Photo Reports

Lokerse Feesten – Tuesday, August 5: Big Acts, Small Stage Magic

Tuesday at Lokerse Feesten was a day of contrasts. On the main stage, Gojira, Amenra, Melvins, and Helmet delivered powerhouse performances —but a majority of photographers,  like us, had to sit this one out. Despite holding press accreditation with a photo pass, the rules were strict: no pictures of the main stage, not from the pit, not even from the crowd. Nevertheless, attending the concerts in full allowed us to experience the high-energy shows on the main stage, which we’ll cover in a separate article.

Luckily, the festival’s Club Studio Brussel offered a different vibe. Between the big acts, we headed there and found an intimate, energetic space where photography was allowed. The smaller stage allowed us to get close, snap shots, and feel the raw connection between artist and audience that sometimes gets lost in the festival frenzy.

Even with photography limits on the main stage, Tuesday proved that Lokerse Feesten still delivers: unforgettable music, a buzzing crowd, and pockets of up-close magic that make the festival experience so special.

A fixed highlight in our festival calendar: STARS IN TOWN in Switzerland. One of the staple events in our Swiss festival calendar is this festival. Since 2010, STARS IN TOWN on the Herrenacker square in Schaffhausen has thrilled rock and pop fans with a huge variety of music. The special atmosphere in the heart of Schaffhausen’s old town always adds a truly unique vibe to the event.

In addition to the ‘Talent Stage’ in the pedestrian zone—where promising newcomers perform for a wide audience surrounded by food trucks offering delicacies from around the world—the main acts take to the big stage.

As every year, the festival kicks off on a Wednesday with the so-called ‘Super Wednesday’. The honour of opening this year’s festival went to the local heroes ELLIS MANO BAND. These Swiss blues rockers launched the lineup with musical finesse and soulful tunes reminiscent of Joe Cocker. Neither the band nor the audience let the rain dampen their spirits—they simply enjoyed the performance.

Next up to take the stage were UGLY KID JOE. The Californians delivered their signature blend of hard rock, metal, and funk. Always in tow: their two massive hits from the early ’90s—‘Everything About You’ and their cover of Harry Chapin’s ‘Cat’s In The Cradle’. Both songs still earn the band plenty of radio airplay and recognition across generations. Only their cover of ‘Ace of Spades’ might have been better left out—at least according to the author of these lines, a passionate Lemmy fan himself.

ALICE COOPER: The Shock Rock Icon! What else could you maybe say about ALICE COOPER? The embodiment of shock rock took to the sacred stage to close out the evening and showed exactly why it’s called ‘Super Wednesday’. The grand stage setup—with staircases on both sides and massive LED backdrops alternating between live footage and videos—was pure cinematic spectacle. The standout alongside Alice was ‘Hurricane Nita’ Strauss, whose high-energy stage presence electrified the crowd. Perfect sound, brilliant choreography, and classic shock effects—including the ever-present guillotine and Alice’s mock beheading—delivered everything the audience could hope for from a major show. Alice as a living rock legend himself was bursting with energy, showing no signs of his 77 years. Not a single person in the packed Herrenacker crowd went home disappointed.

It was a night to remember – this ‘Super Wednesday’ truly lived up to its name! We’re already looking forward to next year.

It was a steamy Midwest night When Worlds Collided for The Taste of Armageddon Tour 2025 featuring Powerman5000, Ill Niño, Hed PE and Priest on Thursday July 24, 2025 at Piere’s in Ft Wayne, Indiana.

First up was Priest, hailing all the way from Sweden! Including 2 former members of the band Ghost, they brought a very unique synth, electronic, somewhat 80’s vibe to the stage. At one point, the vocalist walked through the crowd “blessing” those in his path. 

Next up was Hed PE, bringing their SoCal vibes to Piere’s! This was my 3rd time seeing the band and they delivered as usual. They blend nu metal, metal, reggae and hip hop into this delightful treat for your ear drums! They are fun and they WILL make you dance!!

Ill Niño took the stage next, Nu Metal band based out of New Jersey. I was pumped to see them with their new vocalist. I had seen them decades ago at Ozzfest. I was blown away, the vocals sounded amazing. They have 2 types of drum kits on stage. They were very energetic and just everything a Nu Metal band should be and more.

Finally it was time for a Bombshell of a band, Powerman5000! What a powerhouse, originally formed in 1991! This was my first time seeing them, surprisingly since When Worlds Collide was one of the anthems of my younger years! They sounded amazing and were also full of energy on stage. Their bass player Murv was so fun to watch! 

This tour package was phenomenal and I am so glad that I got to experience it! 

Day 2 of TollRock 2025 was opened as usual by the TollRockerz Band Contest. At the very early afternoon of the day three selected bands have the opportunity to present themselves to the festival audience. The winner will have the honours to open the next year’s TollRock Festival. In 2025 there was a really hard competition with Tasty Trashpandas, Black Remains and Uncrook. It was a hairline finish for the winners: Black Remains.

Next in line was Moonshot from Finland. Their appearance has blown the audience away for the first time this day. Being rather unknown to the broader part of the festival visitors, all voices that we could pick up said that they have been the major positive surprise of the day. Frontman Ville and his partner in crime on guitar Jussi brought a massive show full of energy, sweat and action onto the stage. What an appearance and won everybody’s heart by storm.

Irish folk punk group Saint City Orchestra from Switzerland took the mighty task to follow. The six piece held up the bar for this day and kept the audience going along. Pyro, flags, water on the drums for splashing effects, permanent movements all over the large venue stage were for sure to the viewer’s enjoyment. Look out for their upcoming Wacken Open Air appearance in a few weeks.

Time for stadium rock and the German embodiment of it: Kissin’ Dynamite. They brought the big stage to TollRock 2025. Massive drum riser, stairs, pyro, fog, perfect choreography and on-the-point light show in combination with their songs is great entertainment. Vocalist Johannes Braun managed to involve the fully loaded infield to play along to all the band’s wishes. The well known Kissin’ Dynamite piano, which is widely recognized, was also played live for a ballad and a rock song. The band is simply a warranty for a bombastic rock show, never disappointing to deliver.

The level of preparation for the evening allowed the Donots to shine. These German punk rock veterans delivered brilliantly and put on a great show, a massive final highlight. No pyrotechnics or fancy effects—just Ingo and his brother Guido bouncing around like human pinballs and top-tier punk rock music with partly German and partly English lyrics. As in every show, Ingo initiates a circle pit around him to perform in the middle. Later on, he dives into the mosh pit. The crowd goes wild and keeps jumping until the very last song. The Donots are totally in control and just as thrilled as every band before them… TollRock 2025 is something special! The vibe, the team, the people, the setting, the audience—it all comes together.

At the very end Five Finger Skull Crushers closed this year’s festival. Performing a Five Finger Death Punch tribute show and being a perfect sent-off.

Some things are perfectly good the way they are. TollRock Festival is one of these things and proving that bigger is not always better. The heartwarming family feeling, so many guests returning for so many years and the cozyness can’t just be beaten easily. The slight improvements each year make it better without breaking it. This year a new cashless payment on festival grounds was implemented and covering all food and drink booths.

Even before the first note rang out, the campsite was pulsing with anticipation. The weather was playing along and a slightly clouded sky provided the perfect surrounding.

By Friday afternoon, Lost Sanity tore into the stage as first act to officially opening up the 2025 issue. Having won the TollRockerz band contest in 2024 with their raw, fast, proudly German metal core, they gave a solid proof this year of how they had developed since. The five-piece with local DNA kicked off the ceremonies in style.

Then came the first real blaze: April Art unleashed a sport-rock spectacle fronted by vocal tornado Lisa. Her blistering energy, accompanied by shredding guitar and bass, pulled the crowd into a frenzy. Moshing beneath palm trees? Yep — the drum riser brought island vibes to the pit with its palm trees. Lisa surfing on audience shoulders was the cherry on top. If there was any doubt, it vanished in that very moment.

Up next were Emil Bulls, heavyweights in the German rock scene. Their set had mass — early eruption with “Euphoria,” but sound issues tampered some impact. Still, the crowd leaned in, and the band leaned back harder. A shoutout to tiny-town festivals drew applause, and their gritty performance proved even giants love grassroots stages.

FIDDLER’S GREEN didn’t play—they unleashed. A storm of Irish folk-punk madness. Drum solos thumped like heartbeats, flags waved like battle calls, and the fiddler climbed a ladder right into the crowd. Seasoned, confident, and infectiously joyful, they had the audience jigging, singing, and swaying like pub legends.

Then the curtain lifted for SKINDRED. If charisma were currency, frontman Benji Webbe would be a billionaire. Dressed in a pink plush hat, fur coat, and another number of other various outfits, he prowled the stage like a beast, never pausing, always engaging the audience. The crowd? Completely under his spell of the ecstatic mix of ska, metal, hip-hop and punk. Audio and lights meshed perfectly — a full-throttle climax to the night. No one stood still and partied till the very last note.

Closing duties fell to ROCK RISING, an Irish cover band was handed the Herculean task of keeping spirits flying after Skindred. Challenge accepted. They brought just enough charm and stomp to seal the evening with a wink.

After a long day of great music and exceptional performances, a great and fantastic first festival day ended. This was setting the bar pretty high for day 2.

We held the second edition of our very own folk/pagan (metal) festival, Litha Fest. There was once again a lot to experience in and around Asgaard. We had a killer line-up, with both metal and folk bands performing on the main stage in De Vierde Zaal and the second stage in Asgaard. On top of that, the visitors could also attend workshops balfolk and sword fighting, visit the market where various artisanal items were available, and we had actually hired a Viking masseur. As a finale, two fire shows were scheduled where at the stroke of midnight, we gathered to honour the fire, the light, and the turning of the wheel. The extraordinary Garters and Giggles Cabaret ignited the night with their sensual, fierce fire ritual, followed by Dwayne Pyro firing up the place one last time.

We held the second edition of our very own folk/pagan (metal) festival, Litha Fest. There was once again a lot to experience in and around Asgaard. We had a killer line-up, with both metal and folk bands performing on the main stage in De Vierde Zaal and the second stage in Asgaard. On top of that, the visitors could also attend workshops balfolk and sword fighting, visit the market where various artisanal items were available, and we had actually hired a Viking masseur. As a finale, two fire shows were scheduled.

To warm up the legs, the Balfolk workshop was scheduled as the first activity in Asgaard. The workshop was hosted by Balhalla. Balhalla is a non-profit organization that regularly organizes folk dances at a fixed location in Ghent. Our mission is to introduce as many people as possible to the wonderful world of folk music and dance.

After that, we had a novelty, a workshop sword fighting in which he participants could invoke their inner knight. This workshop was organized by Yannick from SwArta. Yannick has been practicing Historical European Martial Arts since 2010, focusing on Longsword in the early Liechtenauer tradition. The workshop was an enormous succes.

Yes, you’ve read it correctly. We had provided a Viking masseur to give the visitors the chance to have their stiff muscles massaged to get through the rest of the day.

We held the second edition of our very own folk/pagan (metal) festival, Litha Fest. There was once again a lot to experience in and around Asgaard. We had a killer line-up, with both metal and folk bands performing on the main stage in De Vierde Zaal and the second stage in Asgaard. On top of that, the visitors could also attend workshops balfolk and sword fighting, visit the market where various artisanal items were available, and we had actually hired a Viking masseur. As a finale, two fire shows were scheduled.

After the folk dancing workshop and a warm-up, the dancers were able to put their newly learned dance moves into practice at the first folkperformance of the day by the Gentse Folk Studenten. These students gather every two weeks to learn to play folk tunes and realize dreams. The crowd got carried away by their danceable tunes and folky vibes

Then Sanseveria brought a powerful blend of folk energy, technical brilliance, and ear‑worm melodies that left the audience buzzing. Sanseveria’s lineup—uilleann pipes, fiddle, whistles, guitar, and percussion—creates an unorthodox but intoxicating mix. Their arrangements were tight and dynamic, weaving traditional jigs into rock-structured songs. The danceability was high. Even folks unfamiliar with folk‑rock were tapping feet, nodding heads, or dancing along

As the final musical act to gracefully close at Litha Fest on the Asgaard Stage, we welcomed the unique duo of the spiritual band Eleni Neldë. Formed by Faie (with Celtic roots) and Osiris Rosie (with Argentinian/Mexican indigenous traditions), the duo merges South American native chants with Scandinavian pagan folk into a cohesive, healing soundscape. The experience felt closer to a ritual than a typical concert. The audience reflected this quiet engagement—many listeners closed their eyes, swayed gently, or sat comfortably, just floating away on the waves created by the angelic voices of Faie and Osiris. It was a beautiful, transformative experience worth witnessing live. Most striking moment was ‘Tabbe’s lullaby’, a song they brought to honour Tabbe, a beautiful soul that has recently left us.

And then the fantastic day had come to an end.

Organizing a festival requires a lot of volunteers to help set everything up (and then take it down again). Here are some photos of the setup to show our volunteers the love they deserve! Without them, Litha Fest wouldn’t have been possible!

Litha Fest 2025: A fiery celebration of pagan spirit and metal music

On July 5, 2025, Gentbrugge buzzed with the second edition of our very own Litha Fest in our very own Asgaard! The festival is all about pagan/folk and black metal. It attracted a passionate audience of metalheads, pagans, local residents and curious passersby for a day full of music, fire, and mythical energy.

Spread across two stages – the intimate setting of Asgaard and the main stage in De Vierde Zaal – the festival presented a lineup of heavy and atmospheric acts. Fans were treated to enchanting folk melodies and raging black metal riffs.

But Litha Fest offers more than just music. A lively craft market brought together local artisans selling handmade goods. Visitors could also participate in sword fighting initiations, take part in a balfolk dance workshop, or even relax with a Viking massage. After the final concert, the festival concluded with a magnificent fire show that lit up the night in true pagan fashion.

Find the pictures of the performances on the main stage with Hexacurse, Blod Dyr, Serpents Oath, Vanaheim, Prima Nocta and Arkona right here: