Disclaimer: At the Wacken Open Air, several dozen bands play every day across a multitude of stages, so we are unable to feature all of them in our text and photos. We have therefore focused this report on a few highlights to give you a more detailed look at them. In addition, our photographers have taken pictures of other bands, which we have included throughout the text.
In this article, we’ll be presenting the full music programme for Wednesday up until around 8 pm. You’ll find our impressions of the subsequent bands in the next article. The exception to this is the Metal Battle, which we’ve covered for you in a separate report.
After three days of supporting acts on the LGH Club Stage, the Welcome to the Jungle stage and in the Wasteland, Wednesday finally arrived and the main festival stages kicked off their programmes. At 12 noon, Broken By The Scream kicked off the programme on the Louder Stage, which is traditionally made up entirely of female-fronted bands to provide a platform for women in metal. The programme on the Faster Stage had been given the title “Gagamania” for the day, a theme that was certainly reflected in Hämatom’s performance that evening. As is tradition, the Wackinger Stage was kicked off by the Wacken Firefighters.
At the same time, the Wasteland Stage hosted “Wasted Wednesday”, which was opened at 2.00 pm by Diabolisches Werk.
Wacken Firefighters – Wackinger Stage
Whilst Broken By The Scream kicked off the first main stage, the Louder Stage, the Wacken Firefighters launched their customary opening set on the Wackinger Stage with Alle Jahre wieder. The large crowd of metalheads proved they knew the lyrics off by heart to a classic Christmas carol – even outside the festive season, in the middle of summer. This was followed by a medley of party hits, accompanied by traditional brass band music, which led to a huge conga line forming in front of the Wackinger Stage. Songs such as Wacken ist nur einmal im Jahr and Der Zug hat keine Bremse made you momentarily forget that this was a metal festival. But the Firefighters were determined to do justice to the occasion, and so ‘serious’ metal sounds followed. They kicked off with a tribute to Lemmy, with the orchestra supported by drums and electric guitar. Meanwhile, the polonaise in front of the stage showed no sign of stopping, and several thousand metalheads celebrated a joyful start to this year’s Wacken festival.
Note: the photos were taken at the show on Saturday.
Broken By The Scream – Louder Stage
The girl group from Tokyo delivered top-class Japanese metalcore. Each of the four singers showcased her own distinctive vocal style, creating a rich mix of deep growls, screeching shouts and clean vocals. During the clean vocal passages, one couldn’t help but feel as though one were listening to an anime soundtrack.
Whilst the lead singers performed in cute-looking costumes with bows in their hair, the rest of the band members wore horror masks. Set to rhythmically demanding and fast beats – which were often off-beat to the melody – there was a great deal of movement on stage overall. Synchronised dance routines were followed by wild jumping and headbanging. In between, the singers repeatedly thanked the audience with a polite “Arigato” and charming smiles. Overall, the performance radiated a great deal of energy and good humour. This naturally rubbed off on the audience too, prompting crowd surfing, jumping and moshing. Thus, Broken By The Scream managed a more than successful start to Wednesday on the Louder Stage.
Visions of Atlantis – Louder Stage
For Visions of Atlantis’s performance, the Louder Stage had been transformed into a pirate ship. Numerous buccaneers had turned up to set sail with the Armada, and the area in front of the Louder Stage was packed right to the back.
With a thumping bass and shouts of ‘Hey!’ from the audience, the pirate crew’s virtuoso stage show kicked off with The Land of the Free. Clémentine, dressed in an iconic red pirate dress, once again impressed with her fantastic singing voice and had the audience on her side from the very first note. Singer Michele followed her onto the stage shortly afterwards, and the two formed their usual harmonious vocal duo.
Clocks followed as the second song – the first hit in the set – accompanied by Clémentine’s headbanging, which really got the pirate ship moving. She then invited the audience to set sail with the pirate ship and join the Armada for the next hour. With ‘Let’s go Wacken, Party on’, she provided a seamless transition to her own party anthem, Tonight I’m Alive.
She then waved the VOA flag to the tune of Legion of the Seas, whereupon flags from a lot of different countries were held aloft in the crowd, each one greeted individually by Michele. This once again made it clear that Wacken has long since become an international festival.
Now there was no stopping it. The first crowd surfers reached the pit and, during Hellfire, there was a wall of death, followed by a proper mosh pit. Meanwhile, powerful guitar riffs rang out on stage and the flame throwers kicked into action. This probably came as something of a surprise to the camera crew handling the livestream, and so both the video camera and a drone were briefly caught in the flames, though they survived unscathed.
Finally, the obligatory rowing segment was a must on the pirate ship, and the metalhead armada willingly sat down on the floor for Pirates Will Return and began rowing. For the finale, during Master the Hurricane, Clémentine’s bell-like voice really came into its own during a solo part, before bidding farewell to the assembled metal crowd with Melancholy Angel as they jumped along.
Diabolisches Werk – Wasteland Stage
5th Avenue – Wackinger Stage
A true Wacken veteran graced the Wackinger Stage: 5th Avenue, one of the very first Wacken bands, returned to the Holy Ground for the 10th time. In this case, however, ‘veteran’ did not mean that the six men from Hamburg couldn’t still really let rip. Their setlist ranged from classics from the 90s to more recent tracks. Honest, classic hard rock was authentically delivered by frontman Oliver Peter, accompanied in the background by a backing vocal trio of three young women in pilot’s outfits. And so, with Save the Day, a well-balanced rock performance kicked off, perfect for bobbing along to.
Oliver’s subsequent announcement – “It’s always hot when we play, but better than rain” – was met with approving applause. The crowd in front of the stage was manageable, which was certainly also down to the in-field area being open at the same time.
Alongside the two guitars and the bass, which were prominently positioned at the front of the stage, keyboard passages also shaped the sound, with two keyboards arranged side by side on stage. During some of the keyboard solos, the band members knelt in front of them to pay tribute to their keyboardist.
The band were also there 36 years ago, at the very first Wacken. During that show, however, there was some confusion, as singer Oliver explained. Apparently, a couple suddenly started having sex on the grass during their set, and everyone was looking at them instead of watching the show on stage. He cleverly used this announcement to segue into the next song, as according to statistics, the average sexual encounter supposedly lasts exactly as long as Rough Affair, and anyone who isn’t finished by then is above average. Well, apart from the banter, they also played some music, and so with Easier Said Than Done they performed a somewhat newer song, ‘only’ 10 years old and thus still in primary school age.
Slowly, the set was drawing to a close and, whilst frontman Oliver held up an Anheuser Bud can, a very crucial question was posed: ‘What do you think of the new beer?’ In response, a number of loud boos rang out from the now significantly larger crowd – entirely justified, in the view of the author of this paragraph.
Now back to the 5th Avenue show: to round things off, they played Postman, another track not suitable for young audiences, before slipping in an extra number before the final song – a cover of a New York band – as there was still enough time left despite the lengthy introductions.
With the outro from Heidi Kabel’s In Hamburg sagt man “tschüss”, 5th Avenue bid farewell to the Wackinger Stage.
Expellow – Headbangers Stage
Next up were Expellow, the 2025 Metal Battle winners, who played their set in the middle of the competition. The band from Switzerland delivered an hour of modern metalcore with a clear focus on intensity and precision. The vocals of singer Mik stood out; with her distinct guttural style and the alternation between more subdued and aggressive passages, she defined the sound. The singer was supported by the guitarist, whose backing vocals created a well-balanced blend of intensity and structure. The audience’s reaction was subdued, but for the most part they remained engaged. A brief humorous moment arose during the second song, however, when a member of the audience in the pit appeared wearing a Triceratops costume before disappearing again.
There was enthusiasm, without the crowd getting out of hand. The band seemed focused, yet still somewhat in disbelief about their place in the line-up, as they still haven’t quite taken in their victory at last year’s Metal Battle, according to Mik. In early July, Expellow had released their new song Ten on Swords, which was also part of the set and fitted seamlessly into the overall picture.
A solid performance, characterised by a clear musical direction and professional execution. Expellow lived up to their Metal Battle title with a set that did away with any unnecessary show elements.
Thundermother – Louder Stage
Sweden’s answer to AC/DC then livened up the Louder Stage a little. Thundermother, an all-female band fronted by guitarist Filippa Nässil, delivered classic hard rock with a clear structure and catchy hooks. The group has played all over the world in recent years and demonstrated their seasoned stage presence at Wacken too.
The singer greeted the audience with a brief “We’re so happy to finally be with you, you’re hot!” – fitting for the summer heat that had settled over the site. The sound was direct, without any experimentation, and clearly drew inspiration from their 1970s role models.
Producer Søren Andersen joined as the ‘Secret 5th Member’ on second guitar, adding extra punch to the set. The band didn’t reinvent the wheel, but played solidly and precisely. The audience responded positively, getting carried away by the clear rhythms and the straightforward structure of the songs. The solos fitted well into the overall picture and underlined the classic character of the music.
A low-key but fitting performance for the early evening of the festival – hard rock without frills, professionally executed and with a palpable sense of experience.
Battle Creek – Wasteland Stage
Lovebites – Faster Stage
Ricky Warwick – Wackinger Stage
The Gathering – Louder Stage
Well before the show began, visitors from all over the world had gathered in front of the Louder Stage. Naturally, there were plenty of fans from the Netherlands, the band’s home country, but there was also a strikingly large number of fans from Chile – recognisable by their national flags – who had come to experience the show marking the 30th anniversary of Mandylion. At W:O:A, The Gathering played an exclusive German gig with their original line-up, featuring Anneke van Giersbergen. As one of the first female singers in a metal band, she was a role model for many who were to follow, including Floor Jansen.
An atmospheric sound, rich keyboard elements and an almost hypnotic backdrop on a huge LED screen literally transported the crowd into a metal trance, broken only by Anneke’s ecstatic headbanging and the accompanying guitars. She commanded the show with confidence and, with her almost operatic vocals, proved that metal has many facets and that quieter soundscapes also have their place. Meanwhile, the audience sang along enthusiastically and celebrated every single one of the band’s songs, both their long-standing fans and, as was clearly evident, their new ones.
The show did without any major stage effects; the songs were accompanied solely by the ethereal visuals on the backdrop screen. Towards the end of the set, the five musicians were given their own instrumental section, showcasing their atmospheric guitar and keyboard sounds without vocals, accompanied rhythmically by drummer Hans Rutten and flowing lava on the screen in the background.
Nor was there any need for grand words from the singer. She finally thanked her loyal fans with a heart-shaped hand gesture.
The Gathering treated their fans to a thoroughly cohesive show, which came to a magnificent close with an emotional vocal solo and a final ‘Oh ho oh ho’ chorus from the audience, accompanied by countless waving and clapping hands.
At this point, we have now reached the end of the first half of the programme and of this report. However, the day was far from over and still had a number of highlights in store. We’ll show you these in the next part.
Text: Anne & Jenny & Roksana
Pictures: Matthias & Patrick
You can find out more about Wacken Open Air 2026 here:
- Festivalbericht: Wacken Open Air – Donnerstag, Teil 2
- Festivalbericht: Wacken Open Air 2026 – Donnerstag, 30. Juli 2026 – Teil 1
- Festivalbericht: Wacken Metal Battle 2026 – Donnerstag
- Festivalbericht: Wacken Open Air – Mittwoch, Teil 2
- Festivalbericht: Wacken Open Air 2026 – Mittwoch, Teil 1
- Festivalbericht: Wacken Metal Battle 2026 – Mittwoch, Teil 2
- Festivalbericht: Wacken Metal Battle 2026 – Mittwoch, Teil 1
You can find previous posts about Wacken Open Air here:
- Wacken Open Air 2025 – weitere Bilder zum Freitag
- Wacken Open Air 2025 – weitere Bilder zum Donnerstag
- Wacken Open Air 2025 – der Bericht zum Donnerstag
- Wacken Open Air 2025 – der Bericht zum Donnerstag des Metal Battle
- Wacken Open Air 2025 – weitere Bilder zum Mittwoch
- Wacken Open Air 2025 – der Bericht zum Mittwoch
- Wacken Open Air 2025 – weitere Bilder zum Mittwoch des Metal Battle
- Wacken Open Air 2025 – der Bericht zum Mittwoch des Metal Battle
- Ankündigung: Wacken Open Air 2025
- Wacken Open Air 2024 – Bildbeitrag zum Samstag
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