In partnership with Rock In Rio Lisbon
Words: Gary Ryan and Jordan Bassett
Surprisingly, no-one onstage at Rock In Rio Lisbon 2026 day two asked the audience: “ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?” Then again, perhaps it’s not such a surprise after all: if the opening day at the Lisbon bash was all about pure pop pandemonium, yesterday rocked harder than James Hetfield at his local climbing wall. Grandson, The Pretty Reckless, P.OD., Cypress Hill and Sepultura and headliners Linkin Park were all ready, willing and able to whip up a field full of rockers at the city’s riverside Parque Urbano do Tejo.
Despite the heaviosity – or perhaps because of it – there was a wholesome atmosphere onsite, with a generation-spanning crowd that in many cases looked to include entire families (shout out to the long-haired, Wayne’s World-style kid sitting with his near-identical dad as they awaited Cypress Hill). And the acts onstage certainly delivered – here’s what went down on day two at the Portuguese knees-up. JB
Linkin Park remained a vital force
While singing a haunting ‘Waiting For The End’ during Linkin Park’s headline set, frontwoman Emily Armstrong suddenly seemed blindsided. Her voice quavered, and she momentarily stopped and wiped away a tear. Anchored by 100,000 fans, she carried on with what is, she explained, her favourite song in their catalogue.
Of course, carrying on and pushing through emotional times – and coming out of the other side victorious – is something Linkin Park are experts in. It’s difficult to truly comprehend the wilderness of grief the band must have been in after beloved frontman Chester Bennington took his own life in 2017. As Mike Shinoda revealed in a teaser clip to their forthcoming documentary Unshatter, “the hardest part of ending is starting up again.”
Miraculously, they managed to return with Armstrong for a new chapter that both honours their legacy and forges forward. Perhaps even more impressive is how the powerhouse vocalist inhabits classics such as ‘Crawling’, ‘Numb’ and ‘What I’ve Done’ to make them her own – something that was on full display tonight.
This is the nu-metal titans’ fourth time playing Rock in Rio Lisbon and they opened with a blistering ‘The Emptiness Machine’, the 2024 comeback single that proved they’re so vital and current. Amid a snowstorm of pink ticker tape and lasers, hands swayed to ‘The Catalyst’, while Shinoda performed his Fort Minor rap track ‘Where’d You Go’, which was added to the setlist at Armstrong’s request.
“I want to see a whole bunch of energy right now,” urged Shinoda before an urgent ‘Two Faced’ incited flailing limbs aplenty. “Are we going to open up the pit down here? You guys ready to pick it up?” During a raucous ‘In The End’, he held the microphone out to fans’ faces and the roar and passion of the communal choir proved that the torch of Linkin Park is still shining. GR
Cypress Hill showed us why they’re a TikTok sensation
“We are the almighty Cypress Hill, 30 years strong!” announced Cypress Hill’s B-Real on the main World Stage directly before Linkin Park. The rapper had reason to feel cocksure, judging by the all-ages crowd that stretched across the site. The band’s 1996 track ‘Illusions’ became a resurfaced TikTok hit in recent years, helping to introduce the psychedelic gangsta rappers and all-in weed enthusiasts to a new generation.
That track hit big, with B-Real chanting its lyric “some people can fuck off” as its haunting instrumental ebbed away. Those on his shit list, he explained, included but were not limited to “useless politicians”.
For the most part, though, it was party time, with the Californian crew dispatching hip-hop classics like they’re going out of fashion (which they’re clearly not, if the band’s newfound social media fame is anything to go by). “There’s a lot of energy here today,” announced Sen Dog, the group’s other rapper. “We want that energy to take over this place.” He certainly got his wish.
B-Real, who served as the quartet’s hype man, rapper and rabble-rouser all in one, was similarly overawed. “This is a big-ass stage,” he marvelled before asking how many in the audience were seeing the Hill for the first time. Upon the uproarious response, he chuckled: “Welcome to the party, motherfuckers.”
Turntablist DJ Lord and drummer Eric Bonobo delivered a frenetic instrumental, while the band also introduced the massive, breakbeat-driven new track ‘Wacha Trucha’, which will appear on ‘Dio Bendiga’, a Spanish language album due next month.
At the end of the set, just before the group were due to unleash their closing cover of House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’, a crowd member was taken ill and B-Real stopped the show to ensure their safety, summing up the inclusive, wholesome atmosphere at Rock In Rio Lisbon 2026’s big rock bash. JB
The best of the rest
On the Super Bock stage, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson declared his “top three countries” to play: “Number three: Scotland. Number two: Brazil. Number one: Portugal!” The crowd duly sang along to every bulletproof “na na na na naaa” and “ooooooohhhhhh!”, while ‘The Angry Mob’ sounded even more timely in an age of online division. Wilson delivered ‘I Predict a Riot’ perched on the sound rig, towering above the throng, and even threw in a well-judged cover of the Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’.
Having opened for Linkin Park in 2024 and collaborated with Mike Shinoda on his solo work, it was a slam-dunk that Grandson would be rapturously received, as the Canadian rap-rock firebrand took on tech bros, police brutality, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in bolshy set that was angrier than Kier Starmer looking at his work diary.
“No matter what they try to tell you,” he rallied, “you are not alone and you should not be afraid.” GR
As NME wandered around the site, we stumbled upon an intriguing audiovisual display billed as a collaboration between Portuguese presenter Fernando Alvim and his countrywoman Maria Leal. Held on the BacanaPlay Digital Stage and dubbed ‘Monsters of the Year’, it seemed to consist of news clips repurposed for comic effect, like a team-up between Adam Curtis and Harry Hill. You needed to speak Portuguese to get the full effect, but the audience was practically rolling around the field, which we enjoyed greatly.
We also caught a bit of Cali Christian nu-metallers P.O.D.’s pummelling cover of The Beatles’ ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, by which time New York rockers The Pretty Reckless had delivered a scorching set on the main stage. “ROCK IN RIO, HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU DOIN’ TONIGHT?” roared singer Taylor Momsen, sounding like she’s waited her entire life to say those words. Even the woman doing sign language on the stage-side screens was air guitaring away. JB