As a staple of the pop-punk and hardcore calender – Slam Dunk is back for its annual cross-country run. Returning for its 10th anniversary in the North, South and the Midlands; this year promises to be one of the most memorable yet – with headliners ranging from You Me At Six, Architects, Don Broco to a UK festival exclusive from Taking Back Sunday. This year, they’ll all be performing in The Forum in Hertfordshire, and Wolverhampton and Leeds City Centres, with fittingly styled infamous after parties to keep the festival spirit alive.
Slam Dunk veterans Zebrahead, Lower Than Atlantis (fresh from their massively successful self-titled album) and Reel Big Fish are all on the line up also – promising for a jam-packed day and night of everything from metal to ska and all that falls in between. As an anniversary special the Leeds based record company are keeping in touch with their roots, with Ben Ray (festival promoter) speaking on the subject:
“Being the 10th Slam Dunk Festival I thought I’d make it a special one. I’ve wanted to make the move back to Millennium Square in Leeds for a while, so to do it this year is great. To have three former headliners to come back and play the same year is crazy.”
The three mainstage headliners of previous years mentioned would be Reel Big Fish from 2007, Taking Back Sunday from 2012, and You Me At Six themselves from 2009 – though there is a plethora of returning bands gracing the various stages across the weekend. Ben Ray also used to manage You Me At Six, and released their first album on Slam Dunk Records which “makes it even more special” for him – even more so as the band have promised some throwbacks to their older (and arguably best) days in the form of a few tracks off the original ‘Take Off Your Colours’; making it a truly nostalgic show for those that were there from the beginning:
“We are really excited to be headlining Slam Dunk Festival again,” says You Me At Six’ lead singer, Josh Franceschi. “We had a lot of fun last time we played there, and can’t wait to close the festival each night […] 10 years of the band, so it feels right to be part of the festival!”
Alongside You Me At Six, some other bands to get especially excited for would be Bayside, doing their first full headline tour of the UK, and Crossfaith – a fusion band that is a mess of electronic dance entangled with traditional metal sound; renowned for their full-on live performances. Trash Talk is another on the line-up that will likely be one worth going to see; the first band signed onto the label Odd Future Records that doesn’t fit in with the hip-hop collective, and are known to perform Tyler, The Creator‘s songs or with him on stage. While She Sleeps will have their second studio album coming out the day before their first Slam Dunk performance, so it’s likely attendees can expect to hear some new tracks over the course of the three dates. It’ll be a great time to catch pop-punk wizards Cartel also – in the middle of their 10 year anniversary tour (very fitting for this years Slam Dunk), this is one of only two dates they will be performing in the UK for 2015. Catch all of these bands whilst you can!
The full line-up and dates so far are as follows:
With such a variety of bands and a selection of easily-accessible venues across the UK – this really is one to note down for lovers of pop-punk, ska, metal, hardcore and every variation in between. Reviews of the day and any major updates will be reported on on The Edge; though further details can be found on Slam Dunk Records’ website for tickets, news and general inquiries about the festival that you have in the mean time – be quick however, as tickets are selling out quickly!
