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Sold-Out, Biggest-Yet Aftershock Caps Off Danny Wimmer’s 2019 With Metallica On Deck
Steve Thrasher – Aftershock 2019
during Lamb of God’s Friday-evening set.
Aftershock festival in Sacramento wrapped a big year for independent festival promoter Danny Wimmer Presents, with 97,500 tickets sold to California’s biggest dedicated rock fest Oct. 11-13. Adding to the heft of the biggest-yet Aftershock sellout was the added buzz of Thursday’s announcement that Metallica will exclusively headline DWP’s five major rock festivals, including Aftershock, in 2020.
The 97,500 total onsite at the city’s Discovery Park was Aftershock’s first time staging for three days, with a strong lineup including headliners Slipknot, Blink-182, and Tool along with major rock acts like Staind continuing its reunion gigs that started at DWP’s Louder Than Life last month, Rob Zombie, Korn, Lamb of God, Marilyn Manson and many others.
Aftershock follows DWP’s “Louisville Trifesta” of Hometown Rising, Louder Than Life and Bourbon & Beyond festivals in September, with 289,000 fans over three weekends at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center– including 91,000 for Bourbon & Beyond, doubly notable when considering last year’s event was interrupted by rain. Industry sources commended the festival producer for treating the fans and artists well in the case of bad weather, saying that garnering that kind of goodwill goes a long way in the continuing success of an event.
Weather was not an issue in Sacramento over the weekend, however, as DWP founder Danny Wimmer told Pollstar onsite that there was some concern with high winds earlier in the week that thankfully did not continue. Rather, the fest enjoyed warm afternoons and cool, calm evenings for the sea of metal fans adorned in black T-shirts featuring the logos of their favorite bands.
Speaking of Bourbon, the continuing trend of artist-branded beverages especially in the rock and metal realms was again on display at Aftershock, with Slipknot’s No. 9 Iowa whiskey, by Cedar Ridge Distillery, selling out 40 cases, which is more than 3,500 cocktails. “We could have easily sold 3X this number,” 5B Management CEO and founder Cory Brennan told Pollstar. A pre-festival whiskey signing featuring the band’s Shawn “Clown” Crahan sold another sold 90 cases, or 540 bottles, according to Brennan, and the Slipknot booze sold 30 cases worth at Louder Than Life and another 90 cases at a pre-fest signing.
Brennan was in attendance Friday and left to attend Slipknot frontman and consummate performer Corey Taylor’s wedding the following day. Brennan’s company also manages Aftershock performers Lamb Of God, which delivered a blistering sunset performance Friday night, and Babymetal, which not only had an Aftershock set Sunday but sold out the Forum in Inglewood Saturday night.
courtesy Danny Wimmer Presents – DWP
celebrating Bourbon & Beyond, part of the “Louisville Trifesta”
courtesy Danny Wimmer Presents – DWP
celebrating Bourbon & Beyond, part of the “Louisville Trifesta”
Meanwhile, Metallica, while not at Aftershock just yet, was there in spirit, with “Boilermaker” stands selling “Enter Night” pilsner by Stone Brewing as well as “Blackened” whiskey. Representatives from the band’s management at Q Prime told Pollstar the beverages moved an average of 8,000 drinks per weekend at each DWP event, “aside from Aftershock which sold 10,000 drinks (both beer and cocktails combined) over the course of the weekend.”
The weekend was a busy one for Sacramento, with a sold-out Chris Brown show at Golden 1 Center (12,000 tickets) Saturday night, Aftershock, How The West Was Won (Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube) at Toyota Amphitheatre moving another 10K-plus, and Banda Fest 2019 at Raley Field.
“I’ve never seen all those major venues activated on the same night,” Golden 1 Center vice president of arena programming James Rasmussen told Pollstar, which he said demonstrates the strength of the live music market in California’s capital.