Halestorm lands big time at Aftershock

Halestorm- Photo by Steve Thrasher

Day 3 of the Aftershock music festival in Sacramento was capped off by the long-awaited appearance of My Chemical Romance and the return of hometown favorite Papa Roach.

However, the atmosphere was set and delivered by the most confident and simply the absolute best hard rock band on tour: Halestorm.

No one can roar like frontwoman Lzzy Hale but it was her connection to fans that set the stage for the Aftershock climax on Day 3.

“This is my church, and you are my people,” Hale rejoiced.

Fans celebrated along with her during ‘I Get Off,’ ‘Back From The Dead,’ and ‘I Miss The Misery.’

Halestorm joins an incredible amount of female-led bands at Aftershock, including Evanescence and the Pretty Reckless, the latter being a must-see show for Day 4 Sunday.

Also Sunday festival-goers would do well to heed The Warning — a surging band from northern Mexico who learned how to make rock music as children through Rock Band video games, and later made a YouTube video of themselves performing Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ that went viral. They have received support throughout the rock community since 2014 and now they have three albums under their belts, the acclaimed ‘Error’ being the latest this year.

Papa Roach- Photo by Steve Thrasher

Papa Roach- Photo by Nathan Zucker

YungBlud- Photo by Steve Thrasher

As for the rest of Day 3, English singer Yungblud drew massive crowds to the Jack Daniel’s Stage, almost rivaling the audience for the headliner — but not quite.

My Chemical Romance -Photo by Steve Thrasher

My Chemical Romance fans gathered and never wavered as they chanted nonstop: “M-C-R!”

With an apocalyptic urban backdrop, MCR did not disappoint with vocalist Gerard Way leading the audience with every word of ‘I’m Not OK (I Promise),’ ‘Black Parade,’ and ‘Famous Last Words.’

There were plenty of crowd surfers and the show was paused on three different occasions; however, security did its job and a wonderful night was had by all thanks to MCR.

Aftershock 2022 Aftershock Festival