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Just a few of the 97,500 People of Aftershock 2019 |
People of Aftershock, you did it again. But this year, not only were you doing your thing for three days, not one or two as in previous years, yes
Three Whole Wonderful Aftershock days in Sacramento's Discovery Park, but also you grew and grew and grew until there were 97,500 of you in attendance - a sold out weekend and the biggest so far in the history of the event. To think: it all began with a one-day festival in 2012. There are seven-year-old kids that have grown up in Aftershock.
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Crowdsurfers and catchers, Monster Energy Stage, Aftershock 2019 |
As has become a
Toon's Tunes tradition, before talking about the individual performances - and there were very-many, more than 50 bands, and there will be very-many photos of them coming soon - let's celebrate YOU, the
People of Aftershock.
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At the barrier, Kolas Discovery Stage, Aftershock 2019 |
Every one of you - from organizers to street crew, ticket-holder to security team, bartenders and chefs and hungry-and-thirsty attendees, crowdsurfers and surfer-catchers and guitar and drum technicians, camera and drone operators and
the people who rescue pets and those who say,
Fuck Cancer... thank you, thank you, thank you!
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Sign language interpreter, Aftershock 2019 |
You made this a weekend for the memory books. You travelled, performers and Aftershockers alike, from all corners of the earth: musicians from Mongolia (The Hu), France (Gojira), England (BMTH) and Japan (Babymetal), attendees from all over the USA and from Australia and from Mexico and further north and south than that, along with a presence from the other world (there was a Zombie in the lineup, right???) and at least one photographer from the UK (me! me! though I feel I still have one foot firmly planted in the 916).
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Aftershock 2019 |
You were unicorns. You were spiderman. You were Corey Taylor and some bizarre creature from Japanese anime. You were tattooed and beautifully-inked or beautifully-madeup or both, or you wore your naked face and torn jeans and tired Aftershock T-shirt from 2015; you possibly bared your boobs for beads or for Marilyn Manson who returned the favour (?) and bared his bum and burned a "bible" (in quotes because I have no proof whether it was, or was not, a religious tome), and at least one of you declared to anyone and everyone and the big screen in VIP in particular that He Is Satan, despite the rest of us thinking that he is more a performer than an antichrist. Though maybe I should modify the list of attendee-performer origins and add Hades to the list, somewhere between Australia and Mexico.
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Three unicorns and other people, Aftershock 2019 |
You worked really hard and you partied until you broke - if not your bodies, because the security teams did a great job of catching you as you surfed the crowd (I only saw one bloodied nose all weekend, very early on on the first day, way before any circle pit had spun its end-of-summer NorCal dust cloud or anyone had zoomed across the heads of their Aftershock friends), at least some of your bank accounts (how else did you get so happily wasted? that wasn't cheap!!!) and you wore your shoes out walking/dancing/hobbling several long happy miles back to your hotels when Sacramento's cell phone network collapsed under the weight of 97,450 or so people all trying their utmost to live stream Tool's gem of a show.
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Korn fans, Kolas Discovery Stage, Aftershock 2019 |
Thank you, thank you, thank you,
People of Aftershock. You were friendly, you were happy, you were generous, and you rocked your hearts out. That was a wonderful weekend. How is it over, so fast?
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Aftershock 2019 |
And today, it's Friday again, and suddenly a week has gone by since the first day of Aftershock 2019... and what are you doing now? Already
planning for next year's Aftershock, of course! Because wait: the dates for 2020 have already been announced, the headliners known - Metallica, yes, you guessed, Metallica - planning two nights with different setlists, not only at Aftershock but at all five
rock and metal festivals presented by Danny Wimmer's team, and
tickets are already on sale, and selling really, really fast (you can do a layaway: reserve your spots and pay for the tickets over time). I hope, very much, to see you all again at
Aftershock, in Sacramento, in 2020. Fingers and eyes crossed and drowned in travel-fatigue and an overdose of caffeine.
Many, many more People of Aftershock 2019 photos here, in the photo gallery. Take a look, you might find yourself. Feel free to share the pics directly from the gallery website using the social media links please tag
@alisontoon on Twitter,
@alisontoonphotographer on Instagram,
@therealtoonstunes on Facebook.
Previous
Aftershock People Of galleries are all here except for
People of Aftershock 2012 which was hosted on the platform of the time here.
Band photos and reviews coming soon here:
http://camerasandcargos.com and the photo galleries will all be hosted here:
http://www.alisontoon.com/-/galleries/music just give me a few more days!
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Aftershock 2019 lineup |
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