WE CAME AS ROMANS
Mainstage 1, June 18, 4:00 pm
I start my day with We Came As Romans, and the band didn’t just open Hellfest — it literally filled Mainstage 1. Since my first Hellfest in 2018, I had never seen so many people massed in front of the main stage for the festival’s opening concert.
Driven by recent songs like ALL IS BEAUTIFUL…, bad luck, Darkbloom and Black Hole, the Americans delivered 40 minutes of efficient, unifying metalcore, turning an often-quiet opening slot into a genuine show of force. An exceptional turnout that confirms the band’s rise with European audiences.
Setlist:
ALL IS BEAUTIFUL…
bad luck
red smoke
Cold Like War
lake of fire
Lost in the Moment
culture wound
Darkbloom
no rest for the dreamer
where did you go?
Black Hole
BECAUSE WE’RE DOOMED
Daggers
TRUCKFIGHTERS
Valley, June 18, 4:00 pm
With 35°C showing on my phone, Truckfighters take over the Valley stage. Despite the heat, there’s a good crowd for the outfit from Örebro.
For 40 minutes, the Swedish trio delivers its stoner rock with energy, fusing massive riffs and psychedelic groove. Wearing nothing but shorts and red sneakers, guitarist “Dango” is unleashed, roaming the stage from left to right. More static, singer-bassist “Ozo” urges the crowd to sing along with his “make some noise” and “test your mouth resources”. A fine start.
SATANIC SURFERS
Warzone, June 18, 4:45 pm
So here are the Satanic Surfers in Clisson. For the very first time. The Swedes from Lund arrive at the Warzone crowned with a well-earned reputation: spearheads of 90s Scandinavian melodic punk, alongside Millencolin and No Fun At All, the band helped forge a sound that marked entire generations of skaters and punks. The anticipation is therefore legitimate. And the setting ideal: on this scorching Thursday afternoon, the Warzone is entirely devoted to skate punk, with Shelter, Lagwagon and All Time Low to follow. The room is set — all that’s left is to play.
The iconic little devil on the backdrop watches over proceedings from the back of the stage. The riffs fire off, the machine kicks in: “Catch My Breath”, “Puppet”, “Head Under Water” — the songs follow one another in an order almost identical to the Australian dates in March. The set is well-drilled, tight, flawless. Twin guitars, pop-punk, choruses that work well on record. But there lies the problem: it works well on record, not so much live.
The Swedish set is rather laboured. The songs aren’t elevated by the stage; they merely exist on it, without ever really catching fire. We were waiting for the urgency, the spark, that raw energy that turns a melodic punk concert into something visceral. It never comes.
Andy tries to speak French, explaining that they come from Sweden and play extreme music. The gesture is endearing, but the essential is missing: the connection. Clearly, the Satanic Surfers didn’t manage to convert the try.
Thirty years of career, a Hellfest debut, and we leave without having been won over. Maybe the open-air festival format doesn’t suit them, maybe it was the time slot, maybe simply one of those days when the sun beat down too hard for the magic to happen. Either way, we had been waiting for the Satanic Surfers far too long to walk away empty-handed.
Line-up:
Rodrigo Alfaro – drums, vocals
Magnus Blixtberg – guitars
Max Hudden – guitars
Andy Dahlstrom – bass
Setlist:
The Usurper
…And the Cheese Fell Down
Worn Out Words
Catch My Breath
Puppet
Madhouse
Hero of Our Time
Tribute
Egocentric
Got to Throw Up
The Treaty and the Bridge
Head Under Water
MIKKEY DEE & FRIENDS
Mainstage 2, June 18, 4:45 pm
For my first concert at the main stages, it’s Mikkey Dee and his two accomplices who arrive to revive the spirit of the famous English musical bomber. Right away, “The best drummer in the world”, as his late pal Lemmy used to call him, announces that this isn’t Motörhead — but promises to bring back all of its energy. The first half of the setlist features fairly rare tracks (“Killers”, “Love Me Like a Reptile”, “In the Name of Tragedy”, “Shoot You in the Back”, “I Got Mine”).
While singer-bassist Viktor Skatt speaks with respect of the decisive influence of the man who was “49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son of a Bitch”, Mikkey confides how dear these songs are to him and how much he misses his two departed friends. For the final numbers, the big classics come out: “Sacrifice”, “Born to Raise Hell” sung by the guitarist, “Killed by Death” bellowed by Chuck Garric (Alice Cooper’s bassist), “Ace of Spades”, “Overkill”. Yes, we miss you, Lemmy & Phil.
Setlist:
Iron Fist
Stay Clean
Metropolis
Killed by Death
Bomber
Going to Brazil
Ace of Spades
Overkill
THE PLOT IN YOU
Mainstage 1, June 18, 5:30 pm
This edition is barely an hour and a half old and the main stages are already packed. So many people. The mix of heat and (immoderate) alcohol consumption is already claiming its first “victims”. Here and there, you can spot the first dizzy spells and people trying to extract themselves from this concentrated human tide.
An ovation greets The Plot In You as they take the stage. Today, the Americans chose to spotlight their most recent output. Despite the intense heat, the outfit unrolls a quality set thanks in particular to a Landon Tewers moving with ease from rough passages to the most restrained choruses. Musically beyond reproach, the band executes its metalcore with remarkable precision.
Setlist:
Divide
You Get One
Don’t Look Away
Spare Me
Closure
Forgotten
Been Here Before
Silence
Left Behind
FEEL NOTHING
THE PRETTY RECKLESS
Mainstage 2, June 18, 6:15 pm
Fronted by the inescapable Taylor Momsen, The Pretty Reckless has established itself over the years as one of the major forces of contemporary hard rock. Since the release of ”Death by Rock and Roll” in 2021, the band has kept gathering momentum: two years on tour supporting AC/DC, a performance at the 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year Gala, another at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Soundgarden — the machine is running at full throttle. And on this Thursday, June 18, just days before the release of their fifth album “Dear God” (expected June 26 via Fearless Records), the New Yorkers treat themselves to Mainstage 2 for their first Hellfest.
With its blend of power, catchy melodies and unapologetic rock‘n’oll attitude, the American outfit has all the ingredients needed to leave its mark on this 2026 edition. And I have to tell you: I was thoroughly seduced by the Americans’ show — and by Taylor in particular. Clearly a true stage animal. She bounces on, she bounces off, and in between she doesn’t stand still for a single second. She takes up the entire stage, darts to each end, presses back-to-back with guitarist Ben Phillips, slides almost down to the floor. Yes, she plays up the impish, provocative side in her body language — but that takes nothing away from the effectiveness of the songs, quite the contrary.
On “When I Wake Up” — one of the new album’s singles, a sharp, punky track in which Taylor describes a dream turning into a nightmare — she climbs down into the pit and sings standing on the security barrier while the musicians hold it down in the background. The song plays three times on its shattering silences, cutting through the burning air before roaring back to life — and the pit answers each time with roars and raised fists. And speaking of which, Ben Phillips gets his moment of glory with a masterful, extended guitar solo proving that beyond the young lady’s undeniable charm, there is a genuinely solid musical project here, a band running like a well-oiled machine. You understand why The Pretty Reckless is so successful in the United States and beyond.
My big highlight of this first day, without hesitation. And if, like me, you were won over by this concert, book your tickets for their show at the Zénith de Paris on November 24 — and take the opportunity to discover “Dear God”.
Line-up:
Taylor Momsen – vocals, rhythm guitar
Ben Phillips – lead guitar, backing vocals
Dan Rothchild (touring musician) — rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Mark Damon – bass
Jamie Perkins – drums
Setlist:
Death by Rock and Roll
Since You’re Gone
Follow Me Down
For I Am Death
When I Wake Up
Make Me Wanna Die
Heaven Knows
Going to Hell
BREAKING BENJAMIN
Mainstage 1, June 18, 7:05 pm
There are concerts you wait a long time for — too long, perhaps. Breaking Benjamin hadn’t set foot in Europe for eight years, and for a reason well known to fans: Benjamin Burnley suffers from an intense fear of flying, which long cut him off from the Old Continent. Tonight in Clisson, he explains it himself from the stage: he doesn’t fly — he came by boat. The gesture deserves respect. The concert itself is more debatable.
Eight years after their last European visit, Breaking Benjamin makes a nearly one-hour concert stop in Clisson.
Eleven songs, not one more. The setlist is a well-calibrated best-of spanning the band’s entire discography, from “Polyamorous” — taken from the very first album “Saturate” (2002) — to “Something Wicked”, the new single announced on this tour, by way of the essentials “So Cold”, “Breath”, “Dear Agony” and “Failure”. All of it clean, tight, without a rough edge.
And that is precisely the problem. We were expecting communion, an explosion, the emotion of a rare reunion. What we get is a solid but distant set. Despite a few sound dropouts here and there, the concert remains pleasant and effective — but effectiveness alone isn’t enough when you know that a large part of the French audience is seeing the band for the very first time, and perhaps the last for several years to come. We were hoping for more energy, more communion with the crowd, that moment of connection that justifies crossing the Atlantic on a boat.
Credit where it’s due, though, for the “The Diary of Jane” moment. The anthem remains intact, the riff as unstoppable as ever, and the pit shows up. That song, at least, transcends the limits of the set. It’s the emotional peak of the evening, the one that reminds everyone why Breaking Benjamin has built such a loyal fanbase.
For the rest, we’re left wanting. A decent concert from a band that, given the rarity of its European appearances, had the means to leave a far deeper mark. The band’s first-ever concert in France — the historic footnote is there; the thrill, less so.
Line-up:
Benjamin Burnley – vocals, rhythm guitar
Jasen Rauch – lead guitar, programming
Keith Wallen – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Aaron Bruch – bass, backing vocals
Setlist:
I Will Not Bow
Until the End
Blow Me Away
So Cold
Polyamorous
Dear Agony
Something Wicked
Breath
Awaken
Failure
The Diary of Jane
DEEP PURPLE
Mainstage 2, June 18, 8:00 pm
There are bands with nothing left to prove. Deep Purple is one of them. Nearly sixty years of career, albums that founded hard rock and heavy metal, a discography that shaped entire generations. And yet here they are, in Clisson, on an evening that is finally starting to cool after a scorching day flirting with 40 degrees. The sun is setting, and Deep Purple takes over Mainstage 2.
“Highway Star” opens the ball, and the tone is set immediately: clean, powerful, well-drilled. The line-up on display tonight is that of unapologetic veterans. Add up the ages of Ian Gillan (80), Roger Glover (80), Ian Paice (77) and Don Airey (77) and you get close to 314 years between the four of them — respect is due.
And Gillan’s voice holds up, even if it is no longer that of the “Machine Head” or “Deep Purple in Rock” summits, of course. The instrumental parts are stretched out to let him breathe — the intro to “Lazy” is punctuated by a Simon McBride guitar solo, then a keyboard fantasia from Don Airey that conjures up, in a few notes, Toccata, Mr. Crowley and, to the great delight of the French crowd, a few bars of La Marseillaise — already well warmed up by the start of the World Cup.
But when Gillan comes in, he comes in. On “Into the Fire”, and above all on “When a Blind Man Cries” — a moment of absolute poignancy. On “Lazy”, Ian Gillan plays the harmonica. A simple, almost intimate gesture that recalls the band’s blues origins and gives the set a different, more organic colour. Simon McBride, the Irish guitarist who came in to replace Steve Morse, also confirms he has fully found his footing: he can go from pure feeling to technical prowess without ever betraying the Purple DNA.
Is the concert perfect? Yes, in the context of the current line-up and their age. And to finish in style, “Black Night”, “Space Truckin’” and the inevitable “Smoke on the Water” as the closer pull everyone back in the same direction.
Deep Purple is an institution. Tonight in Clisson, they demonstrated it with the dignity and solidity of those who no longer have anything to prove — only something left to celebrate.
Line-up:
Ian Gillan – vocals
Simon McBride – guitars
Don Airey – keyboards
Roger Glover – bass
Ian Paice – drums
Setlist:
Highway Star
A Bit on the Side
Hard Lovin’ Man
Into the Fire (+ guitar solo)
Arrogant Boy
Lazy
When a Blind Man Cries
Diablo (+ keyboard solo)
Space Truckin’
Black Night
Smoke on the Water
PAPA ROACH
Mainstage 1, June 18, 9:20 pm
Night is starting to fall over Clisson, temperatures finally deign to dip below 32 degrees, and Mainstage 1 hosts one of the most anticipated concerts of this first day. Papa Roach. The band’s fourth Hellfest appearance — Jacoby Shaddix will point it out himself from the stage, with the quiet pride of a man who knows he is at home here.
From “Even If It Kills Me” onward, the tone is set: jets of flame, a wall of sound, a hellish tempo. The band takes the stage the way you go to war — cleanly, efficiently, without hesitation. Papa Roach may be one of the bands from the late-90s nu-metal wave that has weathered the year’s best. Not by endlessly recycling the same classics, but by continuing to write, to reinvent itself, to tour with the hunger of those who still have something to prove. “Blood Brothers”, “Dead Cell” (my favourite track), “Getting Away with Murder”, “Kill the Noise” — the catalogue is swept through with rare coherence and generosity.
Jacoby Shaddix is everything you want from a Mainstage frontman: he fires up the crowd, climbs down into the photographers’ pit to sing nose-to-nose with the front rows, signs a guitar held out by a fan between two songs. Communicative, human, funny — without ever easing off the intensity. But he also takes the time to spotlight his musicians, to share the front of the stage. Twenty-five years of career have not dented the spirit of camaraderie that runs between the band members like an electric current.
The strongest moments of the evening may be the most intimate ones. “See U in Hell”, a new song introduced by footage from the animated series Devil May Cry, brings Jagger, one of Jacoby’s sons, up on stage. Then comes “Braindead”, performed with young Brixton — barely 13, already at ease on the vocal parts originally recorded by Toby Morse. The pit, already won over, simply melts. There is something beautiful and rare about a father sharing a stage of this scale with his children.
The final run is a time machine. “Between Angels and Insects” in a synthwave version opens an anthology nu-metal medley, the “Nu Metal Time Machine”. In a few minutes, the band pays tribute to an entire generation through nods to Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit and System Of A Down. The genre’s finest hours flash by, the pit rises, and “Last Resort” closes the set in a collective explosion. Too short, but too good.
Line-up:
Jacoby Shaddix – vocals
Jerry Horton – guitars, backing vocals
Tobin Esperance – bass, backing vocals
Tony Palermo – drums
Anthony “Twan” Esperance – guitars (touring musician)
Setlist:
Even If It Kills Me
Blood Brothers
Dead Cell
…To Be Loved
Kill the Noise
Getting Away with Murder
See U in Hell
California Love (2Pac cover)
Liar
Forever
Scars
Help
Born for Greatness
Between Angels and Insects
Infest
Nu Metal Time Machine: Blind (Korn), My Own Summer (Deftones), Break Stuff (Limp Bizkit), Chop Suey! (System Of A Down)
Last Resort
ALL TIME LOW
Warzone, June 18, 10:10 pm
To close out this first day, the Warzone welcomes one of the most solid bands on the international pop-punk scene. All Time Low doesn’t arrive in conquered territory — they return to it, with the ease and efficiency of a band that has made festivals its natural habitat for years.
Tonight, though, someone is missing. Jack Barakat, guitarist and soul of the band since its origins in the high schools of Baltimore, is absent for health reasons. Dan Swank, standing in for him, handles his parts with diligence — the job gets done. But it is of course Alex Gaskarth who carries the message. Because this June 18 is a special day: it’s Jack’s birthday — he turns 38 far from the stage. So Gaskarth asks the crowd to sing Happy Birthday — and the Warzone obliges, thousands of voices united for an absent guitarist somewhere on the other side of the Atlantic. The kind of spontaneous, sincere moment that reminds you what All Time Low is at heart: a band of friends, above all.
The rest of the set is every bit as good as that moment is moving. The setlist from the “Everyone’s Talking!” tour spans twenty years of career with remarkable fluidity: “Damned If I Do Ya”, “Weightless”, “Missing You”, “Something’s Gotta Give”, “Sleepwalking”, “Monsters” — the catalogue runs deep, the anthems keep coming, and the Warzone follows without hesitation.
An unexpected and frankly welcome moment: the band performs “Hate This Song”, its official collaboration with I Prevail, with Alex Gaskarth unashamedly taking on the track’s scream parts. It’s the risk-take of the set, and it pays off — the pit tips into an energy we weren’t necessarily expecting, and it’s a delight.
The closing run is unstoppable: “The Weather”, introduced by a Rian Dawson drum solo, then “Lost in Stereo” and the indestructible “Dear Maria, Count Me In”, an absolute anthem that has the entire Warzone singing as one, confetti and arms in the air. The connection is total, Jack or no Jack. A masterful, sincere set, carried by contagious generosity.
Get well soon, Jack — and happy birthday.
Line-up:
Alex Gaskarth – vocals, rhythm guitar
Dan Swank – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (touring member)
Zack Merrick – bass, backing vocals
Rian Dawson – drums
Setlist:
SUCKERPUNCH
Weightless
PMA
Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t)
Dark Side of Your Room
Time-Bomb
Backseat Serenade
Something’s Gotta Give
The Weather
Lost in Stereo
Sleepwalking
Hate This Song (All Time Low & I Prevail song)
Monsters
Little Bit
Dear Maria, Count Me In
ALICE COOPER
Mainstage 2, June 18, 10:30 pm
Night has fallen and Alice Cooper, flanked by his six musicians, storms onto MS2. Attending a concert by the pope of shock rock is always a moment apart. Despite his 78 years, the “Coop” still delivers. What stage presence.
On each song/hit (“No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “I’m Eighteen”, “Hey Stupid”, “Poison”, “School’s Out” and even Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”), mister Vincent Furnier (to his friends) changes costume (straitjacket, blood-soaked doctor’s coat, …) or props (cane, knife, …). Every song becomes a mini rock horror film: an over-zealous fake-photographer sidekick who gets run through with a spear, masked accomplices coming to torture the master, Frankenstein’s creature, a plastic mannequin to torment… and of course, the famous guillotine for a decapitation sequence that never fails to impress. Musically, it’s rock solid, notably thanks to the latest recruit, guitarist Anna Cara, filling in temporarily — and brilliantly — for miss Nita Strauss, absent due to an imminent happy event. In short, an hour of pure delight.
Setlist:
Hello, Hooray (Judy Collins cover) (Snippet)
Who Do You Think We Are (Snippet / I’m Alice and Welcome to the Show references at the end)
No More Mr. Nice Guy
I’m Eighteen
Feed My Frankenstein
Dirty Diamonds
Hey Stupid
Poison
Guitar Solo
Brutal Planet (Band solos)
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Cold Ethyl
Only Women Bleed
Second Coming (Snippet / Guillotine)
Going Home (Snippet / With “Feel so strong” from Hello Hooray at the end)
School’s Out / Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana cover)
I’m Always Chasing Rainbows (Harry Carroll song) (Alice Cooper version)
TRIBUTE TO OZZY OSBOURNE
Mainstage, June 18, 11:30 pm
Alice Cooper and his crew have barely left Mainstage 2 when the three giant screens play a video of “Mama, I’m Coming Home” filled with concert footage and memorable moments from the much-missed Madman. A moment of quiet reflection for the thousands of spectators gathered (yours truly included). As the song ends and a “LET’S THE MADNESS BEGIN” appears on the screens beside a portrait of the Prince of Darkness, “Bark at The Moon” rings out. The Clisson sky then lights up with fireworks for the entire duration of the song. A beautiful, understated tribute. RIP Mister Osbourne.
BRING ME THE HORIZON
Mainstage 1, June 18, 11:45 pm
To close this first day, Hellfest welcomes one of the most important bands in modern metal: Bring Me The Horizon — of whom I am personally a fan! Long considered a deathcore band, the Sheffield five-piece has constantly pushed the boundaries of its style to become a genuine global phenomenon.
The show opens in a futuristic atmosphere, true to the universe built around the album “POST HUMAN”. Giant screens invade the stage as Oli Sykes appears to the cheers of tens of thousands of people.
Visually, the spectacle is stunning. Between the dystopian videos, the pyrotechnics and the interactions with the crowd, the band has fully mastered the codes of the very biggest productions. But behind this show of resources, the songs remain the central element. “MANTRA”, “Teardrops”, “Parasite Eve”, “Shadow Moses” and “Can You Feel My Heart” are sung along by the entire crowd.
The pit explodes on the heaviest songs, while the more melodic passages offer particularly moving moments. The finale on “Throne” and “Drown” leaves Clisson exhausted but happy after more than an hour and a half of a spectacular concert.
A perfect close to this first day of Hellfest 2026 on Mainstage 1.
Setlist:
DarkSide
The House of Wolves
MANTRA
Happy Song
Teardrops
AmEN!
Kool-Aid
Shadow Moses
Kingslayer
Antivist
Follow You
Can You Feel My Heart
Doomed
Drown
Throne
SOCIAL DISTORTION
Warzone, June 18, 12:30 am
Midnight approaches. As the absolute closer of this first day, the Warzone welcomes a band that has had nothing left to prove for a long time — and yet returns with more to say than ever.
Social Distortion arrives to the sound of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel”, Mike Ness and his Orange County companions crossing the stage with that inimitable swagger, that cool attitude you can’t learn. A Gibson Les Paul with a rose adorning the headstock. No giant screen, no pyrotechnics, no choreography. Just men and their guitars.
Before launching into the first song, Ness takes the mic. He confides that after so much time spent backstage, he is happy — sincerely happy — to finally be on stage. The sentence takes on a particular resonance when you know what lies behind it: Mike Ness is recovering from a cancer that seriously threatened to end this adventure of more than forty-five years. Tonight in Clisson, he isn’t playing for glory or streaming stats. He plays because it’s what he has done since 1979, because it’s what keeps him standing. And you can hear it.
“Born to Kill” opens the set — the title track of their eighth album, released in May 2026 after fifteen years of studio silence, produced with Dave Sardy and featuring collaborations with Benmont Tench and Lucinda Williams. The band hasn’t broken with the essentials: punk rock, blues, and that vision of roadside America that Mike Ness has always defended with the conviction of a West Coast Springsteen. “No Way Out”, “Partners in Crime”, the eponymous track — the new compositions hold their own perfectly against the classics.
And Ness says it himself, with his usual frankness: “No fireworks, no bullshit, just a couple of guys with guitars”. The line sums it all up. No fireworks, no gimmicks — just the music, raw and honest. On a festival day saturated with millimetre-perfect productions and flame jets, it feels like an open window.
“Ball and Chain” is, as always, an absolute vibe. “Story of My Life” triggers a massive reaction in the pit, sung along with the fervour of the great occasions. And before “Don’t Drag Me Down”, Ness slips in a few words about current American politics — true to himself, unfiltered, he apologizes for his country’s behaviour, recalling that Social Distortion has always stood on the side of inclusivity and of those who struggle. The Warzone crowd responds warmly.
An hour of pure Californian punk rock, uncompromising, no concessive. The finest way to close this first day.
Line-up:
Mike Ness – vocals, lead guitar
Jonny “2 Bags” Wickersham – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Brent Harding – bass, backing vocals
David Hidalgo Jr. – drums
David Kalish – keyboards (tour musician)
Setlist:
Born to Kill
Untitled
Tonight
No Way Out
The Creeps
Mommy’s Little Monster
Partners in Crime
Ball and Chain
Story of My Life
Reach for the Sky
Dear Lover
Don’t Drag Me Down
ALESTORM
Mainstage 2, June 18, 1:20 am
To close this first day of Hellfest in high spirits on Mainstage 2, Alestorm once again turned the Mainstage 2 into a gigantic pirate party. Between the inflatable ducks, the costumes and the countless circle pits, the atmosphere was completely wild despite the late hour.
Christopher Bowes strings jokes together between songs while the crowd sings along to tracks like “Mexico”, “P.A.R.T.Y.”, “Drink” and “Fucked with an Anchor”. A festive, absurd concert, perfectly calibrated to end the evening with a smile.
Setlist:
Keelhauled
Killed to Death by Piracy
The Sunk ‘n Norwegian
Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship
Mexico
Under Blackened Banners
Banana
Nancy the Tavern Wench
Alestorm
The Storm
P.A.R.T.Y.
Shit Boat (No Fans)
Interlude
Drink
Fucked with an Anchor
Rumpelkombo
Saturday Night (Sqeezer song)
