A Concert Trails Journey
This was the 14th edition of Bangalore Open Air, and one sign on site said it all: “Welcome Home, Metalheads.” For a lot of us, that’s exactly what it is, a yearly gathering of metalheads, and in its own way a pilgrimage.
Two things matter
Strip a festival down and only two things matter: the music and the crowd. The music this year was strong. And when it comes to the crowd, nothing in India matches Bangalore.
The fans have changed over the last 20 years. The faces are different, but the spirit has always been the same.
Who played
The 2026 line-up was a proper mix: different corners of metal, different corners of the world, plus two Indian bands.
- Dismember (Sweden): death metal, the headliners.
- Paradise Lost (UK): gothic and doom metal. Their first time in India.
- Thy Art Is Murder (Australia): deathcore. First time in India.
- 1349 (Norway): black metal. First time in India.
- Nervosa (Brazil): an all-women thrash metal band. First time in India.
- The Ocean (Germany): post-metal and progressive. Third visit to India, after a club show in 2014 and a tour in 2019.
- The Down Troddence (Kannur, India): folk metal.
- Midhaven (Mumbai, India): progressive sludge.
Four India debuts in one day is a big deal.
The pits
Every metal show has its rituals, and the pit is the main one. Bangalore Open Air had everything: huge circle pits, a wall of death, and moshing with real energy. What I liked most is that people looked out for each other. One guy wanted to join a circle pit, and I ended up holding his backpack for him until he came back. That’s the spirit of this crowd in one small moment.
The sound
There were a few technical snags with the sound during the day. It didn’t spoil the experience for the audience.
Where it’s headed
BOA has clearly grown in scale, and it looks set to grow even more in the coming years. I’m hoping that one day, maybe 2028, it brings back Iron Maiden to Bangalore.
The 2026 edition was a wonderful experience, and the gathering metalheads need: our own pilgrimage, the Bangalore Open Air.
See more photos from the day →
Watch the full experience
The whole concert experience is on the Concert Trails YouTube channel: watch it here.