Moonspell had the honour of not only being the first band we saw at the Graspop Metal Meeting, but also being the first band we saw on our whole festival-tour of the year. We had in fact been driving like crazy all night long to be able to make it.

It was a lively band which greeted us up from the stage, even though the crowd was still calm and quiet. "Graspop Metal Meeting, are you fit or what? Hey! Hey! Hey!" shouted Fernando Ribeiro (formerly known as Langsuyar) and managed to stir life into the crowd, which started to shout with him. The most intense responses came with the older songs though, such as Opium, Vampiria and Alma Mater, which had a great sing-a-long going.
Moonspell were joined by Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-the gathering) for a song off the latest album, although sadly the track title escape me at this point (edit: Scorpion Flower, found out later). Still, as the rest of the band, Anneke gave a good (though short) performance.
Knowing their play time was limited, Fernando kept the talking in between songs to a minimum, but did give himself time to thank the audience and dedicate the last song of the show, Full Moon Madness, to all the Moonspell fans that were present.

Moonspell was a very good way to start the day, although I would say that their music would be better suited for a dark, damp nighttime listening than boiling away in the midday sunshine.