By Jase Walker
To preface this critique of the events at the northern edition of last weekend’s Slam Dunk double header, the bands over the course of the day were generally excellent, despite some sound issues here and there… But I feel like I really need to address the elephant in the room: the frankly atrocious running of the festival itself…
Shortly after arriving and getting my admin stuff sorted out, I met up with some friends of mine who had arrived via car and remarked that the staff at the car park were not checking car park passes, in a similar manner to what I’ve heard happened at Slam Dunk South the previous day. This led to some other friends who arrived much later having to leave the site despite having a pass and parking elsewhere and making their way back to the site at great expense because people without car park passes were being waved through.
Initially queues for food and toilets weren’t too bad, and probably what you’d expect for a festival, but past about 4pm or so, these queues grew to massive lengths and people had been waiting sometimes up to 90 minutes for food only to then find out that various vegan/gluten free options weren’t available, so many people, including close friends of mine, essentially went the entire day without eating. This is in addition to massive queues for toilets as well as the queues I saw for the disabled viewing access and toilets. I didn’t make my way to the merch area but from what I was told, the queues there weren’t any different which leads me to believe that the event itself was oversold, the management, staffing and infrastructure just wasn’t able to cope with this many people.
Honestly, I think having thousands of people having to actively make the choice between seeing the bands they want to see or starving is nothing short of ridiculous, never mind the people who had to potentially risk losing space at their disabled access spot because they needed to use the toilet or get a drink. I really, really hope that they take this criticism on board and rethink their approach to planning next year because as it stands, Slam Dunk is not particularly welcoming to disabled access requirements and people starving themselves just to ensure their ticket for the day isn’t a waste of money is completely unacceptable.
So, having got that off with my chest, it’s on with what was supposed to be the most important aspect of the days, and that is the review of the day’s bands…
In classical northern style, Slam Dunk North is going to be a somewhat lukewarm and overcast affair compared to the weather Hatfield saw yesterday: typical! I got onto the bus for 10am and we’re off to Leeds through a bunch of traffic jams and a bizarre route, following a missed turn, which meant that, sadly I arrive just as Heriot finishes, which is pretty gutting but that happens sometimes with travel to festivals! Time for Vukovi to kick my day off though!
The sirens start and Janine cackles as she takes the stage along with the others and their sound booms from the large rock scene stage, it’s go time! Janine, fearing nothing gets ready to jump into the crowd for ‘LASSO’, the security are no doubt getting nervous with a wildcard like her. ‘Run/Hide’ oddly a mid-set number now as well but definitely going for an all guns blazing set. Finishing with ‘NULA’, followed by their classic ‘La Di Da’, finishes off a short but stellar set.
A quick break and a pint, and it’s back to the Rock Scene stage for Trash Boat! The moment they start, a huge migration of people surges past me to the front, turning a semi-spacious crowd into a cluster almost immediately. ‘Bad Entertainment’ gets an audible scream of “and I don’t need it!” along with the crowd energy amping up massively. They’re running with a mix of both old and new on this set which seems to be pleasing the crowd although I’m way more familiar with the newest album. Although a cover of Linkin Park’s ‘Giving Up’ was unexpected but clearly welcome! Followed up by the main song I’m here for, ‘Alpha Omega’, if you know, you know, what a chorus. And finishing with ‘He’s So Good’ as an incredible finisher and screaming at the audience from the barrier and compelling the central crowd to go absolutely ape shit, another solid set.
Next today is Holding Absence. These guys are skyrocketing in popularity and seeing them on the big rock scene stage cements that. Opening with ‘Stay’ into their latest single which I can’t for the life of me remember the name of. ‘Gravity’ immediately gets the pit in the middle going absolutely wild, Holding Absence pulling no punches with this set. It seems as if the entire crowd was waiting for them to play ‘Afterlife’ considering the amount of people screaming the words back at them. It’s easy to see why they’re doing so well and with a new album on the horizon, they’re dead set for much bigger things very soon.
A quick break for some much-needed food (yes, I managed to grab some) and I’m poking my head into the Knotfest stage to catch some Static Dress; despite some technical difficulties, they’re carrying on the best they can. Their Deftones inspired sound clearly striking a chord with the crowd that’s in here. No shortage of pints and arms being flung about in the centre of the crowd either! ‘Push Rope’ causes a hell of a storm in the Knotfest stage tent; to say everyone here is baying for blood is a bit of an understatement.
LANDMVRKS are up next, opening with arguably one of their best songs as well, ‘Lost In The Waves’. Smashing through their set at their first appearance at Slam Dunk, there’s no shortage of moshing and crowd surfers, keeping up the Knotfest energy here. Each song sees the crowd smashing into each other and bouncing around on its awkwardly sloped floor. Even the more ‘chilled’ song, ‘Visage’ gets people bouncing, even more so when the riffs properly kick in! Sadly had to duck out before the end to make sure I’ve made good time for Four Year Strong but these guys are flying the flag for French metalcore alongside their friends in Novelists in a massive way.
After an extended break, it’s back to the Rock Scene for PVRIS! After cranking so much of their stuff, I’m excited for this! After a bit of a slow start, ‘Dead Weight’ sees the pace pick up with its catchy hooks.and right after, ‘Gimme a minute’, time for the big bangers Use Me, I’m totally okay with this. PVRIS are the sort of act that really scratches this itch for solid melodic writing and great stage performance for me at the moment and getting to see them again so soon after their Manchester Academy show is something I wasn’t going to pass on. ‘You and I’ goes down massively well with the main vocal melody being emphatically screamed by the audience, it’s fantastic seeing a more ballad aligned song going down so well.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a band chuck a banana into the audience either! The steady build of PVRIS’s life show into an unbelievable peak is a masterclass of working a live audience. Even the new singles are clearly in the forefront of the audience’s mind, ‘Goddess’ amongst the songs that sees a huge response. And finally, seeing the set out with the Use Me massive track, ‘Hallucinations’, I don’t think this set could have been wrapped up in a better way.
As we lead up to the final two acts for today, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen Billy Talent. Opening with ‘Devil In A Midnight Mass’ is a brilliant choice! Admittedly the crowd seems a bit lukewarm towards the newer stuff as there’s noticeably less singing along. I’m surprised to hear ‘Try Honestly’ so soon in the set as well, I thought it’d be set closer! ‘Rusted From The Rain’ begets an audible ‘ohhhh’ from the people near me as the rest sing along the intro, I’m definitely getting the nostalgia fest I signed up for.
I think I’m losing my voice at this point as I’ve been screaming the words to any song from the first three albums which maybe a bit too much gusto. ‘Fallen Leaves’ gets another round of cheering when the intro riff hits, followed by ‘Devil On My Shoulder’ I can feel my throat getting raw at this point. Billy Talent, other than their guitarist’s haircut, are one of the most consistent bands I’ve known for a huge chunk of my life. And finishing with ‘Red Flag’ I wouldn’t have this set any other way, a true set of massive bangers from Billy Talents catalogue, stellar set.
Enter Shikari unexpectedly opened with ‘(pls) set me on fire’, rather than the new album opener, along with massive fireworks, it’s headliner time! ‘Juggernauts’ provokes the audience into mad screams for the chorus as a ‘Countdown’ timer ticks behind them with the passing years as the climate graph builds into warmer years. As much as I’m missing the incredible light show of their 2021 tour, the new production with giant screen blocks and backing video is really something to behold, of course with no shortage of powerful beam lighting though! We do finally get round to Rou playing the trumpet with an intro before hitting ‘A kiss for the whole world’, the incredible intro to their latest album. As I had an inkling about, Wargasm makes an appearance as guest for ‘Void Stares Back’, and the sound of this song live with the full ensemble of singers sounds bloody fantastic.
‘Bloodshot’, keeps the audience going with some prodigy worship and amping up the light show as the skies darken over Slam Dunk. The light show they’ve got alongside the massive streams of paper and fireworks is truly an incredible show. I also get a treat because I get to hear them play ‘It Hurts’, live finally and it goes even harder than I could have imagined! Not only do we get Wargasm as a guest, we get Cody Frost for a guest spot before leading into the Pendulum/D’n’B version of ‘Sorry You’re Not A Winner’, what a bizarre set.
‘Live Outside’ next and it really shows that it’s gotten dark and how unbelievably bright Enter Shikari’s light show has gotten as the brighter parts are fully borderline blinding. And finishing with ‘Dreamer’s Hotel’, draws my Slam Dunk North experience to an end and I am overwhelmed with joy for today.
Despite some of the more irritating parts, like massive queues for beer and food (and the other issues outlined above), it’s been a decent day music-wise. Same time next year? Well, maybe if they fix the queuing…