REPORTING FROM THE 2024 AFTERSHOCK PIT by NICO

Now, I couldn't afford to go to more than one day, but my (employed) show bestie did...first guest writer of the zine, Nico!

NPZ #1 — NOVEMBER 2024 — PAGE 6

Written by Nico (he/him)

Yo, I’m Nico, I’m a close high school friend and frequent concert accomplice of Shaun’s, and I’m about to drop the hottest recap of all four days at this year’s Aftershock 🤠

HOW DID YOU GET INTO METAL?

I didn’t get into metal until a year ago when I first heard about Aftershock 2023 from my coworkers and friends. I remember being intrigued by the lineup but still being unsure of whether I was going or not, but I ultimately ended up going on day 2 and day 3 with Shaun and some of our other friends, Evan, Steven, and Olivia. Ever since then, I’ve been gradually branching out to various bands and attending local shows with Shaun and friends, and now my main metal bands of choice are TOOL, KoRn, Metallica, Megadeth, and Sepultura.

WHICH BANDS WERE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST AT AFTERSHOCK 2024?

This year, I was mostly looking forward to Slayer, Slipknot, Joey Valence & Brae, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, and Tom Morello.

WHICH HEADLINER WAS YOUR FAVORITE? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST?

For my favorite headliner, it was a rather tough decision between Slayer and Slipknot, but I think Slipknot just slightly edges out Slayer because I got much closer to the stage than I did for Slayer, and therefore I feel like I got more involved with the crowd movements/environment. Also, seeing them with Shaun and our friend Evan made the experience much more personal for me.My least favorite headliner was easily Mötley Cruë. The music/performance itself was fine, but what tarnished the experience for me was how the band seemed to use objectifying women as a gimmick. For one, they had two female dancers on stage who were dancing rather seductively for most of the set, and while I didn’t have a huge issue with this, I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, either. My main issue was when, in between songs, drummer Tommy Lee got on the mic and complained about how he hadn’t seen “one fuckin’ pair of fuckin’ titties yet.” Once that happened, I felt like I didn’t really belong there anymore and I eventually became more focused on using my phone’s camera to zoom in on clumps of glitched pixels that started appearing on the stage’s video boards.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF EACH DAY?

DAY 1: THURSDAY 10/10/2024

• The on-screen visuals for Till Lindemann’s set (my first set of the festival) rather shocking and a little hard to watch at times. One memorable example of this is when a close-up video of an anus very painfully slowly pooping out a capsule played near the end.

• I watched a shirtless guy headbanging in a tree during Pantera’s set. Also, despite not listening to Pantera, I still felt touched watching their memorial video for Dimebag and Vinnie Paul.

• By far the most memorable part of the night was Slayer’s set. After getting a decent spot for them by leaving Pantera’s set halfway through, Slayer began by playing a brief documentary-style video covering their backstory, history, and impact, which included short interview snippets from various musicians (e.g. Metallica’s Kirk Hammett) and clips of Slayer fans.
  Throughout the entire show, a circle pit to my left was gradually expanding. It had started out with no more than 10 people inside, but by the time the stage started raining fireworks during the opening riff of Raining Blood, it had morphed into something more than twice its size with an eye of people standing still in the center. I stared into it and thought “I’ve got to get inside this thing before it’s over,” so I pushed myself through and got inside while hastily pulling my phone out of my fanny pack to briefly record the chaos around me.

  Not even a minute later, my phone flies out of my hands as I get knocked off my feet and onto the dirt. As several people follow suit and I’m rushed to my feet by a flurry of arms, I see a brownish stain covering the right lens of my glasses as I scramble back inside to retrieve my phone. My immediate thought was, “Wow, someone must’ve spilled their coffee or beer on me!”

  I then realized, “Oh wait, this might be coming from ME,” so I held my phone camera up in selfie mode and, sure enough, my eyebrow was raining blood (ba dum tss). I was so high from adrenaline that I don’t recall feeling any pain in my eyebrow at the time, and all I could do was stand back and watch the rest of the set in awe with my mouth hanging open.

DAY 2: FRIDAY 10/11/2024

• Despite not getting as close to the stage as I’d hoped, jumping around to Joey Valence & Brae’s set was still very satisfying.

• Evanescence’s sound was much heavier than I was expecting, particularly Will Hunt’s thunderous drums. I’m also still quite impressed by Amy Lee’s vocals, especially with how on-point they sounded during Bring Me to Life.

• While waiting for Slipknot with Shaun and Evan (and getting swallowed by the massive crowd in the process), people were helping someone climb a nearby tree and singing Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit in unison as it belted out from the speakers during the waiting time.

• Before the first song even began, the crowd crush already reached the point where I had to keep both my arms locked in front of my chest to give myself the slightest bit of extra breathing room. By the time the first song was going, the crowd was in full force and I ended up very briefly but genuinely fearing for my safety. As the show went on, the three of us kept sinking further into the bowels of the crowd.

• While getting carried away recording Only One, I looked up and realized I had fallen behind Shaun and Evan, who had reached his arm out to me. With my phone still in hand, I grabbed onto his arm and, before I knew it, was flung into a ravaging pit with the both of them.

  Despite getting thrown inside with almost no warning, I somehow succeeded in staying on my feet while simultaneously pushing people with one arm and desperately putting my phone away with the other. As much as I wanted to stay inside, I regretfully had to leave as I couldn’t risk my then-fresh Slayer gash taking another hit.

DAY 3: SATURDAY 10/12/2024

• Not even three minutes after getting through security, I ran into my cousin Dave and his girlfriend Caroline without knowing they would be at the festival.

• I loved the overall energy of Body Count’s set (recommended by cousin Dave), though I did get a mini flashback when they opened with a cover of Raining Blood. I thought it was especially sweet when Ice-T introduced his young daughter to the stage and performed the next song while carrying her on his shoulders.

• Watching Judas Priest while eating a churro made me realize I’m missing out by not listening to them. I honestly don’t really have anything specific to say about the set, it was just a really solid experience overall, perhaps even more so than Iron Maiden

• While walking towards the Jack Daniel’s stage to get a good spot for Iron Maiden, my coworker Andre (who I happened to run into last year) came out of nowhere and scooped me in his arms.

• Bruce Dickinson saying “THAT’S a fucking gun!” and shooting an alien on stage with a giant turret during Iron Maiden’s set was rather entertaining

DAY 4: FRIDAY 10/13/2024

• Watching the members of Skillet get lifted by platforms extending from the stage floor was cool

• While standing back to eat some food, I got very jealous watching Shadows Fall’s set, especially when the lead singer kept saying “keep it coming!” as the crowd kept on surfing people to the stage. I also remember him jokingly daring a police officer who was watching from the nearby overpass to jump off and into the crowd.

• TOM MORELLO:

  • I had to cover my mouth and nose with my shirt due to the sheer amount of dust being kicked up by the massive circle pit in the center of the crowd.

  • Tom Morello’s playing style was unlike anything I’ve seen. At one point, he held his guitar up to pluck the strings with his mouth, revealing a sticker on the back of his guitar that read “CEASEFIRE”

  • Jumping around with my middle finger in the air while everyone yelled “Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me”

  • Being a part of the crowd bouncing after Tom repeatedly commanded “When the beat drops, jump the fuck up!” was cathartic

• During Flogging Molly, someone in a panda suit got surfed to the front of the stage and got handed a can of Guinness by the lead singer

WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE, BUT TELL READERS ABOUT "THE TRUMP MOMENT"...

While walking around before Body Count’s set, I came across Staind on the Shockwave stage. After two songs, frontman Aaron Lewis said “Fuck Joe Biden and Kamala Harris”, and I thought, “Alright, I can get behind that.” He then followed that up with “God bless Donald Trump and J.D. Vance,” at which point I immediately did a 180 and walked straight over to the DWP stage to wait for Body Count.

THOUGHTS ON THE FESTIVAL OVERALL? GONNA GO NEXT YEAR?

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Getting there each day was a breeze thanks to their free bike valet service, and I was also surprised by how easy it was to get a decent spot in the crowd for certain acts, even when I would arrive 10 minutes before their set. Despite being unfamiliar with pretty much every act and getting there later than anticipated on each day, I still feel like I got my money’s worth. Just like this year, I can definitely see myself buying a 4-day pass before the lineup for next year even gets announced.

Photo: I GOT IN THAT FUCKING SLAYER PIT! GOT MY ASS BEAT BUT I DON’T CARE. DON’T BE AFRAID TO TAKE CHANCES AND GET IN THERE