In partnership with Open’er Pageant
Phrases: Mark Beaumont and Ali Shutler
Open’er Pageant prides itself on being the most important and most various pageant in Poland and day two of the 2026 bash definitely lived as much as that promise.
After a loved-up first day noticed Florence + The Machine provide communal catharsis, David Byrne delivering forward-thinking art-pop and the continuation of Kneecap’s rowdy, outspoken victory lap, Open’er Pageant’s second day delivered an much more eclectic mixture of pop titans and cult heroes.
On Thursday (July 2), punters may take a look at performances from Halsey, Nick Cave And The Dangerous Seeds, Calvin Harris and a stay orchestra performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 – and that was simply the principle stage. Elsewhere, Open’er Pageant supplied the post-punk fury of Idles, Renee Rapp’s heartfelt alt-pop, the progressive rap of Audrey Nuna and a gloriously maximalist ‘Predominant Pop Woman’ drag present, full with slick choreography, glitter and a killer playlist. Right here’s what occurred on day two of Open’er Pageant 2026.
Nick Cave And The Dangerous Seeds discovered love in a hopeless place
“Prepare for love” screamed Nick Cave earlier than he and The Dangerous Seeds launched into their rowdy gospel punk observe of the identical identify. The band’s final European run was in assist of 2024’s ‘Wild God’, an album that celebrated the freewheeling pleasure and camaraderie of this motley crew of musicians, whereas their principal stage set at Open’er Pageant was a potted run-through of their spectacular discography. Tracks from twelve of their albums made an look in the course of the two-hour set, with Cave delivering crossover hits (‘O Youngsters’, ‘Into My Arms’) and fan-favourite deep cuts (‘Hiding All Away’, ‘Rings Of Saturn’) with the identical visceral ardour. “We don’t have a lot time so we’re simply going to go bang, bang, bang with the songs,” he defined earlier than a thundering ‘From Her To Eternity’.
It’s no secret that Nick Cave’s music explores the darker aspect of life. He creates twisting songs about loss of life, crumbling religion, isolation and the upcoming risk of each religious and bodily annihilation however stay, these haunted musings are reworked into anthems of defiant positivity. ‘The Mercy Seat’ was a thrashing, bone-shaking hunk of alt-rock transcendence, the fragile, slow-burning great thing about ‘Carnage’ was all new beginnings and dreamy optimism.
Nick Cave spent the set desperately attempting to get as near the viewers as doable, clutching outstretched palms and inspiring them to make use of their voices to create one thing stunning collectively. “No, you saved me,” he informed one fan holding up an indication thanking Cave for his life-preserving music.
There was a giddy sense of chaos to the entire thing although. Cave imitated a practice for the raucous ‘Prepare Lengthy-Struggling’ and was a growling monster for the moody ‘Tupelo’. Microphones, drum sticks and violin bows have been repeatedly despatched flying whereas the menacing ‘Purple Hand Purple’ was was a rowdy chant-along earlier than the piano-driven ‘Into My Arms’ closed out the band’s two hour sermon on bloodied, bruised love with a young ode to perception in different individuals. (AS)
Calvin Harris raved within the rain
Contemplating the nation’s historic political fortitude, Poland can deal with the odd rain rave. And because the heavens bucketed down upon the post-Cave crowds, Calvin Harris wasn’t going to let Open’er’s spirit sink. “Poland, I wanna see you bounce!” he bawled like a drill sergeant doing leg day. “I wanna hear you sing!” he yelled like a Scottish Simon Cowell on meth. “I wanna see completely everyone with their palms within the air proper now!” he ordered, as if about to rob Gdynia of all of the celebration vibe it’s acquired.
Mopping off his mixer with a towel as if it was actually related to electrical energy confirmed true dedication to the self-esteem of the stay pageant dance expertise – this was mix-for-mix the very same set this author noticed at Isle Of Wight two weeks in the past – however as the primary of the yr’s DJ headliners (Martin Garrix and Peggy Gou shut out subsequent nights) Harris definitely introduced the steam, lasers, pyro and almighty whomps to raise the positioning from soggy to ecstatic, with the assistance of some disembodied divas. Florence’s backing tape vocal hoisted the pumping advert rave of ‘Candy Nothing’, Dua Lipa’s floated seductively over ‘One Kiss’, Ellie Goulding’s elevated the Friday evening pub-club sounds of ‘I Want Your Love’ into one thing near a distant occasion.
Certainly, as AI-able as Harris’s hitmaking system is likely to be, stay he turned up the dial to spine-shaking impact. His John Newman collab ‘Blame’ was constructed on planet-cracking beats and warp velocity home. ‘Summer season’s monumental thump of a refrain may have upturned Ibiza. ‘The place Have You Been’, that includes Rihanna interpolating Johnny Money’s ‘I’ve Been In all places’, sounded prefer it was going down in a rave cathedral. His remix references have been impeccably floor-filling too: Faithless’s ‘Insomnia’, Florence’s ‘Spectrum (Say My Title)’, The Chemical Brothers’ ‘Hey Boy Hey Woman’. By the point he counted in Rihanna’s ‘We Discovered Love’ with a metronomic swing of the arm, the rain had given up attempting to dampen the evening and the rave gods had prevailed. (MB)
Idles unleashed the fury
It was clear from the seems to be on their trauma-strewn and steadily terrified faces that the barrier line of pop-rap poppets who’d determined to get down the entrance early for Reneé Rapp had no thought what they have been letting themselves in for. They have been all up for performers latching onto Olivia Rodrigo’s babydoll nightie pattern, however maybe not a walrus-moustached vagrant sporting a vibrant pink one whereas wrestling a clear guitar round like a feral wildcat. Bottle blonde singers, nice, however does this buff bearded instance need to yell of their faces about “racist c***s!” and lead the gang in a refrain of a “new British nationwide anthem” known as ‘Fuck The King’? And as for the gang packed behind them, effectively, there wasn’t a lot idle about this lot…
“You’d higher go dwelling and stream our album, you fucking stunning individuals,” stated Joe Talbot, having inspired his crazed tentful of precise followers to present them some respiratory room. That, nonetheless, was the complete extent of Idles’ lodging of the pop crowd tonight. Their tight hour was all crushing, hi-octane filth punk, sweaty crowd-surfing and ardent political sloganeering on monarchy and fascism (not eager), immigration and Palestinian freedom (large followers).
The bare-knuckle dynamics of ‘By no means Combat A Man With A Perm’ was a pub combat for the ears. ‘The Wheel’ a grinding mutant ‘Ant Rap’, ‘Mom’ repurposed to assault Poland’s fascists relatively than Britain’s Tories. Whereas guitarist Mark Bowen was out leaping within the crowd and getting the entrance row to carry up his guitar so he can hit it with a stick, Talbot was the tub-thumping ringleader, swinging his microphone round as if catching Nazis within the tooth by the dozen, beginning ‘Dancer’ mid-headstand and introducing the mariachi punk ‘Divide And Conquer’ as “a track about how a lot I hate the British authorities”.
It’s heartening that, 5 albums in, Idles can nonetheless shock and stun new audiences, but additionally that they’ll so enthuse far-flung trustworthy ones. Lowlife jig ‘I’m Scum’ prompted a mosh for the ages and a livid ‘Danny Nedelko’ – their greatest track and arguably the best punk observe of the previous ten years or so – pushed the tent to such euphoric heights that Talbot and Bowen have been impressed to sing a refrain of ‘All I Need For Christmas Is You’ to one another on the finish. They closed with a very rabid and slavering ‘Rottweiler’, Bowen declaring “if we may play right here each evening we positively would”. Citizenship assured. (MB)
Halsey proved they’re a real rock ‘n’ roll star
Halsey continues to be greatest recognized for his or her sugary crossover alt-pop radio hits, however her ‘The Woman In The Tower’ tour is a loud, defiant celebration of Halsey the rock god. Her set on Open’er Pageant’s principal stage began with a blast of 9 Inch Nails’ iconic ‘Nearer’ as a palette cleanser, earlier than she launched into her personal, livid ‘Nightmare’. The snarling lyric “I’m drained and offended, however anyone must be” acted as the muse for her fiery, hour-long set.
There have been menacing industrial beats for the title observe to 2021’s Trent Reznor co-produced ‘I Am Not A Lady, I’m A God’ whereas the sci-fi rave-rock of ‘Experiment On Me’ ended with guttural loss of life growls. The stage was lit ablaze for the self-destructive ‘Gasoline’ and even poppy hits ‘Nearer’ and ‘Colours’ got headbanger-friendly reworkings.
Nonetheless, simply because they have been pulling from the heavier aspect of their discography, doesn’t imply Halsey did away with area spectacle. Described as “a ceremony” relatively than an easy pageant set, they leant into darkish, fantastical storytelling for the three-act present, which was divided into chapters ‘The Mom’, ‘The Maiden’ and ‘They’re Raging At Me’. A journey by means of frustration, liberation and self-empowerment, Halsey was chained up for the snotty punk growl of ‘Canine Years’, performed a beat-up child blue guitar for the scuzzy new wave of ‘You Requested For This’ and threw herself concerning the stage whereas singing songs of ache, harm and defiance.
By the top of the set, the tower had burnt down and Halsey was left with a [fake] bloody nostril as she carried out the searing, Evanescence-inspired ‘Lonely Is The Muse’. “I didn’t know what to anticipate from this,” they admitted. “However that is enjoyable.” The gang, too, clearly cherished the swaggering guitar anthems as diehard followers and freshly-converted moshers pogoed, screamed and raged as one. (AS)
