In what is the last four-day US rock festival of the year, Aftershock stacked the deck with loaded nights of top notch hard rock and heavy metal at Discovery Park in Sacramento, California.

Headliners Slayer, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, and Mötley Crüe were on the same bill as legends like Judas Priest, Tom Morello, Cypress Hill, Pantera, Anthrax, Evanescence, Ministry and the Eagles of Death Metal.

People like to complain about things. The only thing they could whine about with this lineup is it was too much rock.

This year the bash, that touts itself as The West Coast's Largest Rock Festival, celebrated its 12th anniversary.

They built a fifth stage to accommodate what is now 130 bands over the four days. Scroll to the bottom to see all their names.

First, let's take a look at some of the highlights of Aftershock 2024.

Juliette Lewis covered The Stooges

Juliette Lewis is the actress you fell in love with in movies like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers, and most recently in the TV series, Yellowjackets.

But on the side she's been putting out records with her hot band under the name Juliette and the Licks.

It's too bad more people haven't uploaded video from Aftershock because even though she does an excellent job channelling Iggy while covering The Stooges classic, "Search and Destroy" from Raw Power, she's not a copycat. She's the real deal and it's good they played a few gigs this year, hopefully there's more in store for the band.

Insane Clown Posse were assisted by terrifying clowns

So much of metal is about looking ominous or weird or super scary.

What's scarier than a row of clowns singing "oh shit it's your birthday" when it's not. When that's weeks away. But they insist?

Is that as scary as Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J singing about axe murdering? Yes. Easily. Because neither of the ICP boys, now two months from their last performance at the Gathering of the Juggalos are doing anything more dangerous than probably not taking a good look at their cholesterol.

Apparently the extra clowns are flag-waving, Faygo-spraying, creepy extras to the stage show and.. it works.

Tis the season for these two to tour around the country, which is exactly what they'll be doing through Halloween. Heads up venues in the south and midwest. Get your tickets on ICP's website.

Slayer returned to the stage for the second time this year

When Slayer decided they was going to play a few gigs this year after their 5-year hiatus, their list was short. They wanted to do Riot Fest, Louder Than Life, and Aftershock.

Riot Fest was incredible, but then the Friday show that Slayer were meant to headline was canceled due to bad weather. But the Louder Than Life Fest had a consolation for fans who were willing to trek from Kentucky to California: tickets to see Slayer.

“Missed Slayer at Louder Than Life? We’re heartbroken too,” organizers wrote to ticket holders who were there to see Slayer.

“But we’ve got something special for all Friday and 4-Day Louder Than Life pass holders: an exclusive chance to see Slayer at Aftershock in Sacramento on Oct 10! Check your email for details on how to RSVP! Please note that this isn’t the only thing we’re working on for you, to make up for Friday’s cancelation at Louder Than Life. Accepting this offer will not disqualify you from additional compensation. Stay tuned for more information later this week. Thank you for your continued patience and support!”

Fans got to see fire, sweat, and long hair. As the founders intended.

It'd be interesting to see how many people were able to get to Sacto to see Slayer's last show in 2024, and who knows, maybe for a while?

Body Count is still terrifying

During the early '90s when Grunge was getting all the headlines, there was one rapper-turned-actor who found a few headlines for himself, Ice-T, whose metal band Body Count was getting a lot of attention.

The song "Cop Killer" went over the line, many argued and some feared it would inspire people to do damage to our men and women in blue. Ice-T argued it's a song along the lines of Bob Marley's (and Eric Clapton's) "I Shot The Sheriff."

But the times were different between the '70s and the '90s. George Bush was in office and things had gone conservative - which had also given Grunge something to push back against. Eventually Warner Bros and Ice-T agreed to remove the track from the album and soon he left the label entirely.

Thankfully he never really stopped rocking. And metal audiences are all in.

“Call me an old man and I will beat your ass right backstage,” the 67-year-old artist told the crowd Saturday night. And he meant it.

Ice-T was an aggressive rapper but "6 'N The Mornin'" sounds like a nursery rhyme compared to the full frontal attack of "There Goes The Neighborhood."

The set began with a cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood / Postmortem" which some may have thought was a tribute to the metal gods' return but Body Count has covered it 58 times now. They're fans.

Iron Maiden played the same set for the 56th time in a row

Should a band be judged if they play the exact same songs every show for two years straight?

Isn't part of live music, as shown in many of the stories we tell here, based on improvising, debuting something that's never been played, giving little treats to individual audiences?

Perhaps. But you'll get none of it at the Iron Maiden Future Past Tour. You'll get the same 15 songs in the same order if you catch them in the desert for Power Trip or in Yokohama, Japan, or in Sacramento on a beautiful October night.

Do they bash these puppies out wonderfully? Yes. Does Bruce Dickinson still have the ability to belt it out like an opera singer who lucked out in metal? Oh yes.

But predictability isn't why we love metal, Maiden, or rock shows. Let's hope during the remaining eight nights of this tour the boys wouldn't mind letting their hair down.

Tickets available on the Iron Maiden website... where you can also get Run For Your Lives Tour tickets for next year.

So were there really 130 bands? Count them yourself:

Iron Maiden, Slayer, Mötley Crüe, Slipknot, Disturbed, Pantera, Judas Priest, Five Finger Death Punch, Evanescence, Breaking Benjamin, Till Lindemann, Falling in Reverse, Rise Against, Staind, Halestorm, Seether, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Mastodon, Anthrax, Architects, Tom Morello, Cypress Hill, Ministry, Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway, Skillet, Sevendust, Tech N9ne, Insane Clown Posse, Static X, Clutch, Body Count, Lorna Shore, Highly Suspect, Poppy, Grandson, Nothing More, P.O.D., Filter, Eagles of Death Metal, Coal Chamber, Code Orange, Jinjer, Bad Wolves, Shadows Fall, Fear Factory, Sleeping With Sirens, Juliette Lewis and the Licks, Marky Ramone Plays The Ramones Classics, Drain, City Morgue, Saosin, L.S. Dunes, Badflower, PUP, Rival Sons, Militarie Gun, Hawthorne Heights, Bayside, Giovannie and the Hired Guns, Show Me The Body, Whitechapel, From Ashes to New, The Warning, Set it Off, Resorte, Fugitive, Better Lovers, Drug Church, Biohazard, Joey Valence & Brae, Tim Montana, Vended, The Chisel, The Armed, Soul Glo, High Vis, Narrow Head, I See Stars, Bob Vylan, GEL, Holding Absence, Touché Amoré, Citizen Soldier, New Years Day, Drowning Pool, Alien Ant Farm, Orgy, Adema, Powerman 5000, Taproot, Local H, HED PE, Moonshine Bandits, CKY, Brutus, Alien Weaponry, Oxymorrons, Veil of Maya, Lilith Czar, Holy Fawn, D.R.U.G.S., Ho99o9, Ill Niño, Winona Fighter, Slothrust, Hemorage, Nerv, Damnage, Jeris Johnson, Any Given Sin, Deadlands, Mike’s Dead, Self Deception, Lø Spirit, Jager Bonham, Dead Poet Society, Point North, Like A Storm, Teen Mortgage, Jigsaw Youth, The Funeral Portrait, Black Map, Capital Theatre, Descartes A Kant, Lowlives, StrateJacket, Blame My Youth, Caskets, Silly Goose, Reach NYC, TX2, Royale Lynn, Budderside, and Gozu.