TONS OF ROCK 2025 (Oslo, Norway)
June 25-28, 2025
by Jorge Patacas
The last week of June in Oslo, Norway means it’s time for the country’s biggest festival, Tons of Rock, which takes place in the Ekeberg area. We have attended this event every year since its sixth edition in 2019 and one thing we can confirm for sure at this point is that it never disappoints. They always have a good lineup with some of the most important names in both the Norwegian and international rock and metal scene and this year was no exception. As usual, there were also activities to do apart from the concerts to make sure you had fun at all times. For this edition, they added, among other things, the Black Metal Bus Sightseeing, where you can explore the key locations related to the history of black metal with Anders Odden (Cadaver) as tour guide. Odden himself also led the Karaoke from Hell, an instance where you could have the chance to sing your favorite songs with full production and a live band. This took place on the new stage The Storm, where comedians and some of Norway’s best underground rock and metal acts also performed. The other three stages were the same as last year: the Moonlight stage, located in a tent, the Vampire stage and the main stage, Scream.
Wednesday, June 25th:
As every year, the Norwegian comedy rock band Black Debbath opened the festival on the Scream stage with their political humor. However, this year we started on the Vampire Stage with the Scottish folk metal outfit Alestorm. From the first minute it was clear that the audience just wanted to release their energy and immediately got into the festival mood singing loudly every song with catchy choruses like “Keelhauled”, “The Sunk’n Norwegian”, “Mexico”, “Drink”, “Fucked With An Anchor” and the Taio Cruz’s cover “Hangover”. True to their sense of humor, the band had three giant inflatable rubber ducks as part of the decoration and even a guy in a shark mask appeared on stage unleashing a total party atmosphere. New songs like “Killed to Death by Piracy”, “Frozen Piss 2” (dedicated to the Swedish band Dynazty) and “The Storm” were also very well received.
On the Scream stage, the German band Electric Callboy (formerly Eskimo Callboy) delivered an energetic performance that included pyro and confetti right from the start. Love it or hate it, these guys have a unique sound that combines metalcore with electronic elements and put on an entertaining show with strong comedic elements. The two vocalists, Kevin Ratajczak and Nico Sallach, are able to turn screams into clean, melodic, almost pop-like vocals in the blink of an eye, and they certainly know how to interact with the fans. “MC Thunder II (Dancing Like a Ninja)”, “Spaceman” and “Hurrikan” were some of the most anticipated songs by the audience, as well as “Hypa Hypa” and “Pump It” where the band members came out in costumes. Frank Zummo, drummer of Sum 41, is on tour with them, so they performed a metalcore version of one of the band’s best-known songs, “Still Waiting”. However, that was not the only cover of their set, as they also played their version of the pop song “Every Time We Touch”, originally by Maggie Reilly, and later also covered by the dance group Cascada, turning Ekebergsletta into some kind of bizarre metal disco. People definitely had a lot of fun here.
The doom metal pioneers Candlemass returned to Tons of Rock after two years and played classic after classic on the Moonlight stage celebrating their forty years of existence. They play quite often in Norway and it’s always a pleasure to see them live. The band has released a new EP called “Black Star”, but they didn’t have enough time to play new songs, as bassist and founder Leif Edling explained. So this time, an audience of all ages, from children to grandparents, enjoyed gems like “Mirror Mirror”, “Under the Oak”, “Crystal Ball” and the always emotional “Solitude” at the end of their set.
One of the most anticipated performances of the day was that of Lorna Shore. This American deathcore band has gained a lot of attention over the past few years, increasing their fan base at every gig, and this has only grown further as charismatic vocalist Will Ramos joined the band in 2021 and their breakthrough album “Pain Remains” came out in 2022. Ramos’ wide range of brutal vocals and a band that delivers the best aspects of the genre, from storming blast beats to symphonic elements and breakdowns, had the large crowd starting a wall of death and ending up chanting the band’s name. Some of the highlights were “Sun//Eater”, their “hit” “To the Hellfire” and the new song “Oblivion”, from the upcoming album “I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me” that will be released via Century Media.
It was a perfect day for deathcore fans, as more of the same genre awaited them on the Moonlight stage with the presence of Whitechapel. The six-piece from Knoxville, Tennessee started their aggressive performance with “Prisoner 666” and the title track from their new album, “Hymns In Dissonance” (2025), which instantly got the the fans on board. For “Hate Cult Ritual”, the vocalist Phil Bozeman, who has some of the deepest and most guttural vocals in this subgenre, came out wearing a mask just like the one on the cover of their new album and the crowd erupted in roars. There was no doubt that the band has some fans in this country.
At the same time, the prog metal masters Dream Theater were performing on the Scream stage with their classic lineup consisting of James LaBrie (vocals), John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Jordan Rudess (keyboards) and Mike Portnoy (drums). We got there when they were playing “Midnight Messiah” from their latest album “Parasomnia” (2025), a song with different tempos, and they continued with “Peruvian Skies”, which included excerpts of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam”, two of the band’s inspirations. The concert ended with two classics, “As I Am”, from the album “Train of Thought” (2003), and “Pull Me Under”, from “Images and Words” (1992).
It was time for some Norwegian black metal with the return of Old Man’s Child to the stage after a long period of inactivity. The band was first called Requiem from 1989 until 1993, when they changed their name to Old Man’s Child and their style from death to black metal. The guitarist Galder joined Dimmu Borgir in 2000 and Old Man’s Child remained active until 2009. However, last year his departure from Dimmu Borgir was announced, so now he got more time to reactivate his old band. He has put together a great lineup consisting of Tjodalv (Susperia, Abyssic, ex Dimmu Borgir) on drums, Elvorn (Susperia, Abyssic) on bass, Cyrus (Susperia, Insidious Disease) on guitars and the charismatic Hoest (Taake) on vocals, who together delivered a triumphant performance spanning the band’s discography. The crowdsurfing was constant and the audience was visibly satisfied witnessing songs like “Towards Eternity” or “The Millennium King” live after so many years. Great comeback!
On the main stage it was the turn of Muse, who closed the evening with a setlist full of hits, impressive lightning and confetti thrown to the audience. The hit “Time Is Running Out”, the groovy “Supermassive Black Hole”, “Will of the People” with some parts very similar to Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People” and the iconic “Uprising” were some of the highlights. The British trio returned to Oslo after six years and did not disappoint.
Thursday, June 26th:
The legendary Carcass kicked off the second day of the festival on the Vampire stage in front of a decent crowd considering it was still early. However, it took a while for people to get into it even though they opened with “Unfit For Human Consumption” and “Burial Dreams”.
Since festival sets are usually short and the band has a vast catalogue, they decided to play excerpts of some songs, that’s what they did with “Tomorrow Belongs to Nobody” for example, but of course they also played full songs. The singles from their masterpiece “Heartwork” (1993), “No Love Lost” and the title track were also part of the set, the latter being one of the most anticipated by the audience.
Next, the Norwegian punk rockers The Good, The Bad and The Zugly on the main stage. Ivar Nikolaisen (also in Kvelertak) is a great frontman with a lot of charisma who knows how to put on a show. He wore a long leopard jacket and was constantly moving around the stage and catwalk, even jumping into the audience and crowdsurfing his way back to the stage. The band sounded tight and the fans were pleased with such a solid performance.
Quite a few young people were present at the Moonlight stage to see Bastardane play their first show in Norway. This is a trio from Savannah, Georgia that started in 2019 with Luca Badan on bass and vocals, Ethan Sirotzki on guitars, and Castor Hetfield, son of Metallica’s James Hetfield, on drums and vocals. Although Castor’s vocals may sound similar to his father when he was younger, the band certainly has a wide range of influences. Their sound is like a mix of sludge, thrash and stoner, and the crowd seemed to love it. The band has released two albums so far, “Is This Rage?” (2022) and “Catatonic Symphony” (2024), which are well worth checking out.
A few minutes later, the atmosphere was of a big party on the main stage, where Turbonegro decided to play hit after hit. There was a good amount of fans wearing denim jackets, sailor hats and a patch with the logo of Turbojugend (the band’s fan club) with the name of the city they represented. The six-piece played many fan favorites in a row: “Selfdestructo Blast”, “City of Satan”, “Are You Ready (For Some Darkness)”, “All My Friends Are Dead”, “Get It On” and “Fuck the World”, cannot get better than that. It was a pleasant surprise to see them play “I Morgen Skal Eg Daue”, the song in Norwegian from their album “Ass Cobra” (1996) with guest vocals by Benjamin Berdous (Slomosa), before closing with “Age of Pamparius” and a hilarious version of “I Got Erection” with Jackass actor Chris Pontius AKA Partyboy wearing a thong and a sailor hat.
One of the biggest surprises of the day was Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter on vocals. Yes, of course, the iconic Sex Pistols lineup will always be with Johnny Rotten on vocals and it feels weird not to see him there, but Carter certainly did a good job on all-time classics like “Pretty Vacant”, “Bodies”, “No Feelings”, “Problems” and “God Save the Queen”, singing them quite similar to Rotten. The original members Steve Jones (guitar), Glen Matlock (bass) and Paul Cook (drums) are older now and didn’t move around much, but they delivered, and the audience was clearly having a good time. Some even started circle pits, one of them around Carter, who decided to throw himself into the crowd at some point. There was also time for some covers, such as “No Fun” by The Stooges and “My Way”, popularized by Frank Sinatra, but the highlight was undoubtedly “Anarchy in the UK”, the Sex Pistols anthem that the entire audience chanted almost fifty years after its release. Something impossible to imagine a few years ago also happened during this performance. Unexpectedly, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong joined them on stage to sing the last part of the song along with Carter and had the audience sing the chorus. This is not the first time unexpected things happen at this festival, since it was on this same stage that James Hetfield and Rob Halford watched Turnstile’s performance together last year.
Closing the Vampire stage was Weezer who took us on a journey through the 90’s alternative rock era bringing tears of joy to more than one in the audience. With the usual geeky aesthetics and vocalist Rivers Cuomo saying some sentences in Norwegian, the band delivered a performance full of hits starting with “Hash Pipe”, followed by “My Name Is Jonas”, “Dope Nose”, “No One Else”, “Undone – The Sweater Song”, the soft pop song “Island In The Sun” and the catchy “Beverly Hills”. But the highlights were undoubtedly the last two songs of the set, the catchy “Say It Ain’t So”, with the audience screaming out loud the chorus, and “Buddy Holly”, which turned the concert into a party with everybody dancing and singing along.
There was not that much metal on this day, but we must not forget that this is a rock festival, so it’s to be expected to see all kinds of rock genres here. For example, the headliners of the day were Green Day with a great and very energetic performance spanning their vast discography. This trio began their journey in 1988 and, seeing them today, you wouldn’t notice that it’s been almost forty years. Most of the audience seemed to be more familiar with the material released after “Warning” (2000), except for the hit “Basket Case” from “Dookie” (1994). But for older fans, there were plenty of songs from the 90’s, such as “When I Come Around”, “Welcome to Paradise”, “Longview”, “Brain Stew” or “Hitchin’ a Ride”. Of course, all their hits from successful albums like “American Idiot” (2004) and “21st Century Breakdown” (2009) were also part of the set. In “Know Your Enemy” a fan came on stage to sing along, and this is just one example of the good interaction between the band and the fans during the 90-minute show. The last song of the evening was “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, and the noisy crowd left Ekeberg with a smile on their faces.
Friday, June 27th:
For us, the third day started on the Scream stage with one of the strangest and funniest Norwegian bands, Hurra Torpedo. These guys have been around since 1993 and are known for playing in other bands like Black Debbath, The Dogs and The Cumshots.
In addition to guitars, they use a lot of household appliances for percussion. Yes, there are washing machines, microwaves, freezers, etc., which they destroy while “playing” with them. It was just bizarre to see their version of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” with appliances being destroyed. A hilarious way to start the day.
On the Moonlight stage, the tattoo artist Kat Von D took the stage accompanied by Sammi Doll on keyboards. Musically, what she does can be described as dark synthpop, with songs like “Vampire Love” and “Dead” from her latest album “My Side of the Mountain” (2024) being the ones that seemed to captivate the crowd the most. “I Am a Machine” features guest vocals by Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) in its studio version, so here we got to hear Kat’s live vocals, while Alissa’s parts were recorded and the video clip of the song was projected on the screen at the back of the stage. At some point, the Mexican-born vocalist of Argentine parents asked if there were any Spanish speaking people in the audience and proceeded to perform the song “Por Ti” which has Spanish lyrics. Then her husband Rafael Reyes appeared on stage to sing the song “Black Leather” from his band Prayers, which features her as guest vocalist. This was Kat Von D’s first time in Norway and probably won’t be her last.
Within Temptation was next to take the Scream stage to bring some symphonic metal to the evening. The band had already played on the same stage in 2022 and it was confirmed once again that they have a loyal fan base that always supports them in Norway. They have a career of almost thirty years now and have changed a lot compared to the early days, not only musically, but they are much more political these days as well. Sharon Den Adel still has an emotional and powerful voice, and although the band focuses mostly on hits like “Faster”, “Paradise (What About Us?)” and “Stand My Ground”, there was room for “Mother Earth” at the end, to the delight of the older fans.
Twelve years have passed since Deafheaven released their acclaimed second album “Sunbather”, which pushed the boundaries of the genre by combining black metal with shoegaze. Now they are back with their sixth release, “Lonely People with Power” (2025), which was the focus of their set at Tons of Rock. The band came out on stage to win over the audience right away with a strong and fearless attitude and they got a great response, specially from the die-hard fans who knew the new songs. It was intense, technical and raw at the same time.
A completely different vibe was at the Vampire stage some minutes later, where a very large crowd gathered to see Steel Panther. The comedy glam metal band delivered a performance full of stereotypes, jokes, ridiculously nasty lyrics and several girls dancing on stage to hits like “17 Girls in a Row”, “Community Property” and “Gloryhole”. People were laughing and having a great time and it was clear that the band could have easily been on the main stage like the last time they played the festival in 2022.
On the Scream stage, the symphonic black metal outfit Dimmu Borgir played their first show with new guitarist, Mr. Damage (Chrome Division), replacing Galder, who left the band after twenty-four years. The Norwegians came on stage amidst thick black smoke, and decided to start with “Puritania” and “Interdimensional Summit” in front of a very enthusiastic crowd. “Gateways” was next and most people expected Agnete Kjølsrud (Djerv) to appear as she is the guest vocalist on the studio version of the song and has joined them live before, but for some unknown reason it didn’t happen this time even though she was at the festival. After a cheering crowd on “The Serpent Offering”, they went back in time to play some stuff from their 90’s albums, starting with “In Death’s Embrace” from that masterpiece called “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” (1997), “Grotesquery Conceiled (Within Measureless Magic)” from “Spiritual Black Dimensions” (1999) and the title track from “Stormblåst” (1996). “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse” and the anthem “Mourning Palace” were the last two songs of a show that once again demonstrated their ability to mix aggressiveness, melody and orchestral arrangements in a unique way.
Earlier this year it was announced that thrash metal legends Exodus were parting ways with vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza for the third time, and Rob Dukes (vocalist from 2005-2014) was back on board. As part of the first tour of this new era, they came to Oslo to perform on the Moonlight stage at Tons of Rock and it was easily one of the best shows of the festival. After the intro music with Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, they appeared on stage and opened with the title track of their debut album “Bonded By Blood” (1985) followed by another classic in the form of “Piranha”. The crushing riffs of Gary Holt and Lee Altus, the thunderous bass of Jack Gibson, the pounding drumming of Tom Hunting and the aggressive approach of Dukes turned the evening into an intense experience full of headbanging, circle pits and crowdsurfing. “Fabulous Disaster”, “Deathamphetamine”, “Blacklist”… impossible not to move to these bangers if you like this kind of music. “War Is My Shepherd” was another highlight as well as the anthem “The Toxic Waltz”. At some point they started playing the riff of Slayer’s “Raining Blood” and the crowd got ready for the wall of death, but the band suddenly stopped playing and had a laugh, before the wall of death finally happened during the classic “Strike of the Beast”. Brilliant performance!
Some people complained about the inclusion of Kaizers Orchestra as the headliners of the day, but the truth is that they are one of Norway’s most popular rock bands. They reunited in 2022 after nine years and in 2023 they played sold-out concerts all over the country, so many fans attended the festival to see them and sing along to their songs. In particular, their hits “Kontroll På Kontinentet” and “Hjerteknuser” were very well received.
Saturday, June 28th:
There were slightly fewer people on the last day of the festival and it was cloudy and a bit cold when former Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen took the Vampire stage at 13:00. This didn’t stop the audience from getting into the mood and singing along to songs like “I Walk Alone” and Nightwish’s “Wishmaster”. Tarja has been doing this for almost thirty years (!) now, and her voice is still impressive and continues to captivate the fans. The Nightwish classic “Nemo” and her solo hit “Until My Last Breath” from her third album “What Lies Beneath” (2010) were the last of a mesmerizing performance.
Suddenly the sun came out and it was hot again as the legendary Norwegian rock n’ roll band Backstreet Girls hit the Scream Stage. As announced, the concert was a tribute to their historic frontman, Bjørn Müller, who sadly passed away on November 18 last year, having been part of the band from 1986 to 1991 and again from 1995 onwards. Tarjei Forshaug was the first guest of the day. He is the vocalist of Hard Luck Street and also The Valentourettes, a tribute band to the late Joachim “Jokke” Nielsen (Jokke & Valentinerne, Jokke med Tourettes) that performed on the same stage last year. Forshaug did a pretty good job on “Temple of Lust” and “Damn That Man”, the first two songs of the set. Then Roar Leren took over and sang some classics like “Boogie My Life Away”, “Awright, Awright, Awright” and “Rattlesnake Charlie”, which sounded great. The other vocalists participating in the set were Fredrik Juell and Fritjof Jacobsen AKA Biff Malibu (Gluecifer), while Max Müller, Bjørn’s son, was guest guitarist on a couple of songs as well. This band has a lot of dedicated fans and that was confirmed during this very emotional tribute.
On the same stage, Jerry Cantrell from Alice In Chains performed solo as part of the tour in support of his latest album “I Want Blood” (2024). The guitarist/vocalist was backed by a band consisting of Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Better Lovers) on vocals, Zach Throne on guitar, Eliot Lorango on bass and Roy Mayorga on drums, and opened with “Psychotic Break” from his second album “Degradation Trip” (2002), followed by the first Alice In Chains classic we got to hear that afternoon, “Them Bones”. Next came the single “Vilified” and an absolute anthem, Alice In Chains’ “Man In The Box”, and even then most of the audience stayed still, which was very strange to witness. However, things changed with another Alice In Chains classic, “Would?”, where a lot more people sang along, but it was with the last song on the setlist, “Rooster”, where a large portion of the audience really got into it and there was a bit of moshpit as well.
It was very surprising that the crowd got into it especially at the end, when they had already played some classics and Cantrell’s solo material, which is also excellent. He even played “Cut You In”, from his debut album “Boggy Depot” (1998), as well as the title track from the new album, “I Want Blood”, with no reaction from the audience. It is worth mentioning that Puciato did a fantastic job and his voice blended perfectly with Cantrell’s harmonies. The band as a whole sounded tight and precise. It would be great to see Cantrell again in an indoor venue, with a longer set and an audience full of diehard fans of his music.
The atmosphere on the Vampire stage was completely different, as Norwegian black metal legends Emperor delivered a relentless performance that had everything the fans were looking for. A bit strange to see the band when the sun is shining, but who cares about that when they are playing such classics as “Inno a Satana”, “I Am The Black Wizards”, “Thus Spake the Nightspirit” and “Curse You All Men!”?
Time to return to the main stage where Megadeth was about to start. The band is currently working on a new album, but still they played a couple of festivals in Europe, the first one being Tons of Rock. As soon as they started with “Hangar 18”, it was noticeable how great the sound was, something that doesn’t always happen, so it was perfect to appreciate every aspect of what was happening on stage. The current lineup besides Dave Mustaine (guitars/vocals) is Teemu Mäntysaari (Wintersun) on guitars, who replaced Kiko Loureiro a couple of years ago, James LoMenzo on bass, who returned to the band after twelve years, and the amazing drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who has been in the band since 2016. The crowd response was incredible to every song in the set which featured all-time classics like “Angry Again”, “Sweating Bullets”, “Skin o’ My Teeth”, “Trust”, “Peace Sells” and “Symphony of Destruction” to name a few, while “We’ll Be Back” from the latest album “The Sick, The Dying… and The Dead!” (2022) also got a good response. The finale came with “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” from the masterpiece “Rust In Peace” (1990) with a previous speech from Mustaine explaining how relevant the lyrics still are considering everything that’s going on in the world right now. A perfect ending with a song that has some of the best riffs and solos of their career.
But there was still time for more headbanging, as Machine Head were waiting for us on the Vampire stage. This was the first show of their European tour in support of their new album “Unatøned” (2025) and it was a total success. The current lineup features the only remaining original member, Robb Flynn on guitars and vocals, Jared McEachern on bass, Matt Alston on drums and Reece Scruggs on guitars, who was temporarily replaced by Zack Ohren for this tour. Right from the start, with “Imperium”, it was clear that there were a lot of fans in the crowd. There were circle pits, headbanging, jumping, and people singing the lyrics. Another fan favorite, “Ten Ton Hammer”, was next, and several inflatable hammers where thrown into the audience, which showed that they had also thought about the visual aspect. The title of the latest album, as well as the songs on it, are stylized by replacing the “o” with the Scandinavian letter “ø”, which is quite curious, and these songs also got a great response from the audience, especially the single “Øutsider”. A good amount of pyro was used during the show and some more inflatables with the Machine Head logo and lots of confetti were thrown into the audience during the catchy “From This Day” from the album “The Burning Red” (1999), and then it was time for “Davidian” from their debut “Burn My Eyes” (1994), one of the classics from 90’s metal.
Avenged Sevenfold closed the evening and the festival with a very visual show in front of a large crowd of fans. There were video clips and animations on the screens at the back and sides of the stage from the beginning with “Game Over”. Their hit “Hail to the King” was dedicated to the audience who erupted in cheers, while another of their most popular songs, “So Far Away”, was dedicated to the late drummer and founding member The Rev, who passed away in 2009, and by extension, to anyone who has lost someone. “Bat Country” was another highlight, as was “Unholy Confessions”, from their early metalcore days, with everyone singing the chorus. This solid performance by Avenged Sevenfold and the subsequent fireworks marked the end of yet another successful edition of Tons of Rock where 150.000 people were able to have a good time from the moment they arrived until they left thanks to the hard work of the crew, volunteers, security and everyone involved in the organization. Already looking forward to 2026!
