My Chemical Romance, Tool, Limp Bizkit and Pierce The Veil to headline Aftershock festival 2026; The Offspring, Queens Of The Stone Age, Babymetal and more than 130 other acts also confirmed

My Chemical Romance, Tool, Limp Bizkit and Babymetal performing live
(Image credit: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images | Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images | Katja Ogrin/Redferns | Didier Messens/Getty Images)

More than 140 acts – including headliners My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, Pierce The Veil and Tool – have been confirmed for Sacramento heavy metal festival Aftershock.

The four-day event will return to Discovery Park from October 1 to 4, with a supporting lineup that includes The Offspring, Babymetal, Queens Of The Stone Age, A Day To Remember, AFI, Slaughter To Prevail, Cypress Hill and many more.

Four-day and single-day tickets are on sale now, with VIP upgrades available. Hotel passes and, in a festival first, camping packages can also be bought. Head to the event’s website for more details.

Danny Wimmer, head of promoters Danny Wimmer Presents, comments: “This year’s Aftershock marks a bold new chapter for the festival. We’ve brought together metal, punk, emo, and nu metal to create a lineup that’s raw, youthful, and unapologetic.

“With Tool anchoring the weekend and Pierce The Veil making their headlining debut, we’re breaking boundaries and redefining what Aftershock can be. And after years of fan requests, we’re finally introducing camping – giving fans the chance to fully immerse themselves in the weekend. This is a new era for Aftershock, and Sacramento is about to feel it.”

A number of the performances are being promoted as special sets. My Chemical Romance will be celebrating 20 years of their landmark third album, The Black Parade, and hip-hop superstars The Wu-Tang Clan will be appearing as part of their Final Chamber tour, the title of which has led to speculation of an impending breakup. The Cavalera brothers, Max and Iggor, will celebrate 30 years of their ex-band Sepultura’s classic album Roots and nu metal band Drowning Pool will be marking 25 years of their Platinum-selling debut album Sinner.

Aftershock kicked off as a one-day event in 2012, headlined by Stone Temple Pilots. The following year, it expanded to two days with multiple stages, with further days being added in 2019 and 2021. Last year, Deftones, Blink-182, Korn and Bring Me The Horizon topped the bill, with support from Bad Omens, A Perfect Circle, Rob Zombie and more. More than 164,000 people reportedly attended across the four days, including fans from all 50 U.S. states and more than 30 countries.

Matt Mills
Online Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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