The 2026 edition of Jera On Air was historically hot, and not just because of the unprecedented weather conditions. While a lot of other festivals in the area had to cancel, the biggest alternative festival of the Netherlands took all the necessary precautions to ensure the festival could go ahead as planned.
All the punks, emo’s and metalheads showed we’re a different breed (clearly preparing for our days in hell after our time runs out here), looking out for each other a little more, ensuring this weekend is enjoyed by everyone even in these extreme temperatures. The festival installed misters in different spots across the grounds, and even made sure there’d be cold showers to enjoy on the festival for whoever needed the cool down. Even though the stages are all in tents (providing some much needed shadow), most of them were equipped with huge vents as well thanks to a nearby farmer, to ensure all the sun-adverse music fans would stay as cool as possible for the next three days. All these precautions made it possible to still enjoy all our favorite bands like we usually would, crowdsurfing and moshing through every set.
Day 1
The first day starts out with the Dynamo Heavy Bingo at the Raven stage at 3PM, but we’re sure the first full bingo cards already filled up at the first sets from Boundaries and Ways Away. Already thoroughly warmed up by the time Wargasm takes the stage, the British duo is armed with water guns to refresh the crowd a bit. Even before playing any music, vocalist Sam Matlock already joins the crowd at the barricade, not afraid to get sweaty with them. This in turn makes it hard for the crowd to not go hard in a moshpit, because what excuse do we have, right?
This energy continues through the day. Both Set It Off and Bury Tomorrow decide in back to back sets it simply wasn’t hot enough, making great use of the pyro installations. With sets this early in the evening (6PM and 7PM start times), their tents are already quite packed as well. Everyone just decided to pretend we weren’t completely exhausted by the heat (on what would be the coolest day of the weekend), with the latter band giving all their energy from the opening “Choke” to the last “Death.” The crowd did lose some steam halfway through, which was the perfect moment for a slower ‘lights up’ moment to catch our breath, so the crowd could melt away for the rest of the set once again.
Jera On Air features something for all types of alternative music fans, following the metalcore of the earlier set with some classic pop-punk from The Ataris and The Menzingers at the Hawk stage. The evening sets in, so the energy seems to pick up for everyone a little, but it seems most fans are saving their energy for the headliners following them. The Ataris’ cover of “The Boys Of Summer” really breaks it loose a little more, but most fans really wait until “So Long, Astoria” to go full out. The Menzingers also treat Jera On Air on a live debut of their new song “Better Angels.” Both bands don’t need anything besides themselves to have a little fun.
They’re also not the only band this weekend to give the fans at Jera On Air a little extra love, with a lot of bands exclaiming how much they enjoy playing this festival. With this year being its 32nd edition, a lot of these bands have made their way to the festival before, very familiar with the sense of community on these grounds. Everyone on the grounds really looks out for each other, with fans taking their own sprays into crowds to cool down everyone around them. It also has to be noted that everyone working the festival is doing it on a volunteer basis, also walking around with sponges when there’s no bands playing the stages. Everything that happens across the weekend just makes this feel like a huge family, and the bands clearly experienced the same. The organisation even tells us there haven’t been any major incidents after the first day, a testament to their efforts and planning.
With the first day being a mix of punk and metalcore, the day gets headlined by Rise Against and Architects. The two draw a slightly different crowd of fans, with Rise Against’s Vulture tent so full the people are piling out around the tent. With it finally getting darker, it could also just be a little cooler outside the tents finally. The punk band previously headlined the festival in 2022, but with less pressure on them this time around, they seem to just have a lot of fun playing their set today. Tim McIlrath and his band choose to play a lot of the songs people can go crazy on and sing along to, making the entire crowd in and outside the tent just have a full-fledged party.
The following headliner Architects have something to prove, and although there’s a little more room to breathe in the Eagle stage, they do prove they’re more than headliner worthy. They go all out in the production, with a very impressive light show, crowdsurfing, moshing, a lighter moment during the slower part of the set, and more spectacle. Most of the songs on the setlist are from their 2023 record The Sky, the Earth & All Between, leaving out some of the older songs in return, much to the dismay of die-hard fans of the British band. They do close the set with the wildly popular and extremely moshable “Animals,” giving the first festival day a worthy close.
Day 2
The second day starts with a nationwide ‘code red’ for extreme heat, with festivals like DEFQON.1 getting cancelled the night before already. One of the hosts claims it is “godforsaken hot, but we continue to rock!” Unfortunately, this does mean skipping some of the earlier bands on the line-up, like TX2, Melrose Avenue and Magnolia Park, in favor of staying cool elsewhere. The festival grounds remain very empty while the sun is burning, most people listening to the government’s request to stay inside and out of the sun.
Around 4PM, people decide to cautiously leave their spots in the shadows to see The Flatliners, because they don’t make their way to the Netherlands all that often. It seems like most people decided this was the point they need to start the day on, and while we’re still reserving our energy for later in the day, their tent is nicely filled up with good vibes. The laidback spirit quickly moves on to hard breakdowns, crowdsurfing and moshing for thrown one tent over. The energy that was saved just a bit earlier, quickly runs out for the crowd and band alike. We’ll catch our breath when we’re dead, seems to be the consensus.
Pushing through seems to be today’s theme, as Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba is confined to a chair on stage. On his way to Europe for their festival run, Skiba got into a motorcycle accident, leaving him pretty banged up. The trio’s new drummer Tosh Peterson more than makes up for this lack of movement in front, even while sitting down himself as well. Deathbyromy in turn is plagued by technical difficulties. Struggling to get the guitars and in-ears working, with only 30 minutes of time, frustrations run high. Eventually vocalist Romy takes matters into her own hands, singing a couple of songs backed by just their drummer. Hopefully new fans got enough of a taste of their music to get to see them come back to Europe sooner rather than later.
Going from one extreme to the other, first we let the feminism leave our body for a while for Hollywood Undead’s party. Armed with lit up palm trees, the Californians are more well-equipped to deal with this weather, making their set one of the most fun ones of the day. 12-year-old Rohan, who got the day off school because of the code red, was invited to play guitar with them for a song, undoubtedly making his entire life. We put our feminism back where it belongs for Destroy Boys, who start out by having all the women in the crowd come to the front.
It ends up to be one of the strongest sets of the day, if not the entire weekend, maybe due to there not being a lot of female-led bands throughout the weekend and this being a nice change of pace. That being said, the festival does feel like a very safe environment all around, everyone looking out for one another a little extra because of the weather as well, which makes the festival all-around a pleasure to experience.
This year’s line-up is so strong, A Day To Remember technically doesn’t even count as one of the headliners, but seeing their popularity in and around the overflowing Eagle stage, they might as well be. Starting their set strong with their immensely popular “The Downfall of Us All,” because it would be crazy to not start with it, getting the crowd to go completely crazy from the very first moments on. There’s a bunch of fans at the back of the stage as well, so the hype truly fills up the entire tent. The first songs already have a massive amount of crowdsurfers, confetti and big blue beachballs, and every single word is scream-sung along to. Every other song is another reminder of how long the band has been going at it, each following song creating just as much of a hype as the one before it, ending in the ultimate festival songs “If It Means A Lot to You” (because who doesn’t love a good ‘la la la’ sing-along) and “All Signs Point to Lauderdale.”
Ice Nine Kills offers more than just a regular metalcore set, making it a full-blown theatrical performance where vocalist Spencer Charnas becomes one of the many serial killers that grace the stage. The show references and features a bunch of movie killers, opening the set with Hannibal Lecter in restraints, Scream’s Ghostface and Terrifier’s Art the Clown amongst others. These aren’t the only special guests on stage tonight, with Creeper’s Hannah Greenwood performing along to “Twisting The Knife” and “A Work of Art.” The bloody set really goes all in on the storytelling through gore and horror, the music making references to all the different fictional horror stories just as much. This set obviously couldn’t have been any earlier in the evening, this being the perfect time to induce a couple of nightmares later. The band did find their niche, as the storytelling and the music work amazing together, making this such a unique concert experience.
Although the earlier sets were amazing too, The Offspring proves they are the true headliner almost immediately. The legendary punk band is honestly at the best they’ve ever been, everyone looking very fit and the fun they’re having as a band immediately shines through. Where they maybe tried to be a little too serious in the past, they just embraced their sometimes more unserious side now, which makes it all way more exciting to see. The first song “Come Out and Play” is an excellent way to embody this.
Halfway through the set they even do a couple of covers, with “Paranoid” and “Crazy Train” from Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne, as well as Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” While there are surely some critics amongst the crowd, it’s important to take the same attitude as the band on stage and just let go of being so hard-pressed about the pop star’s music. When you do, you’ll find you’ll have the best time dancing and singing along, as they follow the covers with “Why Don’t You Get a Job?”. Surprisingly, they don’t wait until the end to play their big hit “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy).” It’s a smart choice to not leave their (arguably) biggest song until the very end, as the crowd erupts and keeps the energy up for the remaining songs, ending the night strong with their songs “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” and “Self Esteem.”
Day 3
Everyone is exhausted from the heat, but continues to somehow push through. The ‘code red’ stayed throughout the night, with record-breaking temperatures as well, so most fans were running on fumes by the last day. This means the earlier bands Mouth Culture, Rain City Drive and Catch Your Breath were skipped by many again. The festival grounds were pretty quiet during the day, but the BMX daredevils still went soaring through the sky every couple of hours to entertain whoever did make it to the festival in the heat.
Meanwhile, Trash Boat comes up on stage like it’s any regular show and starts out their set with ”How Selfish I Seem,” a song they released 10 years ago and haven’t played live since 2019. With how much energy Tobi Duncan and his band give on stage, the crowd has no choice but to comply, stage dives following one after the other. The shows in the Hawk tent are fun for how close the band can get, no barriers in sight and a nice platform in front to make crowdsurfs and dives a lot easier. The following Free Throw continues the party where Trash Boat left off, and bands like these two really thrive when there’s no barrier to separate from the crowd. Frontman Corey Castro’s emo screams hit a lot harder this way, making it all the more intimate.
With the heat beating down on everyone, it’s important to take a lot of breaks in between, but we don’t have that luxury as Unpeople takes to the Sparrow stage, which is built like a barn. The band’s synergy is apparent before they’ve even played a note, all sporting red accents in their outfits. When they do start playing, you can feel the wood of the barn move along with all the jumping fans, proof there’s not one stagnant person around for the duration of their set.
Around 8PM, the wind starts to pick up, making everything feel a little cooler (although it still points to 33°C/90°F, it’s quite pleasant without the burning sun), and the biggest stage gets ready for the crowd favorites of All Time Low. They have to make due without their guitarist, making the set a little less playful than usual. Without the banter in between songs, they do get to play more songs, and they have plenty of big hits to get through. From “Weightless” to “Lost in Stereo” to the final “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” they clearly choose to play more of the hits, and this choice pays off in how many people get to sing along to every single word. The band offers a welcome pop-punk break in a weekend filled with the harder alternative genres, a small hint to the festival to book more bands on the pop side of the alternative scale.
There’s a lot of alternative parents with young children attending the festival on Saturday, clearly teaching the next generation a proper music education early on. The earlier set by All Time Low already sees a barely-3-year old rocking out, and the following We Came As Romans shows us multiple parents doing a double crowdsurf with their children on top of them. The metalcore band tells us this is their second festival set of the day, as they played Vainstream earlier that morning, but they’re already very excited to not see a barrier in front of them for the first time in forever, and the crowd of the Hawk stage yet again fully uses it to their advantage.
We start the penultimate set meditating for Bob Vylan, honestly giving us a much needed moment of peace before giving our remaining energy. The punk duo and the Netherlands have a special relationship, with our venues still opening the doors to them after last year’s controversy, so they pull out all the stops for this show. Vocalist Bobby Vylan is clearly feeling it, making jokes with the crowd a handful of times in between songs. The strongest moment in the set might be when they ask for all the women to come forward for a moshpit for the song “He’s A Man.” Even though this festival feels like a very safe community, there’s still very little space for women in this scene, so it’s a welcome change of pace anyway. Unfortunately, their set gets cut short for a medical emergency in the crowd, and by the time they get to play one more song, most people have already moved on to see the last headliner.
Papa Roach has been going for over 30 years, which means that over time they really perfected everything about their performance, stage production and setlist. The band noticeably is having so much fun as well, with singer Jacoby Shaddix sporting a wide smile when looking out over the fans. Everyone seems to have saved their energy for this last band, truly remarkable for such an all-consuming weekend. Everything we’ve seen at other points this weekend, is added up and put into this set. Pyrotechnics, crowdsurfers, a couple of unexpected covers, special guests (Shaddix’s sons Jagger and Brixton join for different songs) and, of course, the biggest Papa Roach hits. It features a handful of songs from their 25 year old record Infest, giving everyone exactly what they expect from the legends. They end the set with a nu metal cover medley of “Blind,” “My Own Summer,” “Break Stuff” and “Chop Suey” before going out with a bang on their own “Last Resort.”
The festival quite literally goes out with a bang on its own. A huge thunderstorm seems to be approaching the area, and the festival sends out a warning right after the headliner’s set, asking for people to find shelter inside or in cars, and offering towels and help when the storm was over. It was a tumultuous end to a festival filled with the highest of highs. Thanks to the organisation, its many volunteers and the amazing community, its 32nd edition was truly one for the books. Until next year!
GALLERY: Jera On Air Festival in Ysselsteyn, Netherlands (June 25-27, 2026)
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
