Words and photographs by Sugarwolf

The fourth and final day of 2023’s Aftershock Festival brought another solid lineup of bands including festival headliner Guns N’ Roses.  Wargasm heated up the Jack Daniel’s stage during the early hours of the day with the help of singer Milkie Way. Ayron Jones, who’s currently touring with GN’R, gave a performance that left the crowd wanting more.  Badflower fanned out into the audience to get up close with his fans.  Daughtry recovered nicely from an early sound glitch and closed his set with some dynamic pyro effects.  Sacramento’s own Dance Gavin Dance represented the festival host city on the Shockwave stage. Punk rock fans enjoyed a break from the hard rock when Rancid took the stage.  Queens of the Stone Age inspired a flood of crowd surfers. Guns N’ Roses took the stage 30 minutes past their scheduled set time but fans still embraced the band’s arrival. Original bandmates Duff McKagan, Slash, and Axl Rose along with their current lineup, closed the festival with a setlist weighted heavily with favorites from the Appetite and Use Your Illusion LP’s.  Slash played a notable solo on Rocket Queen that included talk box effects.

Wargasm’s Milkie Way. Photograph by Sugarwolf