GRASPOP METAL MEETING has become one of the leading and most reliable metal festivals in the Benelux and even the wider European area. With each edition passing the organizers have managed to get some of the best acts in the metal scene to attend. Besides fans from Belgium and neighbouring Netherlands, this happening has over the years gotten more international with the presence of visitors from France, Germany, England,… but also further away such as Scandinavia and eastern Europe. This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the festival that started of a decade ago as a small one day event in the town centre of Vosselaar called 'Mid Summer Metal Meeting'.

Nowadays the ‘Boeretang’ festival park in Dessel, Belgium has to co-op with 40.000 metal heads over a period of 3 consecutive days of metal madness. The grassy fields of Graspop are located near the border with Holland and is also found close to a nuclear storage facility. Some people joke about the fact that this isn’t a coincident? Especially for those people (with some sense of humour) the band Nuclear Assault was invited to play on this years edition. Altogether 62 bands will be attending the GMM spread on Friday over 4 stages and on the remaining days over 3, the main stage and 2 marquee tents. The festival will be held the last weekend of June, from the 24th till the 26th.

Bands playing at Graspop are of all genres varying from black/death to heavy metal/hard rock and the punk/hardcore scene. The previous years have shown that a mix of various scenes joining together can work perfectly. So if you are a head-banging death metal fanatic you’ll probably end up in the black/death tent while at the same time a huge moshpit will be going on in the hardcore/punk oriented marquee. When being a fan of many genres, like myself, you will have to make some choices of which bands are a priority to see live but let me assure you, there will be more then enough to choose from.

Like every major summer festival Graspop has the same attributes but here are some interesting ones:

-a metal market: A must have on all metal festivals to do some real shopping!

-band signing sessions: This year the Flemish metal magazines ‘Rock Tribune’ and ‘Mindview’ will organize the signing sessions on the festival ground. Usually half of the bands on the bill agree to this so get your LP’s and posters ready!

-a booztent: A huge drinking tent for those who can’t resist the booze or can’t sleep. Non-stop music and open from beginning until the end of the festival. With of course the best beer in the world!

-lockers to keep your precious belongings safe.

-a mobile phone/GSM recharging station. Yep, you heard me! Last year on GMM you could recharge your mobile phone (for free). This could come in handy for those who are far away from home.

This year there will be 40.000 tickets available. A three-day combi-ticket will cost you €105 and gives you access to the 3 day festival, the camping ground and free use of the car parking. Combi-tickets can only be sold in advance. The capacity of the camping is 30.000 but if you travel from far be sure to come early because it can get full. Note also that the car park and the camping are separate so you can’t park your car next to your tent. One day tickets for Friday and Saturday cost €50 and Sunday €55. Day tickets don’t give access to the camping ground.

The Graspop Metal Meeting 2005 full lineup is as follows:

80’s MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER, ALTER BRIDGE, AUTUMN, AXAMENTA, CALIBAN, CHIMAERA, COWBOYS & ALIENS, ENSLAVED, GRAVE DIGGER, H2O, HELMET, IMMOLATION, IN-QUEST, JUDASVILLE, KREATOR, MADBALL, MEGADETH, METAL CHURCH, NEVERMORE, PAPA ROACH, SENGIR, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, THE*GA*GA*S, WITHIN TEMPTATION.

ACCEPT, AMON AMARTH, ANTHRAX, BEHEMOTH, EPICA, GOREFEST, HATEBREED, IN FLAMES, KAMELOT, MASTODON, PETER PAN SPEEDROCK, PRO-PAIN, ROSE TATTOO, SAMAEL, SICK OF IT ALL, SIRENIA, SKITSOY, SLAYER, SLIPKNOT, SOILWORK.

ARCH ENEMY, AMEN, AXEL RUDI PELL, DARK TRANQUILITY, DIO, DRAGONFORCE, DREAM THEATER, HATESPHERE, IRON MAIDEN, LACUNA COIL, MURPHY’S LAW, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, OCEANS OF SADNESS, PRIMAL FEAR, TERROR, WALLS OF JERICHO, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN.

For full band schedules and other information visit the festival’s website below.