Let’s start the day with the power metal band from the Alps; Warkings. The band members dress as the name of the band suggest; like warriors and Vikings. Warkings came to Grassus Poppus, as lead singer The Tribune called it, and showed off all of their skills. It was a fun show with nice songs and some funny jokes along the line. They only got to play 45 minutes, in which they brought 9 songs. During the song ‘Fight‘, we were asked to scream fight a couple of times. As The Tribune repeated his question, the crowd got louder and louder. Even though they were only the second band of the day, I feel like they had a really good connection with the crowd. A fun band to start the festival with.

Beast in Black brings us power metal with a touch of electronics and synthesizers. Vocalist Yannis Papadopoulus has one of the best heavy metal screams; very high and he is able to hold them for very long. They treated us to all of their well known hits like Power of the Beast, One Night in Tokyo en closer End of the World. Their sound was solid and clean, like always. Beast in Black is simple and straight forward; they deliver song after song with not to much talking in between. Just good music for 50 minutes straight.

One giant rubber duck wasn’t enough, this time they brought three! The biggest one was still in the middle, and two smaller ones were on the left and right side of the stage. Lead singer Christopher Bowes also wore a tiny rubber ducky on his hat. This show took place a few hours before their new album ‘The Thunderfist Chronicles came out‘. They played Frozen Piss 2 and Killed to Death by Piracy from that one. Those were the only two songs that were out at the moment, and they sounded amazing. Alestorm played some old classics like Nancy the Tavern Wench and The Sunk’n Norwegian. And lets not forget the well known Keelhauled, that they often open their show with to set the mood. There were row pits, mosh pits, circle pits and lots, lots of crowdsurfers. Alestorm gave us a good mix of songs from different albums and throughout their career. It is always an amazing and fun show, and so was this one!

Where do you go when Dream Theater, Orbit Culture and Yellowcard play at the same time? It was a hard decision, but I chose nostalgia. I’ve seen Yellowcard back in 2013 at the Lokerse Feesten in Lokeren, Belgium. The band broke up in 2016 and got back together with a few line up changes in 2022. This was their first European performance ever since, and I didn’t want to miss it. They played a lot of well known hits and a couple of newer songs, including one that was the first time to ever played live called Honestly I, a new track from their upcoming album Better Days, that comes out on October 10, 2025. They also played title track Better Days. Lead singer Ryan Key’s vocals were better than ever and I had a blast to the past! Although, the sound at Jupiler Stage was definitely more bassy than the sound at Mainstage.

Iron Maiden celebrated their 50th birthday and we celebrated it with them. Lead singer Bruce Dickinson said it in the beginning of the show; since it was an anniversary show, they would play the songs that most people wanted to hear. Their most well known songs. So no special tracks this time, but it didn’t matter. Even though every member has passed their 60’s, they still sound amazing. Bruce’s vocals can still hit the highs and the lows and he still finds the energy to run around the stage, change his clothes in the theme of the song and entertain the crowd.

Scream for me GRASPOP!!!

Iron Maiden used a screen in the background of their stage, so no hanging plane from the top of the stage this time. The screen made it seem like they were surrounded by the artwork of their albums and songs. It gave an extra touch to it, so the songs could come alive. Their character Eddie is also always there in real life, fighting during the song The Trooper with Bruce. Some people would say Maiden is getting to old to perform, but if you ask me, they can headline some more festivals for the next years that are coming.

Damn what a stage. Powerwolf took the heavy metal mass to Graspop and conquered it with a wall of sound. They went full power from start to finish. At first, I thought it was weird that Powerwolf would headline after Iron Maiden, but I have to say, they were more than worthy to do so. They had won the crowd for themselves from the first note till the last. We sang, we danced, we moved along to the beat and more. Powerwolf stayed in theme with their background, their clothes, their show and almost let us feel like we were watching a live movie. 5 stars for their solid performance!