Rock Werchter 2026

[thetime]

3 minutes ago, BlackFoxx said:

 

 

 

Mumford and Sons, Lorde, Lumineers, Vampire Weekend

 

The XX, Kings of Leon, Wolf Alice, The Last Dinner Party

 

Gorillaz, Twenty One Pilots, Macklemore, Interpol

 

The Cure, The War on Drugs, Pixies, A Perfect Circle 

 

That would be more than decent. 

 

Would check out everyone apart from Vampire Weekend, Macklemore and Perfect Circle. 

[northernangel]

19 minutes ago, ali_rocks said:

After that Mad Cool Poster... Maybe tomorrow KOL announcement?

I'm not so sure I see KOL being under The XX but could be wrong. They aren't the sort of band though I'd ever think most The XX fans really care for.

 

[tmolvik]

3 hours ago, BlackFoxx said:

Is this Mad Cool poster the first we've seen of Pulp next year? How big are they in Belgium?

Pulp would do a lot next year for me, but after seeing this I really need to consider doing Mad Cool instead this year. Especially if RW decides to go poppy again. Really nice line-up so far with over 20 acts I would like to see already. If this had been Werchter I would have said we were back to the good old days, so of course I'm allowed to hope still, but my gut feeling isn't good based on last years editions.

[northernangel]

7 minutes ago, tmolvik said:

Pulp would do a lot next year for me, but after seeing this I really need to consider doing Mad Cool instead this year. Especially if RW decides to go poppy again. Really nice line-up so far with over 20 acts I would like to see already. If this had been Werchter I would have said we were back to the good old days, so of course I'm allowed to hope still, but my gut feeling isn't good based on last years editions.

I've currently got a couple of options for accommodation booked for mad cool from the Monday to the Sunday. Monday and Tuesday in Madrid, visiting the bernabeu, be nice to see a game there but its off season so it'll just be a walk round and tour. Pre season home games likely are too early then too as players don't report back until that weekend. Wednesday to Saturday exploring something each day and chill then home Sunday actually made easier by not camping. I would potentially save a nights accommodation as well and just go out the Tuesday instead as there is still that arrival day and a fair bit of Wednesday before grabbing the metro.

[BlackFoxx]

1 minute ago, northernangel said:

I've currently got a couple of options for accommodation booked for mad cool from the Monday to the Sunday. Monday and Tuesday in Madrid, visiting the bernabeu, be nice to see a game there but its off season so it'll just be a walk round and tour. Pre season home games likely are too early then too as players don't report back until that weekend. Wednesday to Saturday exploring something each day and chill then home Sunday actually made easier by not camping. I would potentially save a nights accommodation as well and just go out the Tuesday instead as there is still that arrival day and a fair bit of Wednesday before grabbing the metro.

This is the Rock Werchter thread?

[charlierc]

Are The XX outright headlining this? I thought they were in that weird post-headliner extra act spot that quite commonly pops up at European festivals.

[northernangel]

6 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Are The XX outright headlining this? I thought they were in that weird post-headliner extra act spot that quite commonly pops up at European festivals.

I believe they are in that. The announcement said about closing set.

[e2p2]

24 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Are The XX outright headlining this? I thought they were in that weird post-headliner extra act spot that quite commonly pops up at European festivals.

Probably co-headline

[thetime]

44 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Are The XX outright headlining this? I thought they were in that weird post-headliner extra act spot that quite commonly pops up at European festivals.

 

Thats usually a dance act, XX are certainly no dance act. 😃

[tmolvik]

Would be interesting to know what kind of considerations RW has done when it comes to headliners this year, given that FF seems to be the largest band around and they skip them (or they skipped RW). If there were other big horses to bet on, it can be understandable, but if we get i.e Mumford on the Thursday I'm curious to know what they're thoughts are.. 

On one side I agree that it's too early for Foo, but that has also gone for plenty on other acts recent years. On the other side, I think that RW with it's size, should have the big acts around and this year Foo is definitely one of them, unless we have an unknown dark horse coming up. We're also talking about Thursday, so even with decent undercards, it's a hard day to sell. There's also no traditional "rock act" among the already announced  artists. The weekend probably gets sold out anyway (if they don't mess up like Saturday this year), but I don't regard neither The Cure, 21, Gorillaz or The XX as heavy hitters that solely can sell them out. 

Do they have something bigger up their sleeves or is it the case of a continuous shift towards being something else than before? I just can't imagine that they will sink so low as to give Maroon5 any kind of headlining status, so my bet is on Mumford, but I must really underestimate their popularity in Belgium if they are going to sell out Thursday.

Time will show...

[MK1]

New name tomorrow?

[MasterOogs]

Hoping in terms of a rock name that Muse become available next summer 👀

[matrainertje]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Are The XX outright headlining this? I thought they were in that weird post-headliner extra act spot that quite commonly pops up at European festivals.

I’d think so. Only the Thursday headliner and we’re set in the headliner department. 

[northernangel]

37 minutes ago, matrainertje said:

I’d think so. Only the Thursday headliner and we’re set in the headliner department. 

I think the general consensus is 3 headliners with two co-headliners may still come. However, if they don't, you can potentially count Florence out as she would be co-headlining at least. She's easily I would say on a tour with her best instant sales to date and if she's headlining Mad Cool outright and Nos, she won't be less than co at Werchter.

Edited November 10, 2025 by northernangel

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

Thats usually a dance act, XX are certainly no dance act. 😃

Tbf I saw Arctic Monkeys at Mad Cool in 2018 and they still had Franz Ferdinand play after as a post-headliner. Think as well that at that festival in 2022, Foals and Royal Blood played post-headline slots. So it is possible for them to give those bookings to non-dance acts.

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, matrainertje said:

I’d think so. Only the Thursday headliner and we’re set in the headliner department. 

Huh. Didn't realise The XX were that big. Sort of like how we were forever underestimating the popularity of Editors in Belgium when they were headlining this with Depeche Mode as a sub, a sentence that is kinda funny to see written in retrospect.

[BlackFoxx]

1 hour ago, tmolvik said:

Would be interesting to know what kind of considerations RW has done when it comes to headliners this year, given that FF seems to be the largest band around and they skip them (or they skipped RW). If there were other big horses to bet on, it can be understandable, but if we get i.e Mumford on the Thursday I'm curious to know what they're thoughts are.. 

On one side I agree that it's too early for Foo, but that has also gone for plenty on other acts recent years. On the other side, I think that RW with it's size, should have the big acts around and this year Foo is definitely one of them, unless we have an unknown dark horse coming up. We're also talking about Thursday, so even with decent undercards, it's a hard day to sell. There's also no traditional "rock act" among the already announced  artists. The weekend probably gets sold out anyway (if they don't mess up like Saturday this year), but I don't regard neither The Cure, 21, Gorillaz or The XX as heavy hitters that solely can sell them out. 

Do they have something bigger up their sleeves or is it the case of a continuous shift towards being something else than before? I just can't imagine that they will sink so low as to give Maroon5 any kind of headlining status, so my bet is on Mumford, but I must really underestimate their popularity in Belgium if they are going to sell out Thursday.

Time will show...

It's not quite the scale of RW, as it's only 40'000 capacity, but the Cure did a very good job of quickly selling out their day at Rock en Seine. They've also achieved quick sell outs in a run of outdoor shows across the UK and Ireland. 

[northernangel]

15 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Tbf I saw Arctic Monkeys at Mad Cool in 2018 and they still had Franz Ferdinand play after as a post-headliner. Think as well that at that festival in 2022, Foals and Royal Blood played post-headline slots. So it is possible for them to give those bookings to non-dance acts.

Mad Cool has the difference of two stages i believe side by side that alternate so you can get an act later ok the second stage. I think it's very rare there though that the top name each day isn't the last act on that stage.

 

[thetime]

52 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Huh. Didn't realise The XX were that big. 

 

They've headlined Roskilde, which is the level of Werchter. 

 

 

[GDog]

1 hour ago, northernangel said:

Mad Cool has the difference of two stages i believe side by side that alternate so you can get an act later ok the second stage. I think it's very rare there though that the top name each day isn't the last act on that stage.

 

not anymore, that stage has been removed for next year.

[ali_rocks]

36 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

They've headlined Roskilde, which is the level of Werchter. 

 

 

I don't want to argue against The XX again, but the Roskilde audience is very different from the Werchter audience. You can't say that 21 Savage, Skrillex, Stormzy, Lil Nas X, or Lizzo, all headliners at Roskilde, could carry a day at Werchter. 

[thetime]

Just now, ali_rocks said:

I don't want to argue against The XX again, but the Roskilde audience is very different from the Werchter audience. You can't say that 21 Savage, Skrillex, Stormzy, Lil Nas X, or Lizzo, all headliners at Roskilde, could carry a day at Werchter. 

 

Valid point, although you could argue Sam Fender couldn't carry a Roskilde day.

 

I was more thinking of the size and prestige of both festivals really. 

 

[northernangel]

10 minutes ago, GDog said:

not anymore, that stage has been removed for next year.

 

True that point. I believe they won't clash anyway.

2 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

Valid point, although you could argue Sam Fender couldn't carry a Roskilde day.

 

I was more thinking of the size and prestige of both festivals really. 

 

 

He couldn't carry a day at Werchter either very clearly. That's not argument point, it's just very clear and pretty sure they realized that too. he didn't pull for no reason and not just down to being unwell.

[sisco]

From that Mad Cool drop I’d really like:

 

Lorde, KOL, Kasabian, Pulp, Wolf Alice and TWOD.  Plenty of others I’d watch too.

 

Roll on the package next week

[ali_rocks]

3 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

Valid point, although you could argue Sam Fender couldn't carry a Roskilde day.

Yes, but he couldn't carry the Werchter day either. When was the last time there was a Saturday that wasn't sold out?

 

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Huh. Didn't realise The XX were that big. Sort of like how we were forever underestimating the popularity of Editors in Belgium when they were headlining this with Depeche Mode as a sub, a sentence that is kinda funny to see written in retrospect.

In my opinion, their size is definitely debatable. I'm not denying their influence, but they're just a peak millennial band that hasn't been around for almost a decade. 

 

Instagram is definitely not representative, but all the other headliners have just over 10,000 likes more than The XX. Not even on the channel (where you can say that the festival fans are definitely there) do they come close to the numbers of the others. However, the forum where the festival nerds, who love The XX, hang out, is also not representative.

 

In my opinion, the earlier headliner argument (see Roskilde) doesn't work either. Just because The Editors headlined Werchter years ago doesn't mean they still have that status. Another example would be Kasabian at Glastonbury. 

 

But I really don't want to start a discussion about it, just share my perspective. I just personally think that the band needs a strong second name on that day for it to work.