Way Out West 2026: Three Days of Music in Gothenburg, Sweden
Earlier this summer, Zany Waves had the chance to attend Way Out West in Gothenburg, Sweden. The festival featured big names such as The Cure, Lorde, Gorillaz, and Zara Larsson, as well as a large number of rising artists across a variety of genres, which made for a weekend full of diverse music and experiences.
This year, for the first time in its 19-year history, Way Out West sold out across all ticket categories, and as a first-timer, it was easy to see why. One reason that the festival keeps drawing crowds from around the world it its idyllic location. Held in Slottsskogen Park, the festival was easily accessible in the heart of the city, and the sprawling grounds featured ponds and plenty of green space amongst the stages. After-hours programming in the form of Stay Out West late-night concerts also drew crowd to different parts of Gothenburg where artists performed in local venues. While many festivals claim to be a part of the city they’re held in, Way Out West has by far been the most immersive one I've experienced.
Sustainability was another major focus of the festival, with only vegetarian food served onsite. While that may not seem particularly unusual in 2026, Way Out West has been a meat-free institution for 14 years, extending the policy to both guests and artists. The festival is also committed to maintaining a 50/50 gender split across its lineup. While the headliners still sometimes skewed male, female performers could be found performing on various stages at any given moment throughout the day.
Day One
The first day started with Dove Ellis, an artist I have been wanting to see live for a while. His debut album, Blizzards, made our Best Releases of 2025 list, and seeing him perform live gave the songs I was already familiar with a looser, jazzier quality. He also played a couple of unreleased songs, which made me just as excited for what he has yet to release.
After Ellis came Kasino on the Höjden stage. The moniker of Johannes Runemark, Kasino is a local Gothenburg artist who blends electronic drums with acoustic guitars. Although his songs were in Swedish, their romance and emotion came through clearly in his vocals.
Dove Ellis | by Emma Zoe Polyak for Zany Waves Kasino | by Emma Zoe Polyak for Zany Waves
Meanwhile, near the main stages, the crowd was getting ready for Clipse. The American hip-hop duo quickly raised the energy, delivering a set that spanned their biggest hits.
As the festival was held in a park, there were some natural limitations to the layout of the stages. Several stages were tucked away around the edges of the festival grounds but the two main stages were positioned facing each other, with alternating sets playing throughout the day. After Clipse finished on the Flamingo stage, Lily Allen took over the Azalea stage directly across from it, allowing the crowds to gradually make their way over.
Allen’s set was nothing if not dramatic, with props and skits filling the space between songs. As a photographer, unfortunately the height of the stage meant that many of the props positioned toward the back got lost in the mix. When I wandered around the crowd, I noticed the same issue, with many moments only really visible on the projection screens. An act that I imagine would be fantastic in a lavish music hall felt a little lost in a daytime slot at a large festival, with much of the view obscured.
At the Linné tent, on the other hand, the big screens took on an immersive role during Oklou’s set. Her videographer’s live feed was projected onto the screens, often showing the crowd from Oklou’s perspective alongside close-ups of the French musician.
I sadly had to miss the Thursday headliners Moby, The XX, and Cobrah, as I was over at Folkteatern with Freak Slug in the evening. No regrets, however, as Freak Slug, the project of Xenya Genovese, delivered a blistering set to a packed crowd in the small venue. Read more about her set, and watch her answer some questions about touring and her upcoming album Amulet here.
Day Two
Friday started off with Ravyn Lenae for me. Best known for her hit song “Love Me Not,“ Lenae released her third album this year, Blue Island. The album explores the full scope of Lenae’s identity, from the quirks of her personality to the questions and emotions that have followed her throughout her career. Performing on a multi-level platform at Way Out West, her hair and dress flowing in the wind, Lenae looked completely at ease, confidently stepping into what feels like a new chapter of her career.
With slightly less flare but just as much confidence, Geese obliterated the Linné tent. Or rather, their fans did. It was my first time seeing Geese play live, and while I had heard about their rapid rise to fame last year (and their subsequent accusations of being “industry plants“), I didn’t fully realize the scope of Geese mania until the rowdy crowd pushed me out of the tent, leaving me straining for glimpses of the stage. While people continue to speculate about their rise to fame, the very real people who love their music and show up to shows can’t be disputed, even across the ocean in Sweden. There’s something about their laidback -- dare I say nonchalant -- energy that works.
If the crowd for Geese seemed lively, I was in for a whole other level when The Hives took the main stage. I had seen them play at another festival years ago, and had forgotten just how animated the whole band gets. While some acts can get lost in front of big stages, The Hives seem to grow to match whatever space they’re put in front of. Frontman Pelle Almqvist was his usual energetic self, performing high jumps, kicks, and microphone throws, while the rest of the band fed off of and fueled his energy.
“We’re Nick Cave,” Lambrini Girls joked as they took the Höjden stage. It was a direct poke to Cave’s set on the Azalea stage, which started at the same time and drew most of the festival’s crowd. I was, however, pleasantly surprised at how full the crowd was. The hill in front of the stage was packed, with many choosing the rising punk duo over the more established act.
For my part, I was happy with my decision to fight through the crowd and make the trek to see Lambrini Girls, as their set reinvigorated whatever energy I had left that night. Passionate and not ones to mince words, Lambrini Girls reminded us all that punk – and music – is political. A couple of songs into their set, the screen behind them rotated through text calling out the far right and calling for freedom in Palestine, the Congo, and Sudan. While it can sometimes feel as though bands are jumping onto the activist bandwagon without putting in the necessary work or research, Lambrini Girls are not that band. Alongside broader calls to “fuck the far right,” they specifically called out the far-right movement in Sweden, starting chants against it.
It was an interesting contrast to walk back and catch the end of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, where Cave spoke about peace in much more pacifist terms. In a way, it felt representative of the spectrum of music and perspectives that existed throughout Way Out West.
The Cure closed out day two at Slottsskogen, and it was difficult to imagine a better way to end the night. It’s a cliche, but The Cure really do feel like a timeless band. The crowd was reflective of that as well, with multiple generations spread out across the fields. Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, and many of their crew could also be seen coming out onto the stage after their set to watch The Cure.
My Friday late-night plans were made up of Radio Free Alice, a four-piece rock band from Australia. They’re a band that has been on my radar for the better part of two years, and it was cool to see that they had already found fans in Sweden; it was their first time playing in Gothenburg, but I have no doubt they’ll be back.
Day Three
Saturday was a lighter day for my camera. Although it featured heavy hitters like Lorde and Gorillaz, Zany Waves unfortunately didn’t make the elite cut to photograph their sets. That just meant I could ditch my heavy gear in the press area and experience their performances from the crowd.
Before all of that, however, Celeste and Ezra Collective warmed up the main stages, with Ezra Collective turning the whole place into a dance floor. People may not have always been on beat, but they were certainly committed to getting down. Damon Albarn of Gorillaz also joined Ezra Collective on stage, offering a fun preview of what the rest of the day had in store.
Veronica Maggio was a new find for me – I hadn’t heard of the Swedish-Italian popstar before, but I was in awe of the crowd that amassed for her set. Fans in the front row were visibly excited and emotional, and as Maggio looked out at a home crowd, it was clear that she was feeling all the same emotions. Her voice was strong and her songs were catchy, even for someone who doesn’t speak Swedish.
Lorde’s set was nothing short of cathartic. Songs like “Green Light,“ “Team,“ and “Shapeshifter“ had the whole crowd jumping and screaming the lyrics right back at her. There were quieter moments in between songs where Lorde was speaking to the crowd, but she may as well have been speaking directly to me. Or to the group of girls next to me, who knew the words to every song. Or the couple in front of me, wrapped in each other’s arms as she talked about her songs and the thirteen years since she first played in Sweden. We were all different people in 2013. All of us had gone through so much since then. Yet there was a strange sense of connection in that field, a reminder of how music can follow us through entirely different versions of ourselves and still bring us back together.
When Lorde’s set ended, the crowd – and myself – barely had any time to catch our breaths before Gorillaz started on the opposite stage. Admittedly, the dual stages were more enjoyable during the day when it spread the crowd out a bit; at night when the entire area was packed, it did feel like you had to sacrifice a viewpoint for one of the two headliners.
Nevertheless, the scale of the production, the energy of the crowd, and the pure joy radiating from Damon Albarn managed to reach the whole field. Much of their set drew from The Mountain, their album released this February. Drawing on Albarn and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett’s travels through India, The Mountain utilizes a lot of traditional instruments, which were highlighted throughout the set with guest musicians and artists taking the stage on several songs.
After the festival ended at Slottsskogen, it was difficult to imagine anything matching the thrill of seeing Gorillaz and Lorde back to back, but Bleech 9:3 did a great job of keeping my energy levels high well into the early hours of the morning. The lighting was dim, but the atmosphere was intense, and both the band and the crowd seemed to spiral into a frenzy. It was a set that made any exhaustion from the past three days feel temporarily irrelevant.
Westside Cowboy followed in the same venue, and although their music was a shift from Bleech 9:3’s gritty alt-punk, many in the audience stayed in the packed room, eager to hear them. The band were remarkably energetic for a 2 a.m. set, although their energy was more bubbly than the frenzy that had come before.
By the time I finally made my way back to my hotel, I had spent three days moving between massive stages, tiny venues, familiar favorites, and artists I had never heard before. That sense of discovery is what ultimately made Way Out West so memorable. The festival managed to bring together some of the biggest names in music without losing the smaller moments that make live music exciting in the first place.
To see more from my time at Way Out West, check out Zany Waves’ photo gallery featuring highlights from across the festival.
