GALLERY: 18.4.2026 Roadburn – Day 3 @ 013, Tilburg

June 20, 2026

The only day with some actual rain this year, the Saturday of Roadburn began with what may very well become a tradition since the previous time: buying fried cod at the market and finding a comfortable (and in this case also dry) bench where to sit down. It turned out it was actually too much food, which came with two bonuses: no need for a big dinner later on, and making a couple of festival volunteers happy with our extra food.

Knowing it was going to be another packed day, and having purposely decided to check HEAVEN IN HER ARMS yesterday, we had a bit more time to chill at the beginning of the day, as we waited for BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT in The Terminal. Having heard many good things about this trio in the past, but never really having the chance to witness them live, we were tickled by the curiosity of it, even though if you want to check out a band live for the first time, them presenting their new album (“Not Here Not Gone”) in full might not be the very best choice, as it only gives you a view of where the band currently stands in their journey. Their performance felt more like a fuzzy, cosy hug, welcoming people into the festival day, very low-key in that sense. Maybe also for this reason, it didn’t feel particularly mind-blowing, but still a nice set to ease oneself into what will become later a much more hectic evening.

During their set, we also wanted to give some voice to the young students from Eindhoven’s Metal Factory, who once again were given some space by Roadburn to showcase a new project. This year, they brought us TRIA NEMA, a trio of female vocalists (Nina Grimm, Nina Boele, and Indy Guns), who, supported by a three-piece male counterpart backing band, enchanted the audience like three muses alternating each other in harmony in a celebration of modern femininity. Inspired by the likes of Emma Ruth Rundle and Anna von Hausswolff, their show was quite intriguing considering their young age. Plus, it’s always kind of cool to see most of the audience in the front, consisting of their friends and schoolmates, as well as their parents and relatives. It’s very nice that every year the festival provides such a platform to these emerging musicians.

One of the main events of the day, and something we were really looking forward to seeing, was Lane Shi‘s OTAY:ONII performance entitled “Moonstruck Old Tales.” The second part of her “triennium artist in residence” is a concept based on six traditional Chinese folk lullabies from the artist’s own childhood, reimagined for the Roadburn audience. The first impression on stage was like witnessing a rock opera unfolding in front of our eyes: literally rolling on – and at some point off – the stage (a very useful skill we are a bit jealous of!) Lane showed up energetically playing the keytar strapped around her neck. There were fairytale costumes, complementary visuals, and all the elements for a grandiose show, with her backing band – assembled for the occasion – including members of her recent project HUGGING (which we got to see then on Sunday in an unscheduled appearance), and one member coming from our Helsinki hood. Throughout the show, the band brought to life these folk stories, enchanting the crowd from start to finish. Lane, wearing a turtle costume with a yellow snake wrapped around her leg (representing a certain significance in Chinese folklore), eventually involved directly the audience of 013 by walking off the stage to sing among them first, then returning on stage to literally fly up hanging by a wire to collect the “moon” which had been until that moment hanging over the stage, just to repeatedly and brutally stabbing it. It turned out the moon was made of hard candy (we got a piece of it ourselves, wondering until we saw people eating it if it was actually something edible), and the artist then distributed the pieces walking among the crowd again, before returning on the stage to finish this ambitious as much as – we dare say – successful performance.

As musically eclectic as we have been used to seeing her shows in various forms and under different bands over the past few Roadburns, this is definitely one of those shows that will be stuck in our memory for a long time after the festival. Extra bonus points for being handed out candy at a concert. Good thing we knew the artist, as our moms always warned us not to accept candies from strangers! Also, our expectations for next year’s show in the final step of the triennial residency are now through the roof.

From the grandiosity of this conceptual show to the introspective atmosphere of RÓIS Irish tales of grief and sorrow in the smaller side of the same venue, the mood was quite different, but the quality didn’t drop. We enjoyed listening to these folk songs in a Western tradition, much like the Chinese ones we just witnessed, regardless of the big cultural shift. Both her face and the drummer’s were covered by a veil that made them into faceless figures only lit by the spotlights and the logo displayed on the screen in the background. These emotionally charged lamentations, with surprising “in-betweeners” like Nirvana’s cover “Something In The Way,” created a unique and touching atmosphere, maybe only bested by TEARDRINKER on the previous day.

It’s at this time, when most people were divided between PRIMITIVE MAN first, and later THESE NEW PURITANS or AGRICULTURE (so many clashes!), that we opted instead for the freshly announced skatepark show by The Hague-based psychedelic progressive rockers HEATH. The vibe here was super chill, as they presented to their audience the songs from their latest effort “Murmurations” (coincidentally, a couple of days after the festival we were in The Hague ourselves, and ended up seeing an exhibition about birds in the Mauritshuis museum, which included a big murmuration display, and reminded us about this show at the same time). It helped us cope with the hectic rhythm of the day, which also happened to be sold out, by relaxing in a different soundscape for a good moment, before we landed in the Engine Room for some much more danceable music with PROSTITUTE. The combination of post-punk with Arabic beats was unique enough to make this interesting, but what really caught the eye was the energy of the band on stage, with the vocalist who looked literally possessed as he contorted himself dancing on the stage. The mostly dark ambience of the venue did the rest, for a gig that definitely stood out in its own right.

We have come close a few times to seeing BORIS, but never really managed to accomplish it, so when this weekend they had two shows, the first of which centered on their acclaimed “Pink” record from 2005 – not to mention tomorrow’s show would have clashed with AK’CHAMEL, which was a must-see – we immediately took this chance to see them on the main stage. Needless to say, the trio delivered, and it was nice that they added to the set a few pieces from the same era, not just playing the one record in full. Watching these guys having a good time (the drummer especially!) while playing their blend of psych rock, noise-y sludge material fit really well into the early evening, and also worked nicely as a consolation for knowing I would have had to miss ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE‘s third show a bit later. We did have to leave halfway through the set for DÄLEK, who was playing at The Terminal, but this was a good half an hour nicely spent.

In this, we were venturing quite a bit out of our comfort zone, but having seen DÄLEK not even a year ago at Sonic Rites and finding it to be way more interesting than expected, we decided to come back for seconds. We were not disappointed, although the show was pretty much focused on the new record. However, the beats laid down by the duo quickly conquered the crowd, and for a moment, this looked as far from a “metal” festival as one can go, while still feeling metal, if you catch our drift. Even now, we had to cut our experience short to head to the skatepark, as INTER ARMA was just about to play a secret show.

This was probably the most crowded – for a good reason – and most intense of the skatepark shows we have seen this weekend, as expected, we would add. A band like INTER ARMA seems to thrive in this kind of environment, being in close contact with the fans and drawing energy from them. The vocalist especially really took full advantage of the proximity to the audience. Since on Sunday they would be playing “The Cavern,” they had here a “Sky Burial” set instead, for the excitement of the many fans who brought the skatepark full to capacity.

At this point, things got really tough clash-wise for us, but we did manage to optimize the time pretty well. Considering also the logistics, we went from the skatepark to the nearby Hall of Fame to see the early part of MOLOCH, then ran to the Main Stage for the big show of the festival with OATHBREAKER, and finally in between we sneakingly went to the Next Stage for QUEST MASTER, before finishing to watch OATHBREAKER‘s set, so this might feel all a bit like a blur: while the Nottingham-based sludge doom band was something of a positive surprise for us, not having seen them live before, and in those few minutes being immediately conquered by their energy, we were totally blown away by how many people showed up to see OATHBREAKER at the 013. Even reaching the photo pit was not possible without the security creating a path for the photographers to get there.

Everything was crammed to the brim, which perhaps didn’t make for the best experience for some of the audience, at least. The long-awaited return of the Belgians, led by Caro Tanghe, revolved around their third album “Rheia,” the occasion being the 10th anniversary since its release. Not having seen them live before tonight, we had no comparison with their older self, but the hype seemed mostly justified by the certified post-black metal from these musicians who are rooted in the Belgian scene (AMENRA, WIEGEDOOD), and we could not have expected any less. The setting on the main stage made the whole show feel even grander. The vocalist had this “because I’m worth it” hair flowing all the time, thanks to the two metal fans pointing at her (which also made her red dress fly around), but much more on point was the impression she gave on her performance, really bringing the songs to life. As mentioned, we did wander away for a little while. It would not have been fair after all to skip QUEST MASTER when Lord Gordith came here all the way from down under! This small dungeon synth intermezzo also offered us some respite from the huge amount of crowd in the nearby hall, and brought us back to the childhood times of early RPG games, with 8-bit graphics and minimal soundtracks. Closing the eyes for a moment, it would literally feel like being guided through a maze in some old video game, which was pretty neat. But the temptation to not skip too much of the other show on the main side of the venue eventually became too strong, and so we headed back to see it till the end.

At this point, the hectic part of the day was over, and we were almost done with the day! Only two shows left for us, as we had zero interest in staying for another DJ set after another long day, and we could have stopped by to see at least some of the TRUCK VIOLENCE set, but decided to just focus on SLIFT and call it a day instead. Before that, though, there was another exciting set unfolding on the Hall of Fame, one that we had been waiting with some degree of curiosity at least: hailing from Berlin, INDUSTRY showed us what underground punk is all about in this time and age. The band itself is not even three years old, and yet they nail the absurdity of recent times perfectly, as the whole world is on an ever accelerating downward spiral. Raw, impactful, and yet groovy and right on the spot, like every self-respecting punk band, they are also very political, while influence-wise KILLING JOKE stand out, as well as anarchic punk, and even some industrial and goth elements creep into their music. A force to reckon with, live, and a name we definitely want to revisit again.

Finally, at our last band of the day, feeling beaten as in “my legs hurt like hell,” we headed back to 013 for SLIFT. Admittedly, we didn’t have many expectations from what we remember of the band, which is why we were glad to see the band sound much heavier than we had anticipated. The French psychedelic progressive rockers played the new “Fantasia” in full, and we must say the record sounded really solid, at least live. Their trippy visuals and groovy riffing did the rest, throwing the audience into this space frenzy, despite the venue being far less packed than with OATHBREAKER. Eventually, before the end of the set, we made the wise decision to call it a night and head back to our Airbnb for some well-earned rest. Looking forward to tomorrow with a bunch of very nice shows lined up. But this was actually a pretty good finish for another packed day!