Outbreak Festival 2026 is filled with nostalgia. There is of course the usual array of hardcore and metal bands – some of which are at the genres’ vanguard – but the occasion has an altogether retrospective feel. A staggering number of the weekend’s performances revolve around album(s) shows, with The Front Bottoms, Balance & Composure, Alexisonfire, Touché Amoré and Hatebreed all billed as such. With Outbreak 2026 being the festival’s 15th anniversary edition, this teary-eyed wistfulness for the music of yesteryear is unsurprising, but the lineup does feel somewhat regressive for it. No more is this the case than with the festival’s opening night. Previous Friday nights at the festival have seen some of the more cutting-edge names in contemporary hop-hop take precedence. On this occasion, however, the evening is largely indebted to emo music of the 2010s.
The opening night is also somewhat scaled-back, with the outdoor stage – which becomes the main stage on Saturday and Sunday –...
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