After suffering COVID trauma, we have never needed the Aftershock Festival more than now

Growing up in Sacramento’s Curtis Park neighborhood, on rare occasions my friends and I would be treated to “free” rock concerts from the comfort of our own backyards.

I clearly remember enjoying the musical stylings of The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Jackson Browne, all of whom played a benefit concert at nearby Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium in 1976. And who can forget that in the ’80s the same venue hosted the likes of The Doobie Brothers, Huey Lewis and the News, Santana, and of course in 1988 when Pink Floyd and their iconic inflatable pig graced the now nearly 100-year-old stadium.

Today, my hometown is again hosting some incredible world-renowned musical acts, most notably those who have, and continue to headline and play at Sacramento’s annual Aftershock music festival.

This year’s line-up includes Social Distortion, the Original Misfits, and one of my favorites, Metallica (insert ‘hand-horns’ rock ’n’ roll gesture here).

As the Sacramento County Supervisor representing the central city, including Discovery Park where Aftershock is held, I’ve worked closely with festival promoters, our regional parks department, and Visit Sacramento for years to see that the festival grows responsibly and with an eye toward attracting some of the best acts around.

It’s not just my sense of civic duty, however, that inspires this interest of mine.

As many know, one of the ways I maintain my sanity as a county supervisor is through music. I’ve had the great fortune for many years to play drums or bass guitar with some remarkable musicians, all of them dear friends, and each experience has served prominently to help me achieve balance in my life.

I know that I’m not alone as many who practice law locally, consult, lobby, as well as other local politicians – all comment frequently that they, too, find a calming peace as they hone their musicianship.

Just note the collection of musicians with whom I play under the banner of ‘UnSupervised.’

As the name suggests, we are a nine-piece R&B band comprised of lawyers, active elected people such as West Sacramento City Councilman Chris Ledesma, and even a reform politician and our band patriarch, former Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGowan.

By the way, for a while back in the mid-’70s, Mike was the bane of my parents’ existence because he loaned me my first real drum set. So, yeah, he along with my band directors at Bret Harte Elementary, Cal Middle School and McClatchy High, are all partially responsible for nurturing my love of music.

To this day I’ve further cultivated that love to include the art form’s profound effect on our entire community and our common identity as Sacramentans.

That’s why despite some who remain critical that festivals like Aftershock amount to nothing more than unnecessary noise and traffic, I continue to champion the event’s growth and success.

And after nearly 20 months of being sequestered in our own homes, I’ll be the first to take the heat from critics because, you know what? We’ve never needed Aftershock as much as we do right now.

For the fully COVID-vaccinated and negative-tested among us, we need to be with one another enjoying outdoor music again (yes, you’ll need to show proof of full vaccination, or a negative COVID-19 test result to attend Aftershock).

We need to participate responsibly in Aftershock-like events that not only feed the soul through the medium of music, but that give us peace of mind that we’re one more important step closer to normalcy.

For four days beginning Oct. 7, we’ll finally have that opportunity.

In the days of my childhood and adolescence I took for granted that ability to simply snap open a lawn chair with my buddies in our backyards and listen to rock ’n’ roll greats. Now in my 50s, I realize how special those days were and that there aren’t many communities that can say they’ve hosted Metallica-caliber acts.

As Aftershock and other local and regional music festivals continue to grow and mature in this part of California, all of us – not just your run-of-the-mill-bass-playing-county-supervisor – should be supportive, because music is as much of who we are as the trees of Sacramento, or the now famed “farm-to-fork” moniker, or the Sacramento Kings.

The eternal lyrics of “Nothing Else Matters” sung by Metallica front man James Hetfield say it best regarding music’s importance and meaning to us as a community:

“Couldn’t be much more from the heart, forever trusting who we are.”

See you at the Aftershock Festival. Rock-on Sacramento!

This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "After suffering COVID trauma, we have never needed the Aftershock Festival more than now."