Open Air Park, Düsseldorf, Germany10th July 2026
System Of A Down & Special guests: Queens Of The Stone Age, Acid Bath
It seems the Nu-Metal time machine, which PAPA ROACH set in motion during their festival live shows, is in full effect this summer. After LINKIN PARK, LIMP BIZKIT, KORN, and said PAPA ROACH all have re-appeared on the touring schedule, also the Armenian-American Rock giants SYSTEM OF A DOWN have embarked on a touring schedule through the largest arenas in Europe.
And in Düsseldorf, even the stadium is too small, so they are the first ones to play the newly built Open-Air Park, holding over 80,000 people. The trek out to the Open Air Park in Düsseldorf started with a stroke of luck. Navigating the traffic and securing a parking spot went remarkably smoothly, though that was purely down to getting there early, around 5:00 PM. The concert organizers clearly anticipated the baking summer heat, smartly setting up free water filling stations and blasting the crowd with giant water fog cannons to keep everyone from melting. Still, the location choice felt a bit surreal.
The venue sits directly in the approach path of the nearby airport, meaning massive commercial airliners constantly roared incredibly close overhead all evening, adding a bizarre, industrial soundtrack to the festival-like atmosphere. Before the opening notes even struck, a local awareness organizer, introducing herself as Guardian Angel Lara, took the microphone to issue a practical warning. She urged the crowd to plan an early exit, noting that evacuating 80,000 people from the park would take an absolute eternity. Instead of rushing the gates, she invited everyone to hang back after the final notes, as the beer and food stalls would remain fully operational to let the chaos bleed out.
Acid Bath
Formed in the early 1990s out of Louisiana, ACID BATH is widely revered as a foundational cornerstone of Sludge Metal, a murky genre that aggressively fuses the crawling, heavy Doom of BLACK SABBATH with the raw, chaotic energy of Hardcore Punk. Their sonic blueprint relies heavily on a jarring juxtaposition of beautiful, melancholic melodies and abrasive, abrasive screaming, dealing in lyrical themes steeped in gothic horror, existential dread, and dark poetry.
Despite a brief initial run that yielded only two studio albums, ‘When the Kite String Pops’ in 1994 and ‘Paegan Terrorism Tactics’ in 1996, the band left an indelible mark on the heavy music underground. Their tragic dissolution followed the 1997 death of bassist Audie Pitre, yet their heritage has only grown over the decades, securing them a cult-like status as ahead-of-their-time pioneers who influenced a vast generation of Stoner, Sludge, and Doom Metal acts across the globe. https://acidbathofficial.com
Music & Performance
Taking the stage at 18:20, ACID BATH kicked off their set with a thundering, ominous introduction soundscape that gave way to a classic OZZY OSBOURNE track, followed by a haunting spoken-word intro. The field was still relatively empty at this early hour, with the arriving crowd trickling in under the afternoon sun.
True to their uncompromising underground roots, the band played through the first ten minutes of their set with zero crowd interaction, maintaining a cold, imposing wall of heavy riffs. The ice finally broke around the half-hour mark when the lead singer addressed the burgeoning crowd, shouting “Death to all the war pigs! We love you, Düsseldorf,” injecting a sudden burst of classic metal rebellion into the warm afternoon air.
Setlist
01. Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath song)
02. Bonus Poem
03. Tranquilized
04. Bleed Me an Ocean
05. Venus Blue (Dedicated to Audie Pitre)
08. Dead Girl (Agents of Oblivion version)
09. Paegan Love Song
Queens Of The Stone Age
Emerging from the ashes of the legendary Stoner Rock band KYUSS in 1996, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE became the premier architects of modern Desert Rock under the constant leadership of mastermind Josh Homme. Their signature style relies on tight, hypnotic, and heavily synchronized guitar riffs mixed with elements of Blues, Krautrock, and Alternative Metal, a sound they famously dubbed “Robot Rock.”
Over a stellar career, their discography has evolved across critically acclaimed albums like their self-titled 1998 debut, the breakthrough masterwork ‘Rated R’ in 2000, the monumental ‘Songs for the Deaf’ in 2002, and later boundary-pushing records like ‘...Like Clockwork’ in 2013 and ‘In Times New Roman...’ in 2023. Their heritage is defined by an ability to blend radio-friendly hooks with jagged, Avant-Garde Rock arrangements, cementing them as one of the most influential and resilient Alternative Rock bands of the twenty-first century. https://qotsa.com
Music & Performance
At 19:30, an eerie introduction tape signalled the start of their set, though for this reviewer, the performance quickly felt as boring as ever, weighed down by screeching guitars and a somewhat whining vocal delivery. However, the energy picked up during an unexpected mid-set comedic detour. Spotting a fan in the front row wielding an enormous blow-up phallus, Homme barked at security, “Hand me that cock,” pointing directly at the inflatables.
He proudly posed with the item in front of his groin, asking the 80,000-strong crowd, “How does it look?” before adding, “Thank you so much for sharing your dick with me, I love you.” Musically, the sharp riffs of ‘Paper Machete’ finally stirred up some genuine commotion and movement in the crowd, before the band closed their hour-long set at 20:30 with a sheer endless, jam-heavy version of their massive hit ‘No One Knows’.
Setlist
01. Regular John
02. The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
03. Do It Again (Tour debut)
04. Sick, Sick, Sick
05. The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died (Josh playing with a giant blow up penis from the crowd)
06. Paper Machete
07. My God Is the Sun
08. I Appear Missing
09. Little Sister
10. Go With the Flow
11. No One Knows
12. A Song for the Dead
System Of A Down
Formed in Glendale, California, in 1994, SYSTEM OF A DOWN achieved global superstardom by tearing up the rulebook of heavy music with an Avant-Garde blend of Alternative Metal, Punk Rock, Jazz Fusion, and traditional Armenian Folk melodies. Their music is famously volatile, shifting violently from frantic, operatic vocal acrobatics to crushing, politically charged breakdowns that take aim at corporate greed, warfare, and historical injustice.
Their lean but flawless discography consists of five studio albums, starting with their raw ‘System of a Down’ in 1998, followed by the multi-platinum cultural phenomenon ‘Toxicity’ in 2001, the rebellious ‘Steal This Album!’ in 2002, and the ambitious dual-release of ‘Mesmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’ in 2005.
Their heritage is unparalleled in Modern Rock; they remain one of the few heavy bands to achieve massive commercial success without ever compromising their fiercely progressive socio-political messages or their eccentric artistic identity, shaped by their Armenian heritage. https://www.systemofadown.com
Music & Performance
The wait time for the evening’s main attraction felt like an absolute eternity. Originally scheduled to take the stage at 9:00 PM, a full thirty minutes ticked by in restless anticipation before the band finally emerged at 9:30 PM. Any lingering frustration evaporated in an instant when they kicked off their set with the sombre, powerful strains of ‘Soldier Side’.
The vast, sprawling area absolutely exploded with pure joy, transforming the park into a sea of moving bodies. The crowd participation reached a stunning peak during ‘Aerials’, which prompted a massive, unified singalong that echoed right over the festival grounds. Later in the night, the band slowed things down for the melancholy anthem ‘Lonely Day’. It was a beautiful moment, though it suffered a slight hitch when guitarist Daron Malakian pretty heavily messed up the final notes of the track’s legendary guitar solo.
SYSTEM OF A DOWN proved they haven’t lost their political edge when they dropped ‘Tentative’. Serj Tankian paused to deliver a heavy, poignant dedication, sending the track out to the children of Gaza, the protesters in Iran who were killed by the IRGC, and the struggling people of Lebanon and Sudan.
The final culmination of evening was served by the band with a double whammy of the hits ‘Toxicity’ and ‘Sugar’, during which circle pits, lit-up phosphorous flares, and the stream of crowd surfers reached its peak. By the time the show wrapped up shortly after 11pm, the band had delivered an exhausting, vital reminder of their enduring power, leaving the exhausted masses to head back toward Lara’s promised food stalls and beer taps to let the adrenaline cool down.
Setlist
01. Soldier Side – Intro
02. B.Y.O.B.
03. Suite-Pee
04. Chic ‘N’ Stu
05. Prison Song
06. Violent Pornography
07. Aerials
08. I-E-A-I-A-I-O
09. Innervision
10. Darts
11. Genocidal Humanoidz
12. Needles
13. Deer Dance
14. Radio/Video
15. Dreaming (Bridge)
16. Hypnotize
17. ATWA
18. Bounce
19. Suggestions
20. Psycho (with Kraftwerk’s ‘Trans-Europa Express’ snippet)
21. Chop Suey!
22. Lonely Day
23. Lost in Hollywood
24. Tentative (Dedicated to Gaza children, (01/2026) protesters in Iran (killed by IRGC) & people of Lebanon& Sudan)
25. Spiders
26. Forest
27. Cigaro (with ‘Ballad of My Cock’ intro)
28. Toxicity
29. Sugar
All Pictures by Clemente Ruiz (@clemente_310)
