Words and photographs by Sugarwolf

History was made as heavy metal giants Iron Maiden and Judas Priest both gave headlining performances on the festival’s two opposing main stages during day 3 of Aftershock Festival.  Iron Maiden’s performance was a scheduled stop on the band’s current ‘Future Past’ world tour, a tour that continues to hoard favorable reviews. Maiden showed its ageless resilience by steamrolling through a 15-song setlist most heavily weighted with tracks from the ’Somewhere in Time’, and ’Senjutsu’ albums.  Lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson traversed the Jack Daniels’ stage in his steampunk jacket and goggles with the stamina of a marathon runner. Bassist Steve Harris and trio of guitarists Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, and Dave Murray, exchanged jabs and glances with the crowd and spent more energy on stage than bands half their age. Judas Priest closed down the Shockwave stage as high priest Rob Halford belted out lyrics to fan favorites like “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” and “Breaking the Law”.  Guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap accompanied Halford through an electric set that at one point culminated with Rob mounting his high gloss Harley Davidson in studded leather digs and a polished nose ring. Day 3’s lineup also included highly coveted performances by ‘Big 4’ thrash metal alums Anthrax, hip hop icon Ice-T with rap-metal band Body Count, 90s alt metal platinum artists P.O.D., and grammy nominated rockers Rival Sons.  Sleeping With Sirens, Dope, Alien Ant Farm, New Years Day, and Clutch were amongst other bands that made Saturday’s ticket the most sought after of the festival.