I survived my first day at Aftershock in Sacramento. Here are 4 things I wish I knew before

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Thousands of juggalos, metalheads and music fans descended on Discovery Park Thursday for the first day of Aftershock in Sacramento.

Among the festival goers was a 24-year-old reporter — that’s me — filled with excitement and a little bit of terror. I’m a seasoned music festival and concertgoer, but this marked my first trip to Aftershock.

I had a few goals walking into the gates: see Pantera, purchase a t-shirt, get food and stay hydrated.

Here are four things I learned on day one of the festival that I wish I knew before going in:

A tip for the mosh pit

My main goal was to see Pantera. My dad is a fan and we would listen to the heavy-metal band growing up, so the nostalgia was a big pull for me. I was also eager to check out the performance after the group canceled its Aftershock appearance last year due to unforeseen circumstances.

“I was a little sad Pantera pulled out last year so it’s cool to see them back,” festival attendee Violet Wilson said. “But there are so many good shows.”

So many good shows is right. I had a hard time deciding which sets to see.

The biggest difference between attending a metal and rock festival and every other show for me was the crowd. At the shows I typically attend, slamming into other people is a big taboo, but at Aftershock it’s encouraged.

A mosh pit is “an area in front of a stage where very physical and rough dancing takes place at a rock concert,” according to the Merriam Webster dictionary.

There was plenty of moshing and crowd surfing during the first day of the festival. During the Insane Clown Posse set, fans moshed and were sprayed with “Faygo showers.”

ICP fans, or juggalos, seemed to have some of the best time in the pit. The horrorcore rap duo sprayed their fans with a drink while performing. Juggalos also paint their faces as clowns in homage to the rappers.

“The crowd was pretty good here,” self described juggalo Lex Martinez said after the show. “ICP fans are like a family.”

The most intense dancing came during Pantera’s appearance at the Shockwave Stage and Slayer’s set at the Jack Daniel’s stage.

I didn’t join in on any of the more intense sessions, as I was definitely not skilled enough. But I did briefly get in a small one during Till Lindemann’s set.

I was worried about getting scratched up while in the pit and I think those around me could tell. A man near me offered up some advice, simply saying “Keep your eyes moving.”

I kept looking around me and eventually saw a circle opening up a few rows back. I was able to stay on the outside of the circle and watch as everyone enjoyed themselves.

Grab your merch first

The festival gates opened at 11 a.m. with the first set beginning 20 minutes later. Depending on your goals, I recommend hitting the merchandise tents first as wait times can top an hour.

Aftershock has three merch tents, a larger one near the Garden Highway entrance, a smaller one near the DWPresents stage and one inside the VIP area. If you can’t stand the wait, there are plenty of street vendors outside!

The larger tent has the widest selection of designs and available options, but the longest lines by far. The tent near the DWPresents stage has a much faster line but a limited selection of designs. The VIP merch tent is the fastest, but does not carry items from any artists.

I snatched up a medium Aftershock t-shirt from the tent near the DWPresents stage around 5 p.m. I waited only about 25 minutes and spent $45 before tax.

Overpriced pizza and plenty of other options

Aftershock had the widest selection of foods I’ve seen at a music festival with stalls of all cuisine types. Some onsite food and beverages come from local restaurants and food trucks.

Attendees can choose from pizza, burgers, chicken fingers, barbecue, gyros, cheese steaks, nachos, Korean corn dogs, ramen burritos, hibachi rice bowls and more.

Local food truck favorites like Drewskis, Bacon Mania, Nash & Proper, Buckhorn BBQ + Grill and Salt N Pepper were also there to feed fans.

I ended up splitting a whole pizza from Di filippo Wood-Fired Pizza with a friend. The eatery was located in the VIP section and had a short line when we ordered around 6:30 p.m.

We ordered the “Hella Hot” pie which features a “San Marzano tomato sauce, spicy Italian sausage, pepperoni, Calabrian chili peppers, fontina/mozzarella cheese, garlic and pecorino bread crumbs”.

Now, I’m not sure if it’s my hunger talking, but that pizza was absolutely delicious and we finished it in minutes. It was the perfect level of spicy with every bite having a kick— but it didn’t leave me choking back tears.

My one issue was the price point, the wood fired pizza ran me and my friend $40 before tax. Split between us it wasn’t a huge spend but I wouldn’t pay that much for a pizza outside of festival gates.

Stay hydrated!

While water is available for purchase for $5 before tax at the drink tents, I recommend bringing in a factory-sealed bottle of water or an empty reusable bottle.

These items are permitted at the gate and can be filled up at any of the three hydration stations.

I utilized these stations like crazy! While the weather had a nice and manageable high of 84 degrees, staying hydrated is still incredibly important when walking around Discovery Park for hours.

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