FRIDAY

Bands:
Iron Maiden, Parkway Drive, Ayreon, Neurosis, Avenged Sevenfold, Wolves In The Throne Room, Watain, Vader, The Darkness, Less Than Jake, Present Danger, AC/DC UK, Killswitch Engage, Hollywood Undead, Septicflesh, Anti-Flag, Pist*On, Powerwolf, L7, Carach Angren, Tremonti, In This Moment, Arkona, Shinedown, Silverstein, Zeal & Ardor, Amaezing Snäke, Ackercocke, Stick To Your Guns, Culture Abuse, Avatar, The Raven Age, Galactic Empire, Diablo Blvd, Savage Messiah, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown

Diablo Blvd

What is the best marketing tool for a band? A well-known famous person of course! Alex Agnew is a phenomenon and renown for his comedy acts. So it’s not surprising fans of the comedian became fans of the band. It was also very obvious that a lot more people showed up at the main stage for this band.

With a rather unique sound ranging from hard rock to more heavy metal and a somewhat new wave vibe they surely bring something new to the scene and we thank them for that. We are glad Diablo Blvd also brought some metal back to the radio stations and in the media.

With a comedic stage performance, a short set and with much love from the crowd we take off to the next band!

Galactic Empire

Star Wars on a Metal Stage, we believe this is a match made in heaven. How often do you get to see Boba Fett, an Imperial Royal Guard and Darth Vader shred away on a guitar?

A very unique and exciting way to revive music from one of the biggest franchises in the galaxy.

Avatar

They flew out just for this show, and there were a few missing pieces on the stage compared to what’s been used for the production of previous Avatar shows at festivals, but Avatar put down a heavy show regardless. Even though Avatar only had a 40 minute time slot, that’s just the tragedy of festivals, they put in the effort to be professional about it. Choreographed movement for songs, matching outfits, acting according to their character… Avatar doesn’t just play music; they put down a performance that makes it interesting for ears AND eyes. I can’t wait to see what kind of show they would put down when they make it to the final time slots of the main stages and get to do a full length festival show!

Akercocke

Compared to the Sith Lords of Galactic Empire who had packed the Marquee around noon just before, England’s Akercocke were met by a sizable smaller audience. This was not helped by the soundcheck delays from a quirky PA, an all too common unfortunate trait shared across many performances this weekend. The fans who already had been waiting for quite a few years for their return to the stage after their untimely split, had to be a little bit more patient. Those that did stick it out, were greeted with both old classics and a few cuts from their new record ‘Renaissance in Extremis’.  Their labyrinthine blend of black and death may have garnered some fantastic and severely underrated studio albums, but in all honesty, it did not do so well in a festival setting. Even a fan favorite like ‘Leviathan’ only managed to get a lukewarm response from the audience.

Zeal & Ardor

In the mean while at the beautifully decorated Metaldome, Zeal & Ardor had taken the stage for what would turn out to be one of the absolute highlights of the day.  The band around Swiss American Manuel Gagneux captivated their spectators with a truly original mix of lofi black metal and negro spirituals, mostly taken from the new album ‘Stranger Fruit’. It was endearing to see that this oddball young band could hardly believe their eyes and ears on how responsive the audience reacted to this unlikely marriage of seemingly incompatible styles. This was one you could not afford to have missed.

Shinedown

A mix of new and old, Shinedown grabs the attention of the crowd by interacting with them. And not just by simply talking to them in between songs. Brent Smith, vocalist of the band, went into the crowd to tell them to jump. He told the audience to look to their left and right and shake hands with their newfound friends within the Shinedown family. Shinedown doesn’t just aim to put down a good show, they also want to connect people and make the experience memorable by doing just that little bit extra for their fans.

Carach Angren

Storytelling and music go hand in hand, and what a way to give a visual twist to it like Carach Angren does. This raw symphonic black metal act is a great addition to the line up of this festival.

The entertainment is captivating, the doll on stage with blood dripping out of it gives a more shocking experience to it.

We are also amazed by the skills of the musicians behind front man Seregor. Bringing the bombastic sound to the Marquee was well liked by the crowd that gathered.

Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold is no stranger to the Main stage of Graspop. It is no secret that younger metalheads love the material they are bringing out and hits like ‘Hail To The King‘ and ‘Afterlife‘ where sang out loud.

The pit was brutal and crowd surfers were flying everywhere. Every band also has some kind of sad story behind them and we got a tribute for one of the founders of the band Jimmy Sullivan.

Wild gigs sometimes cause scary moments and we were surprised the band got of stage because they saw someone go KO in the pit during Bat Country. We are glad bands like this keep supporting the message that you have to take care of each other.

All of this made this gig of Avenged Sevenfold one to remember. It was a tribute to everything we love about metal. In hearts and minds.

The Darkness

Getting the chance to see The Darkness live is always a big win. The ridiculous and campy brand these guys build around them shines on moments like these.

Being on stage is what they live for and selling a couple of million albums will not change that. Because fetching very high notes while dancing around is a talent, Hawkins is convincing a lot of fans.

We highly recommend every festival booking these guys, they can fit in everywhere and every time.

Watain

Seeing black metal bands often makes you forget the harsh and uncompromising visuals bands like these put out on stage.

Watain always brings a good show and cover basically most of the latest album and a good mix of the more known numbers where they conquered the black metal scene in the first place.

The stench was real and we would like to see them again!

Iron Maiden

The ultimate hit machine for today conquering the Main Stage is Iron Maiden. There is nobody at this festival that does not know this band and you could feel the 80’s vibe creeping up on the festival.

So it’s time to get wild and listen to legends who sound just like the good old days, maybe even better.

With ‘The Flight Of Icarus‘ they waved the flag of heavy music and and like ‘The Trooper‘s they are they made GRASPOP work for it hard.

If you are a fan or not you can not deny the power and class of acts like this.

Parkway Drive

We must admit, we were not very familiar with Parkway Drive. But what a convincing show!

From end to start the band had the Main Stage on its knees. Back to back mosh pits and crowd surfers were dominating the view.

We must say, it is not easy to get in touch with a crowd after Iron Maiden was before you but Parkway Drive made it happen.

A burning drum kit on a platform that turns around also was a big plus!

FRIDAY RECAP GMM

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Pictures & videos by Graspop.