From the Swedish rockers of Ghost over to the American hard rock legends Guns N’ Roses, who can now look back on a 40‑year band history filled with many highs and even more lows. The area in front of the stage was well filled, and everyone was waiting for the show to begin. But the older gentlemen took their time. With a five‑minute delay, a three‑hour ride through all their released albums finally began. After the intro from tape and once all band members had taken their positions, “It’s So Easy” from their 1987 debut “Appetite For Destruction” kicked off an emotional rollercoaster.
To secure a halfway decent spot for the upcoming Guns N’ Roses show, I had already moved over to the South Stage during the Ghost performance and watched the show from there. So please excuse the slightly unusual angles and greater distances in the photos. With Ghost, opinions among metal fans are always divided as their sound is very pop‑leaning. Nevertheless, Tobias Forge, in his current incarnation as Papa Emeritus IV, together with his Nameless Ghouls, delivered an undeniably impressive stage production.
After the sweat‑drenched performance by Papa Roach, things continued with an equally big name. Alter Bridge were up next, a band I had wanted to see for a long time. Having already seen Tremonti, the solo project of guitarist Mark Tremonti, at Wacken Open Air in 2018, it was now finally time for the full Alter Bridge lineup: frontman Myles Kennedy, Creed members Mark Tremonti on guitar, Brian Marshall on bass, and Scott Phillips, well hidden behind his drum kit.
After spending the entire day hopping between tents (which honestly wasn’t the worst idea given the temperatures), it was finally time in the late afternoon to head outside to the Main Stages. Nu‑metal veterans Papa Roach were on the schedule, and it seemed I wasn’t the only one excited. The area in front of the South Stage was already nicely packed. They’ve been shaking up the scene since the early 1990s, and today I finally had the chance to see them live for the very first time.
And on it went inside the tent. After the heavy sounds of the two Butcher Babies front women, it was time for something much more melodic. The Raven Age from Great Britain were now set to conquer the smaller Metal Dome. They brought along very melodic metalcore, and their stage presence was immediately on a completely different level compared to the previous band. The atmosphere in front of the stage kicked in right away, and you could see on the faces of all five guys just how much fun they were having.
Right after Orbit Culture, the next band took over the Marquee tent: Butcher Babies, led by front women Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, stormed the stage and kicked things off like a wildfire. They brought along their current double‑release “Eye For An Eye” and “’Til The World’s Blind”, and opened with “Red Thunder”. Given the temperatures, the ladies were dressed rather lightly, and the gentlemen Ricky Bonazza on bass, Henry Flury on guitar, and Devin Nickles behind the drum kit also delivered a powerful performance.
From the small Metal Dome tent, the path led straight to the next, larger one, the Marquee. Here, with the Swedish outfit Orbit Culture, things were about to get heavier in sound while still remaining melodic. The band, founded in 2013, kicked off at full speed with “Open Eye” from their 2020 album “Nija”. The consistently dark stage setup fit the mood well, though compared to the elaborate LED animations in the Metal Dome, this performance was noticeably more minimalistic and featured far less action on stage.
The first day of the Graspop Metal Meeting 2023 kicked off in the Metal Dome tent with the French‑Irish band Molybaron. Even though it was still early in the day, quite a few people were already on the move to listen to the four guys. Since the band has only existed since 2014, their musical output was naturally still fairly limited. Essentially, it consisted only of their self‑titled debut and the album “The Mutiny“, which also made up the lion’s share of the set.