heavy hitters were Volbeat, Ran- cid, Dropkick Murphys, and Seether. My personal favorites besides these bands were Butcher Babies, Crobot, and Pop Evil. Any way you look at it, the lineup was stacked. On the three main days, all the stages were active during the afternoon. By early evening the focus was corralled toward the final two or three bands. Rancid went on at 7:00, and this is a band I have been try- ing to catch live for years, somehow always missing them. Color me delighted. Volbeat was on the bill at Louder Than Life before Metallica, too, and, come to think of it, they went on immediately before Metal- lica the last time I saw them in 2018. I am sensing a trend. Metallica’s set was essentially the same first night set they played at Louder Than Life. One of the great things about live music is that even when a band plays the same songs, they are rendered a little dif- ferently. The crowd screamed its appreciation, me included, while Metallica shook the earth. It was an inspiring experience to be in the midst of so many thousands of people all enjoying the same music. Saturday was The Original Misfits day, rounding out a lineup that included Mudvayne, Gojira, and The Offspring. There was an appearance by Machine Gun Kelly that generated a mixed response, and there were a lot of other great bands that filled out the af- ternoon: Alien Weaponry, Anti-Flag, Body Count, Bones UK, and Atreyu. The Original Misfits have been making a number of high-profile appearances over the past few years. I remember seeing them at Psycho Las Vegas in 2019. They are an iconic band and their presence elevates any bill. As incredible as it was, their performance was not the only notable event on Saturday. There was also the return of Mudvayne. They only planned four appearances this year and had to cancel one already because of a covid-19 issue, so their performance at Aftershock was something special. The Offspring also had a stellar set, playing one crowd-pleaser after another. They rattled off all the hits fans wanted to hear. Machine Gun Kelly played in the afternoon. He made the news a couple weeks back when he was roundly booed by fans at Louder Than Life, presumably in response to the disparaging remarks about Slipknot he delivered just prior to that festival. At Aftershock he was indeed booed again by thousands of concert- goers. At the same time, there were a lot of Machine Gun Kelly fans in the audience, so in between the boos there were cheers to be heard as well if you lis- tened carefully. Sunday. Metallica’s second set was seen by a capacity crowd at Discovery Park. Social Distortion, In This Moment, Mastodon, Pennywise, Mammoth WVH, and Black Veil Brides gave stand-out performances on the final day of the festival, too. For me, Sunday was the biggest day. I had never seen Mammoth WVH play and, really, I had not even heard much of their music. In case you don’t know, they do not sound like Van Halen at all. The performance was emotional and garnered well-deserved attention. Black Veil Brides gave blis- tering renditions of their famous songs and newer ones as well. The ever-trippy In This Moment hyp- notized viewers with elegant and captivating move- ments and mantra-like choruses. Make sure you see this band if they are performing at any festival you attend. Once you start watching you can’t look away. Mastodon has been playing big all over the country, stepping in for bands that had to drop out at the last minute, as they did at Psycho Las Vegas this year. I have seen them several times in 2021 and the exe- cution of their work is always topnotch. Social Disto 17