Since Bob and I played Fantasy Football (nerd shit) against each other this week we sat around our hotel room watching football all morning until it was time to go (I ended up winning). Our M.O. for Sundays at Aftershock is usually to find a Buffalo Wild Wings to watch football and get sauced before heading over to the show but B-Dubs was packed. This lead us next door to a restaurant that served up the biggest burrito I have ever seen. I almost took it all down before we headed over to the show to catch Gojira. Joe loves Gojira but I was indifferent about them. Maybe it would have helped if I already knew the songs.
Chevelle was the next band I wanted to see but unfortunately it seemed like they “phoned it in” a little. I cannot explain it exactly but after seeing them as many times as I have it is easy to distinguish a performance that is off. It could have been because they had a shortened set in the daytime while it was still light outside. Then again that exact scenario is how I saw them in the early days when they used to play the second stage or really early on the main stage at Ozzfest.
Young Wicked, The Clincher, Get Some, An Island, Door to Door Cannibals, Face to the Floor, Vitamin R (Leading Us Along), Send the Pain Below, The Red, Still Running, I Get It
Korn have been on a tear the last few times I have seen them and tonight was no different. This time they were touring for their new album The Nothing that was released exactly a month before this. The Aftershock lineup for this year was incredible but Korn was some next level shit compared to most of the other bands that had played up to this point. The first four songs they played set a tone that never wavered from then on out. The set as a whole reminded you why these guys have been able to sustain a career for as long as they have. Still got it.
Blind, Clown, Faget. Here to Stay, Rotting in Vain, You’ll Never Find Me, Shoots and Ladders (with Metallica’s “One” outro), Got the Life, Twist, Freak on a Leash, Coming Undone, Falling Away From Me
It had been over two years since I last saw Tool and the big news since then was that there was finally a new album! Fear Inoculum was released only two weeks before this and was worth the wait. Seeing Tool live never gets old but merely having a chance to see a new song performed live was probably enticing enough by itself to get me to Sacramento. Lucky for me they ended up playing two new songs on the album and equally exciting was when they played “Part of Me” because I am almost certain that in all the times I have seen Tool that I have never seen them play that song. I was also lucky that Ken of all people had procured a doobie from someone since I was out of gummy rings. Musically they were absolutely incredible and somehow their stage show continues to keep evolving to greater heights. The lasers alone were more impressive than the entire stage show of most bands I see.
Fear Inoculum (live debut), AEnema, The Pot, Invincible, Part of Me, Parabola, Jambi, Forty Six & 2, Stinkfist, Pneuma (live debut)
The group as a whole made it through one more day together without separating so we all walked back but on the way realized we were staying right across the street from Old Town Sacramento. After a chiliburger and completely unnecessary beer we wrapped up another Aftershock. Until next year…which we already bought tickets for since it was announced Metallica is going to be headlining on two of the three nights with completely different sets for each night!
