By Jonny Bakes
Slam Dunk Festival is less than a week today, so I felt it was the perfect time to sit down and run through my personal recommendations of who to see (other than myself of course) at the event and give a general rundown of what to expect from the party that is Slam Dunk.
For those who aren’t already aware, Slam Dunk is split into two events on consecutive days – North and South – which, you guessed it, takes place in the North and South of England, with North being held at Temple Newsam in Leeds and South held at Hatfield Park (just north of London). Unfortunately, if this is genuinely the first time you’re hearing about Slam Dunk, then I must inform you that both North and South events are completely sold out which means it’s going to be one packed out party! Both the North and South events have identical lineups across the five stages so don’t worry about missing out on any of the acts announced, although that doesn’t preclude any awkward clashes on the day…
After an extensive sampling of the lineup, it looks like my attention is broadly divided between the Dickies Stage (punk/ska) and the Knotfest Stage (metalcore etc.), which means there’ll be a lot of running around! There’s some bits and pieces on the other stages that may catch my interest on the day, but for the most part I’ll be bouncing between the two. So, without further ado, let’s go through my personal recommendations for Slam Dunk festival to see which bands I’m most excited about in no particular order.
First up is the difficult decision between VUKOVI and Millie Manders And The Shutup who clash on the Amazon/Rock Scene and Dickies stages respectively.
VUKOVI are a band that initially caught my attention at the Download Pilot in 2021 and I spent my time trying to get everyone to come along to their set by describing them as a “metal CHVRCHES” although there’s probably an argument that there’s some similarities with Paramore. Vocalist Janine has a fantastic energy that really riles up a crowd, so the early set time will be a great way to get the blood pumping and the party started!
- For fans of: strong frontwomen, heavy riffs, electronic influences.
- Catch them at: Amazon/Rock Scene Stage @ 12:15 – 12:45.
Millie Manders And The Shutup, in contrast, are a band I discovered whilst picking through the lineup for this year’s event. Hailing from London, the combination of serious attitude and catchy ska was enough to pique my interest enough to consider abandoning VUKOVI to check out their set. Considering Millie comes with a glowing recommendation not just from Matt Stocks (of Kerrang! Radio fame) but also our very own Monk, there’s definitely plenty of good reasons to head down, and with the level of energy in their music, it would be an equally great way to kickstart the party!
- For fans of: trumpets, attitude, fast-paced and danceable music.
- Catch them at: Dickies Stage @ 12:00 – 12:30.
Next is a band that I’ve been waiting to see for a while, and now have three opportunities to see them this year – Spanish Love Songs. Now, I affectionately describe them as emo for people who are in their 30s as they manage to really effectively capture the bleakness experienced by almost an entire generation who grew up through the 90s and found themselves suddenly in their 30s with no fucking clue what to do with their lives… The sheer amount of expression in Dylan Slocum’s voice makes him sound like he’s constantly on the verge of breaking down and it really strikes a chord with me! If you don’t manage to catch them at Slam Dunk, there’s another opportunity when they tour the ÜK in September so don’t worry if something else grabs your attention on the day.
- For fans of: emotive lyrics, feeling sad yet angry about it, upbeat melodies, still proclaiming that “it’s not a phase mom”.
- Catch them at: Amazon/Rock Scene Stage @ 13:45 – 14:20.
It’s a brand new Roadrunner Records signing who features next on my list who, of course, will be ripping apart the Knotfest stage; it’s Static Dress. With only one full-length album under their belt, this Leeds band have been storming their way through the metalcore scene and increasing their popularity over the last five years to earn themselves a modest slot in the lineup. It’ll be my first time seeing them at Slam Dunk but I’m sure that it is going to be a hell of a blast!
- For fans of: heavy riffs, screams, influences of Underoath.
- Catch them at: Knotfest Stage @ 15:05 – 15:35.
From a new band to one that has been the soundtrack of many summer days for decades, celebrating the the 25th anniversary of ‘Hello Rockview’, I’ll finally be able to see Less Than Jake. This is a band that I’ve loved for such a long time, with their upbeat ska-punk never failing to boost my mood on a shite day. You know the score: LTJ are catchy as the corona and are guaranteed to completely energise everyone in a 20 mile radius with some absolute classics from what is arguably one of their best albums and home to tracks such as ‘All My Best Friends Are Metalheads’.
- For fans of: skanking, brass, ’90s/’00s nostalgia.
- Catch them at: Dickies Stage @ 18:25 – 19:15.
The most difficult decision comes towards the end of the day with a monster three-way clash that pits fun nostalgia against elder emo and one of the finest new metalcore bands around. It’s going to be one hell of a tough decision for me, but let’s lay out what we’ve got.
Bowling For Soup have always been great at nailing the comedic aspect to their brand of pop punk with the Texans poking fun at just about everything from bored housewives to dick jokes but most importantly ripping the piss out of themselves… constantly. I’m sure you’ll remember the classics like ‘Girl All The Bad Guys Want’ and ‘Punk Rock 101’ but there is far more to their back catalogue that I’m hoping will make an appearance at Slam Dunk this year. They’ve got ballads that you can drunkenly sing along to with your mates when you’ve already danced your heart out to their more upbeat songs, so there’s really something for everyone.
- For fans of: not taking yourself seriously, fart jokes, catchy pop punk memories.
- Catch them at: Dickies Stage @ 19:40 – 20:30.
From the silly to the more serious emotions with another band celebrating a massive milestone of a classic album, 20 years of ‘Ocean Avenue’ – yep, it’s Yellowcard! For many people ‘Ocean Avenue’ is a hugely important album as it represents those carefree days of being a little emo kid in the early 2000s for a bunch of people who simply turned into bigger emo kids – or elder emos as the term goes now. I’m predicting a huge singalong for the title track from the album that will hit the old feelings in guys who do a good job of trying not to. Yellowcard have always been catchy and emotional and I’m sure there’s many people who have waited a good while to see them again.
- For fans of: feeling like a teenager again, singing your heart out, crying but only a little bit so no one notices.
- Catch them at: Kerrang! Stage @ 20:05 – 20:55.
Taking a completely different direction now, it’s the metalcore band who have taken the whole ÜK by storm through a combination of gut busting riffs, aggression and a serious grafting attitude. With the recent announcement of their first ÜK headline tour, I’m expecting great things from the mighty Malevolence when they headline the Knotfest stage! They absolutely crushed it when I caught them at Slam Dunk 2021 with some seriously brutal riffs that whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Expect some serious pit action and heaps of raw aggressive energy as Malevolence are bound to set out to show everyone exactly why they earned this headline slot.
- For fans of: face melting riffs, extreme pits, pounding beers and crab dancing.
- Catch them at: Knotfest Stage @ 20:10 – 20:55.
To round off this list, it’s one of the bands that started it all for me. I still remember being a young kid getting my ‘Conspiracy of One’ hoody and feeling like the coolest kid around which makes me feel old as hell now, but not as old as I bet Dexter and Noodles feel these days! If you hadn’t already clocked, I’m talking about SoCal’s finest punk export, The Offspring who will be headlining the Dickies Stage and you can sure as hell bet I’ll be seeing them instead of Enter Shikari. The Offspring need no real introduction really, if you’ve somehow lived under a rock for the last 30 years then all you really need to do is sit down and listen through ‘Smash’, ‘Americana’ and ‘Conspiracy of One’ and you’ll pick up the soundtrack to every ’90s/’00s skater kid’s life! With it being the 25th anniversary of ‘Americana’ I’m hoping we’ll either get the album in full or at least a whole heap of tracks from it which would be an absolute dream for me (as long as they come back in a couple of years for the 25th anniversary of ‘Conspiracy’ too of course). I’m hoping to hear ‘Cruising California’ as well, but that might be a bit of a stretch…
- For fans of: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, California punk, teenage nostalgia.
- Catch them at: Dickies Stage @ 21:00 – 22:15.
I should probably point out that all timings are approximate and based on the Clashfinder for Slam Dunk South so it’s best to double check the timings on the day instead of taking this as gospel truth! That aside, it looks like Slam Dunk is going to be one hell of a party this year, so if you catch me wandering around Hatfield Park, feel free to join me for a beer and we’re going to party through into the following day where NOFX will be taking over the site for their “last ever” ÜK show!
- Slam Dunk South takes place next Saturday (27 May), with Slam Dunk North the following day.
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