Rob Zombie stole the show on Sunday night at the Aftershock music festival in Discovery Park, starting with a dramatic entry on a multistory set and delivering a thunderous horror-themed set of industrial metal.
Gore metal group Gwar also stayed true to form. It decapitated one performer dressed as entrepreneur Elon Musk and then eviscerated a second dressed as President Donald Trump, with fake blood streaming into the crowd from both bodies.
It was a repeat of the group’s performance in Chicago last month — one that drew criticism from right-wing social media accounts, according to online news site Axios. Fake blood and mock deaths have been part Gwar’s act for decades. The band is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
British rock band Bring Me The Horizon was the headliner for the Aftershock’s final day.
The festival returned to Sacramento on Thursday with pop-punk band Blink-182 headlining in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. Sacramento’s own Deftones headlined on Friday night, and Korn had top billing on Saturday.
The four-day festival features more than 115 rock, punk and metal bands, and its organizers bill it as the largest such event on the West Coast. The festival welcomed 160,000 fans in 2024.
Oli Sykes of British rock band Bring Me The Horizon performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
A child cheers on headliner Bring Me The Horizon during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Oli Sykes of British rock band Bring Me The Horizon performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Oli Sykes of British rock band Bring Me The Horizon performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Lacey Sturm performs with Flyleaf during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Chad Gray, lead vocalist for heavy metal band Mudvayne, performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
A child in a pickle costume high fives the audience after crowd surfing to the pit during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Chad Gray, lead vocalist for heavy metal band Mudvayne, performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Blöthar the Berserker of heavy metal band Gwar, celebrating its 40th anniversary, sings during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Beefcake the Mighty of heavy metal band Gwar, celebrating its 40th anniversary, sings during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Gwar’s Bonesnapper prepares to decapitate a character playing entrepreneur Elon Musk during the heavy metal band’s set at the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Marshall Fields, left, Kai Cruz, center, and Leyna Burkhevics, friends who traveled from Washington, cheer as they are drenched in fake blood during Gwar’s performance at the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
A character portraying President Donald Trump dances with Gwar’s Bonesnapper before being eviserated during the heavy metal band’s set at the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Grodius Maximus of heavy metal band Gwar, celebrating its 40th anniversary, performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Rob Zombie takes the stage during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Rob Zombie performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Rob Zombie performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Rob Zombie performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Hinder lead singer Marshal Dutton performs with bassist Mike Rodden during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Hinder drummer Cody Hanson performs during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Tanya Freshour of West Sacramento gets ready to cheer, heavy metal style, for Hinder during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
Bee visuals editor Nathaniel Levine joined the staff in 2003. His work has received awards from the Society of News Design, the Best of the West journalism competition and the California News Publishers Association, among others. A native Californian, Levine grew up in Grass Valley and attended UC Davis.
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