Last Thursday (July 30), Godsmack headlined the 32nd annual Pol’and’Rock Festival in Czaplinek, Poland. According to vocalist Sully Erna, their set was viewed by 700,000 people, and in commemoration of that accomplishment, Erna shared a heartfelt video message thanking all involved for helping them achieve the milestone.
Sully Erna’s Message About Pol’and’Rock Festival
Erna posted the video to his personal Facebook and Instagram pages on July 31, beginning:
“Hell, internet people. I wanted to stop by and give you guys a little bit of an update of what’s been happening. . . . I had to tell you about this show that we did last night.”
He explained:
Although all of Europe has been really lighting up for us, and we’re so happy about that because we’ve been doing a lot of work out here, and they are showing up by the thousands in every country, and all these countries have been great. Athens, Serbia, Bulgaria. [It’s been] top-notch everywhere we’ve played. But last night, we did a show in Poland – at the Pol’and’Rock fest – and we headlined this festival that drew 700,000 people. That’s a real fucking number. You can look it up. And, yeah, so pretty surreal. Not even sure it even happened, but it did, and I just gotta say, “Holy fucking shit.” I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. . . . Insanity.
From there, Erna reflected on what he felt was “the most heartfelt part” of the event:
I was speaking to the promoter and the owner of the festival, [and] he was telling me how this whole thing started. He visited some children’s hospitals, and these kids were on the floor. They didn’t even have furniture, and he kind of got together with everybody, and he just said, “You know what? As a community, we can’t allow this to happen. It’s not who we are as people. It’s not who we are as a country.” And he started reaching out to all these sponsorships.
So, this entire festival every year that draws more than half a million people is completely free to the fans, and a hundred percent of the proceeds above that goes to all the children’s hospitals. I don’t know if it gets any more honorable than that for me.
Finally, Erna concluded:
So, I just wanna say props to the Pol’and’Rock fest and Jurek [Owsiak, festival founder] for doing such an amazing job. This is a top-notch festival, and I could not believe how big this was. It was two and a half miles deep – the audience – and I’m only saying this because I’ve never fucking seen anything like that in my life, and I’m pretty sure I never will again in my career.
So, I hope this sets a standard to the other promoters out there and helps teach them how this doesn’t always have to be about money and huge profit. Sometimes, it’s about the communities getting together, doing the right thing and sharing this beautiful gift of music that we have to share with all these people. When you do it right, they show up in the hundreds of thousands. Even Woodstock back in ’99 was two hundred and fifty thousand people. I thought that was gonna be the biggest crowd we ever played in front of — until last night.
You can see Erna’s post below:
Obviously, Godsmack weren’t the only act to benefit from the huge turnout, either, as Dropkick Murphys, Orbit Culture, Vended, P.O.D. and many other acts played the multiday festival (which ran from July 29 to August 1).
READ MORE: Ex-Godsmack Drummer Shannon Larkin Shares Video Response After Nikki Sixx Calls Him Out
What Did Godsmack Play at Pol’and’Rock Festival
As for what Godsmack played at Pol’and’Rock Festival, they understandably focused mostly on their singles (“I Stand Alone,” “When Legends Rise,” “Awake,” “Whatever”). In the process, they spanned their entire LP catalog, ranging from 1997’s All Wound Up… to 2023’s Lighting Up the Sky.
You can see Godsmack’s full setlist – as well as KręciołaTV’s professionally shot footage of them doing “Awake” – below:
Godsmack’s Pol’and’Rock Festival Setlist – July 30, 2026 (Czaplinek, Poland)
1. “When Legends Rise”
2. “You and I”
3. “Cryin’ Like a Bitch!!”
4. “Straight Out of Line”
5. “Awake”
6. “Keep Away”
7. “Batalla de los Tambores” (with snippets of “Back in Black”, “Walk This Way”, “Enter Sandman” and “Tom Sawyer”)
8. “Whatever”
9. “Surrender”
10. “Under Your Scars”
11. “I Stand Alone” [via setlist.fm]
Godsmack, “Awake” (Pol’and’Rock Festival 2026)
Other Godsmack News
Back in June, Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx called former Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin a “hater” after Larkin posted a video to YouTube in which he “name-dropped Sixx and alleged that Motley Crue play to a click-track during their live performances” (as Loudwire previously wrote). For context, Larkin’s video focused on him addressing criticisms regarding his replacement – ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini – and clarifying that Godsmack don’t use click tracks during concerts.
Specifically, Sixx wrote:
Who’s this Shannon Larkin hater?
It’s funny how so many B- and C-level bands seem to spend more time talking about us than writing songs people actually remember. Maybe it’s jealousy, maybe it’s insecurity, maybe ticket sales are a little slow. Either way, borrowing someone else’s spotlight has never been much of a long-term career strategy.
I genuinely feel for musicians who never figured out that the best publicity is writing great songs—over and over again, decade after decade for fans not critics.
It reminds me of the endless bimbo podcast crowd that builds an audience by talking about everyone else instead of creating something worth talking about.
Anyway, maybe he’s needs to take a nap before he does more press.
Shortly thereafter, Larkin apologized to Sixx during a 55-minute Facebook Live stream.
“I put my two cents in and then where I messed up and started this fuckin’ drama is I used Nikki Sixx as an example of someone that I’ve seen singing at a mic and then walking away from it and his vocals were still going or whatever,” Larkin stated (as transcribed by Loudwire).
He continued:
I called him out I guess, but it was taken out of context. . . . I’m apologizing for using you as an example. I was not doing that to attack you. I had your first record [‘Too Fast for Love‘] on Leathur Records. I have nothing but respect for you, you’re a legend and you deserve all the accolades that you’ve gotten. . . . I don’t like beefs, I don’t like that L.A. fuckin’ like how you guys all hate each other and shit. Beefs suck, I don’t wanna be in a beef and I didn’t do this for fuckin’ publicity, I don’t give a fuck. I walked away from this shit. . . . Some of my best friends are in bands that are fuckin’ rock stars right now, headlining stages and they’re running tracks. And I don’t give a fuck, I don’t say anything about in public. I just — I shouldn’t have used you as an example and I’m sorry.
Did you see Godsmack at this year’s Pol’and’Rock Festival? How do you feel about Erna’s message? Let us know!
The Songs 30 Huge Rock + Metal Bands Only Played Live Once
Note: songs that were played as part of a medley and cover songs were not considered for this list. Only full performances of individual songs were taken into account.
Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita
