There is one major issue that seems to occur at Aftershock every year, getting worse over time, that is affecting thousands of attendees to the festival: phone theft. Every single year, hundreds of phones are reportedly stolen, often during performances, when people are either in mosh pits or tightly packed in the crowd, making it harder for people to notice initially, and by the time they do, it is normally too late.

I’ve always loved attending festivals, concerts and shows of any genre, big or small. From going to local house shows to smaller venues like Ace of Spades, (the soon-to-close) Goldfield’s Trading Post Midtown, and to the large venues, like Golden 1 Center and Discovery Park, I often find myself enjoying my time at all of these different venues, no matter who is performing. 

In 2024, I bought tickets for Aftershock for the first time, extremely excited to go and see several different artists and bands that I knew. I ended up buying tickets for all four days, and when the time came, I was looking forward to a weekend of moshing with my friends and great performances. 

When it actually came time to go to Aftershock, I was disappointed. One prominent issue was that hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people were complaining in mass about many stolen items, mostly phones. This made me feel unsafe when I normally feel relaxed at shows. I was extremely upset, and due to all of the circumstances, I ended up not going to two out of the four days, despite spending a little over $400. I decided not to go to this year’s festival in October, and now, after seeing how prominent the phone stealing still is, I’m even more convinced that I made the right decision. But I was bummed that I missed out on seeing Blink-182.

In 2023, Aftershock attendees described their frustration and discontent with their phones being stolen to KCRA. “Everything was literally on your phone … that’s like your lifeline,” said attendee Tracie Arnaud to KCRA. 

It is scary knowing you could lose that very expensive lifeline so easily. In popular Reddit posts and forums discussing this, users state that this is a “common issue that continues to occur,” and “hundreds of phones are lifted from back pockets every single year.” All of this has resulted in the need for the Sacramento Police Department to release a statement before the 2025 festival occurred, noting that individuals should keep their phones secure after previous years’ reports.

I personally know multiple people whose phones and personal items were stolen at Aftershock. I spoke to one of them to get their thoughts on this issue and their reaction to whether Aftershock staff and Danny Wimmer Presents, the company that runs the festival, was doing enough to combat this issue. My friend Guy Sirak had his phone stolen at the 2024 Aftershock festival. We were in a mosh pit in the early evening. As the show ended, he went to grab his phone from his pocket and noticed it was gone. We both quickly started looking for it and asking around, and we both almost immediately noticed that there were many others who had the same issue, yet no phones were being found. We ended up giving up the search, quickly realizing that his phone was likely stolen, not lost. Still, we held out hope, and at the end of the night, stopped by the lost and found area, just in case. That line was long, filled with close to 100 people, every single person claiming that they lost their phone. We did not notice a single person actually get a phone back.

When we finally got to the front, the staff basically handed a tablet to us which linked to a website displaying all lost phones and other items. We did not find his phone on this website, and we never ended up finding it at all. My friend spent over $1,000 on a new phone the next day.

“Aftershock needs to have tighter security for sure,” said my friend Sirak. “I noticed when me and others were going into the festival, many people were let in without any security other than a basic metal detector. It’s awful that so many phones get stolen, but unfortunately, it seems like there is not much they can do to stop it.”

There are also many different forums on the internet, including Reddit, with many people having the same issue or noticing how prominent the issue is at the festival. One Reddit user echoed a sentiment a lot of people can relate to, writing, “This happens every year at Aftershock. Hundreds of phones are lifted out of back pockets.”

First, the size of the event does not help. Tens of thousands of people move about the festival grounds each day, with well over 100,000 people attending the festival throughout all 4 days, per Sac Bee. This large amount of foot traffic gives phone thieves an easy opportunity to steal people’s devices, especially during performances, when people are bunched up and are less likely to notice their phone is missing when they are focused on the performance and enjoying the moment. I reached out to Danny Wimmer Presents on a few different occasions, and did not get a response.

Here are some of my ideas for how to prevent this issue from occurring in future festivals.  To start, Aftershock needs enhanced visible security. More active and moving patrols in high-density areas, around mosh pits, around the entries and exits, the parking lots and parking areas, as well as just around the festival grounds as a whole. This boosted security personnel could also have signage reminding fans to keep their phones safe and to be aware of their surroundings at all times.

The next thing I would say Aftershock should do to help address this issue is to have more and better storage areas. Lockers are on site, but they are very limited, and they can get to be very expensive if used for prolonged periods of time over the four-day festival. Having more lockers that are actually affordable is a must for a festival of this size and duration.

One more idea that, if implemented, could be a major help would be better communication to festival attendees, more transparency, and daily incident reports that could be posted on the Aftershock website, on their social media accounts, or both. Not only would this be a major deterrent from many different crimes, including phone stealing that occurs on festival grounds, but it would make attendees feel much safer, and it would instill a level of trust never seen before with Aftershock.

I have always loved concerts, and I always will. I love festivals, and the energy it brings with the massive crowds, all passionate with the same love for music that I have. I also love feeling safe at the concerts or festivals, feeling like I got my money’s worth, and feeling like a respected customer who spent their hard-earned money on the experience. As much as I love metal and as much as I enjoyed the performances and energy at Aftershock, I, along with many others, will continue to stay home until they start taking this phone stealing issue more serious, until they boost security, have better communication and take genuine accountability for allowing this issue to continue to go on over time.

Festivals and concerts are supposed to be a time where you can relax, let loose, and trust that the event organizers have planned for any bad situation, especially common occurrences that are as well-known as Aftershock’s phone-stealing. It’s time for Aftershock to live up to the experience they promise, so that people can leave with positive memories, not without their phones.