![\"Tool](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/833324564_1491664026125090_8116623090682942559_n-copy.jpg\")
Tool performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\tTool performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
After three days of punishing heat, Aftershock\u2019s final day brought cloud cover, slightly cooler temperatures and a lineup built around \u00a0guitar gods, \u201990s favorites and artists who don\u2019t fit neatly into boxes.<\/p>\n
Tool closed the weekend with progressive metal precision, Danny Elfman made an orchestra feel at home at Aftershock and Queens of the Stone Age delivered an hour of swaggering rock.<\/p>\n
Sunday moved at a slightly slower pace, with blankets spread out across Discovery Park and fewer attendees compelled to spend every set in a pit.<\/p>\n
Aftershock also heads into its next decade with Sacramento secured as its home. A recent agreement with the city extends the festival\u2019s run for another 10 years and leaves room for additional events at Discovery Park.<\/p>\n
Tool<\/p>\n
Tool closed both Sunday night and the festival with a set that made bombast secondary to the four musicians onstage.<\/p>\n
The band isn\u2019t in the middle of a major tour, making its Aftershock appearance feel more like a destination show than another stop. Vocalist Maynard James Keenan also arrived only five weeks removed from hip replacement surgery.<\/p>\n
An early problem with Keenan\u2019s in-ear monitors unexpectedly gave fans something else rare at a Tool show: extended stage banter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHad enough?\u201d Keenan deadpanned after opener \u201cStinkfist.\u201d<\/p>\n
As technicians worked, he kept going.<\/p>\n
\u201cAftershock, final day, you must be hot and you must smell like shit,\u201d Keenan said. \u201cThis is me stalling.\u201d<\/p>\n His recent surgery didn\u2019t seem to affect his voice, though he moved more cautiously than usual and spent much of the performance in the shadows on an elevated platform.<\/p>\n Once the technical issue was resolved, Tool settled into a set that emphasized the interplay between guitarist Adam Jones, bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey as much as Keenan\u2019s vocals.<\/p>\n The band opened ambitiously with \u201cRosetta Stoned\u201d and the sprawling Fear Inoculum<\/a> title track.<\/p>\n Production remained relatively restrained by festival-headliner standards. Each song brought its own visual treatment across the video screens, while lasers occasionally shot low over the crowd.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Grudge\u201d and \u201cH.\u201d followed before \u201cJambi\u201d put Carey\u2019s thunderous percussion at the center. Chancellor, meanwhile, spent the moments when he wasn\u2019t playing working the crowd from the front of the stage.<\/p>\n Tool isn\u2019t the sort of band that usually inspires forests of phones, but plenty went up Sunday. Fans shouted along to \u201cI don\u2019t mind\u201d during \u201cH.,\u201d while \u201cPneuma\u201d drew one of the night\u2019s louder reactions.<\/p>\n The band reached back for \u201cCrawl Away\u201d before finishing with the expansive \u201cInvincible\u201d and \u201cVicarious.\u201d<\/p>\n Keenan, unusually talkative at the beginning, offered no farewell. He simply left the stage, ending both Tool\u2019s set and four days of Aftershock.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tTool performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tTool performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tTool performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tTool performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tTool performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n Danny Elfman<\/p>\n Danny Elfman<\/a> looked like one of Aftershock\u2019s strangest bookings when the lineup was announced.<\/p>\n By the time he finished, he looked like one of its smartest.<\/p>\n Elfman somehow compressed four decades of work \u2014 Oingo Boingo, film and television scores and solo material \u2014 into an hourlong performance that made sense even when the ingredients shouldn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve probably guessed by now that nothing we do is gonna make any sense up here,\u201d Elfman said early in the set. \u201cIt\u2019s a mash of 40 years of material.\u201d<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t exaggerating.<\/p>\n Elfman arrived with an orchestra and backing vocalists alongside a rock band stacked with veteran players, including drummer Josh Freese, guitarists Nili Brosh and Robin Finck and bassist Matt McJunkins.<\/p>\n The orchestral pieces provided some of the night\u2019s easiest entry points. Themes from \u201cThe Simpsons,\u201d \u201cSpider-Man,\u201d \u201cWednesday,\u201d \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d and \u201cBatman\u201d were recognizable almost immediately.<\/p>\n Elfman generally let those compositions establish themselves in familiar form before the rock band pushed them into heavier territory.<\/p>\n The Oingo Boingo material took the opposite approach.<\/p>\n \u201cInsects,\u201d \u201cNothing to Fear (But Fear Itself)\u201d and \u201cOnly a Lad\u201d were rebuilt around aggressive guitar work, turning songs from Elfman\u2019s past into material that fit easily on an Aftershock stage.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout 30 years ago I did music for a cartoon,\u201d Elfman said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember exactly what it was, but I loved that there was a skeleton named Jack.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis Is Halloween,\u201d from \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas,\u201d followed and sounded surprisingly natural surrounded by distorted guitars and a full orchestra.<\/p>\n Watching Elfman shift between frontman and composer became part of the appeal. At times he sang from center stage; at others he closed his eyes and appeared to follow the arrangement around him, waiting for individual parts to enter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe recorded that one in 1970-and-fucking-8,\u201d Elfman joked after \u201cOnly a Lad.\u201d<\/p>\n He closed with two more Oingo Boingo songs, \u201cWho Do You Want to Be\u201d and \u201cNo One Lives Forever,\u201d ending one of Sunday\u2019s most unlikely sets as one of its best.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tDanny Elfman performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tDanny Elfman performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tSteve Bartek of Oingo Boingo performs with Danny Elfman during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tJosh Freese performs with Danny Elfman during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tDanny Elfman performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tDanny Elfman performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tMatt McJunkins performs with Danny Elfman during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n Queens of the Stone Age<\/p>\n Queens of the Stone Age returned to Aftershock with an hour of bluesy, swaggering rock that rarely let up.<\/p>\n An array of glowing cables hung behind the band while visuals moved across the large LED screen. Frontman Josh Homme, wearing a plain white T-shirt emblazoned with \u201cscumbag,\u201d kept the focus largely on the songs.<\/p>\n \u201cRegular John\u201d and \u201cSick, Sick, Sick\u201d opened a 12-song set that drew from across the band\u2019s catalog and differed noticeably from some of the group\u2019s other recent performances.<\/p>\n Homme\u2019s guitar style remained the center of the sound, with the rest of the band locking into the crooked grooves and deliberately rough edges that distinguish Queens of the Stone Age from more polished hard-rock acts.<\/p>\n \u201cI Sat by the Ocean,\u201d \u201cTime & Place\u201d and \u201cPaper Machete\u201d filled out the middle of the set before the band leaned into some of its best-known material.<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Sister\u201d hit particularly hard, while Homme stretched out the opening of \u201cGo With the Flow\u201d with a dramatic a cappella introduction.<\/p>\n Queens of the Stone Age finished with \u201cNo One Knows\u201d and \u201cA Song for the Dead.\u201d<\/p>\n Before leaving, Homme praised Tool and encouraged fans to stick around for the festival\u2019s headliner.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tQueens of the Stone Age perform during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n AFI<\/p>\n AFI packed its Sunday set with some of the most recognizable songs from its catalog, but frontman Davey Havok looked noticeably different doing it.<\/p>\n With long curly hair and a thick mustache, Havok has folded a little glam and classic-rock theatricality into his stage presence. There\u2019s some Mick Jagger and Freddie Mercury in the movement, though his unmistakable vocal delivery remains intact.<\/p>\n \u201cYour dedication and resilience in battling the dust and the heat to hear the dulcet sounds of AFI is much appreciated,\u201d Havok said early in the set.<\/p>\n The Ukiah band is touring behind Silver Bleeds the Black Sun\u2026, but the new album largely took a back seat to festival favorites.<\/p>\n AFI hit its stride early with \u201cGirl\u2019s Not Grey\u201d and \u201cLove Like Winter,\u201d while Havok repeatedly pushed beyond the stage.<\/p>\n At one point, he climbed into the audience and stood upright above the pit while fans held him aloft.<\/p>\n The band nodded to its Northern California history with \u201cDays of the Phoenix,\u201d named for Petaluma\u2019s Phoenix Theater, before closing with \u201cSilver and Cold\u201d and \u201cMiss Murder.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe next feet on this stage will be Danny Elfman\u2019s and that\u2019s a fucking honor for us,\u201d Havok said before the band departed. \u201cPraise Bowie.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tAFI performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tAFI performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tAFI performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tAFI performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tAFI performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n President<\/p>\n Masked rock band President continued its rapid rise with a late-afternoon set on the freeway-adjacent Epicenter Stage.<\/p>\n The later slot was probably a welcome one for four performers wearing masks, suits and jumpsuits after several days of Sacramento heat.<\/p>\n Structurally, the set resembled President\u2019s 2025 opening performance in Oakland with Bad Omens<\/a>, though the band trimmed some of its theatrics to fit a shorter festival slot.<\/p>\n \u201cFearless\u201d and \u201cDionysus\u201d opened the set, with anonymous vocalist The President moving between soulful melodies and harsher screams.<\/p>\n He stepped behind a podium a few times for the prerecorded speeches that help build the band\u2019s mythology, but those interludes were kept brief enough that they didn\u2019t stall the set.<\/p>\n \u201cDestroy Me,\u201d \u201cRAGE\u201d and \u201cAngel Wings\u201d followed, with masked bandmates Heist, Vice and Protest backing The President.<\/p>\n President\u2019s mystery remains part of the appeal, but the larger question is becoming what happens when mystery alone is no longer enough. As more music arrives, the band will have to keep expanding the world it has built around itself.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tPresident performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tPresident performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tPresident performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tPresident performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tPresident performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tPresident performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n Filter<\/p>\n Filter\u2019s<\/a> no-frills afternoon performance became one of Sunday\u2019s strongest surprises.<\/p>\n With less than 40 minutes to work with, Richard Patrick and his band skipped the buildup and packed the set with songs suited to a festival crowd spanning several generations. Patrick remained the focal point. His voice still carries the sharp, abrasive edge that defined Filter\u2019s biggest records, and he could push into higher, harsher notes without losing control.<\/p>\n The band opened with \u201cThe Drowning\u201d and \u201cCan\u2019t You (Trip Like I Do),\u201d immediately establishing the mix of industrial rock, grunge and alternative metal that has always made Filter difficult to pin to a single genre.<\/p>\n The former was the lone newer song in a set otherwise built heavily around familiar material.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fucking hot out here, can we play something mellow?\u201d Patrick asked. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna play our summertime hit even though the summer is over.\u201d<\/p>\n That meant \u201cTake a Picture,\u201d which gave the set its lone sustained breather.<\/p>\n \u201cDid that song give you the feels?\u201d Patrick asked afterward. \u201cWell, it\u2019s time for the heavy again.\u201d<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t kidding.<\/p>\n Filter finished with \u201cWelcome to the Fold\u201d and \u201cHey Man Nice Shot,\u201d the latter giving Patrick one final chance to unleash the piercing rasp that remains central to the band\u2019s sound.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tFilter performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tFilter performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tFilter performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tFilter performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tFilter performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tFilter performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tFilter performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tAttendees at Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tAttendees at Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tAttendees at Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n Follow writer Mike DeWald at mikedewald.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n About The Author<\/p>\n ![\"Tool](\"https:\/\/riffmedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/04223920\/wide.jpg\")
<\/a>Tool performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Danny Elfman performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n