Slam Dunk Festival @ Temple Newsam Park, Leeds (25th May 2019)

WORDS: Joanne Gray

Another year and another Slam Dunk was on the cards, but no one quite expected just how different things would be in 2019. Gone was the Birmingham date of the festival, which garnered upset from those from the Midlands and Wales who had travelled there in previous years. More significant than this though was the shift in location for the Northern date from Leeds city centre (where the festival started out 13 years ago) out to the outdoor site of Temple Newsam park. 

Cue the usual concerns which arise from outdoor festivals regarding bar prices, portaloos and bad weather. This was my first experience of Slam Dunk at Leeds, as I had previously went to the Midlands date in 2016, but even then I could see that only a good layout and lineup would justify such a change. We'll get to the layout throughout this post, but in terms of the bands, 2019 was Slam Dunk's biggest year so far. So much so that I had to get myself down to Leeds with a few friends to check out some of the great acts playing this year.

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Starting things off, and one of the first acts to play throughout the entire festival, was former Yellowcard vocalist William Ryan Key performing a solo set on the Marshall stage. As I've never really been that into Yellowcard, I wasn't too bothered about seeing him. But as I was waiting to see Milk Teeth play on the stage next door and my friends wanted to see him, I watched his set for a bit. 

For the first act to perform on the stage that day, William Ryan Key got a surprisingly big crowd and that made a lot more sense when he started to play. Instead of performing some of his own solo material that he's been writing, he told the crowd that he was just going to spend his short set playing only Yellowcard songs. Really smart move on his part as this was essentially just an acoustic greatest hits set. 

In terms of his performance, I couldn't really find fault in it as he sang well, looked comfortable playing the songs on his own and had the crowd engaged throughout the set. This included songs like 'Lights and Sounds', 'Only One' and, of course, ended with Yellowcard's biggest song 'Ocean Avenue'. I did miss that one though as I went to go and get a slush halfway through his performance. It was a warm day alright? So clearly I'm not really into Yellowcard, but William Ryan Key was definitely a good act to start the day off, and the crowd response to the songs certainly confirmed that.

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Up next on the adjacent Dickies Stage (which would go on to hold most of the alt rock and emo bands that day), were Milk Teeth to liven things up a bit after that more subdued set. With the band setting up during the end of William Ryan Key's set, they were ready to go upon their scheduled starting time. This would prove to be mostly the case throughout the festival that day but being the first time I had experienced this sort of set up, I was really impressed by how smoothly the transition between each band was generally.

After seeing the band perform a less than ideal set supporting PUP in Glasgow (the review for that is here if you want to check that out!), I was keen to see the band again in the hope that the sound was better and the crowd was more receptive. Thankfully this was very much the case here and it became very obvious that this was going to be a great set after the first few moments. Milk Teeth performed a few songs from their earlier material ('Vitamins' and 'Brickwork'), but generally speaking this was a set made up mostly of songs from the Be Nice or Go Away EPs (with the addition of the newest single, 'Stain' and a currently unreleased track, 'Flowers'). This may have also been the best performance I've seen from the band so far as well.

The sound was much improved over the last time I saw them, as Becky's vocals and bass lines were up front and centre, and the former contained a bit more grit than I remember seeing from her before. For 'Owning Your Okayness', this may have been due to the song being dedicated to her 'cunt' of a now ex-boyfriend, but generally speaking, it just seemed that she was more comfortable shouting a bit more than I've ever seen before. Both the drummer Oli and guitarist/vocalist Em were also on top form, with loads of energy flowing from each of their performances and a really tight vibe exuded between all three members. Shout out to Em for making the crowd sit down before telling them that their inability to question orders was why we got Brexit. Got a few laughs from the crowd that's for sure.

This was a great performance from Milk Teeth, and it has really made me look forward to their next releases as a three piece. Here's hoping they do a headline tour on that cycle as well. Check out the video of their set below if you want!

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Over to the Impericon tent for the first of several times that day, I went over to see the Kentucky band, Knocked Loose. The Impericon stage has been running at Slam Dunk for the last few years, but has up until this point played hosted to both metalcore and hardcore bands. With the addition of the Jagermeister stage across from it to share some of the duties here, Knocked Loose were the first of several exclusively hardcore bands I would see on this stage all day. 

And what a set this was. I'd only listened to Knocked Loose a bit before seeing them that day, but I had always quite liked what I heard and thought they had a bit of party kind of vibe to their material. I had no idea just how much heavier they would be in the live environment though. The party they brought to the table was just as much a head crushingly savage one as it was riotous and fun. 

On the heavier side of hardcore, the band's sound is more akin to the likes of Comeback Kid and Code Orange, but (arguably) performed in a manner which made the sledgehammer heavy riffs slam even more than any of those bands. Bryan Garris' blend of shouted and screeched vocals were used skillfully to an utterly ferocious, and at times, completely inhumane degree. Alongside this, the dirgy, bass heavy tones of the guitars all combined to make a sound that felt like drowning in quicksand. In the best possible way. With such chunky downtuned riffing accompanying utterly killer breakdowns and mosh calls, it was not hard to see why the crowd was losing their mind to this band.

And that they really were. By the time the band came on, the tent was almost completely full and the energy of the audience didn't let up the entire time they played. I also saw one of the biggest mosh pits to take place at the festival all day during this set. It was really cool to see the energy bounce between the band and the crowd as effectively as it did here. For someone who hasn't listened to Knocked Loose outside of a few recorded tracks, I was totally bowled over by their performance and I'll need to make sure I go back and listen to them again. Headbanging riffs and slams for days here. 

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After grabbing a quick bite to eat, it was back in the Impericon stage to see the Baltimore slacker hardcore band Turnstile. I'd been quite a fan of their last album Time and Space and was keen to finally see them in the live environment.

Almost immediately, it became clear that any references to partying made within the last band review would pale in comparison to the experience of this set. After playing what sounded like 'Dreams' by Solange in the background, the band bounded onstage with the mammoth 'Generator' from their latest album. The set consisted of a lot of this newer material but they also played a few songs from the older releases Nonstop Feeling and Step 2 Rhythm as well as their recently released song 'Only One'. The band's blend of hardcore was less heavy but more wirey and jagged than Knocked Loose which all added to the sense of fun that shone from the band.

Bring forth their blend of razor sharp riffing, grungey alt-rock sensibilities and snippets of lounge and jazz flavourings to their more recent material, and Turnstile were an incredibly riveting band to watch. On stage, all the band members jubilantly bounced across the stage and interacted with the crowd to get them pumped up. Perhaps most impressively was vocalist Brendan Yates' ability here to remain the main focal point with all of this craziness going on. His onstage persona which mixed the frantic dancing of the likes of Iggy Pop (shirtless and all) with some feminine body actions that are pretty rare to see within hardcore definitely made him the star of the show here. With the energy on stage being so high, this was a great accomplishment. 

Although the pit was smaller here than for Knocked Loose, this unrestrained energy could still be seen within the crowd. The people who were involved seemed utterly dedicated, throwing themselves over the barrier and shouting back to the band. Even those like myself who weren't in the thick of things seemed pretty enthralled with what was going on in front of them, and I bet they made a few new fans that day. Myself included. Out of all the bands I saw that day, it felt like Turnstile have the most crossover appeal of them all, and it wouldn't surprise me if they end up on main stages across other festivals. This was a great set that was a lot of fun to watch, and it turned out to be the perfect warm up to the next band I was about to see.

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Over to the NOFX curated Punk in Drublic stage for the first time that day, I went to watch the much anticipated LA ska punk band The Interrupters. As shown in my short review of their album last year (you can read that here), I've been totally converted to this band and have been dying to see them live ever since I've gotten into them. Unsurprisingly therefore, I was stoked that they had been added to the lineup this year.

Opening their set with 'A Friend Like Me' from their debut self-titled album, it was clear from the start that this was going to be a performance that was as fun as it was energetic. The three Bivona brothers on guitar, bass and drums bounced onto the stage with joyous enthusiasm and funky rhythms that got the crowd hyped straight away. Then came the lead singer Aimee Interrupter (or Allen if you would prefer) and the crowd erupted into rapturous singalong to the song's massive vocal hooks. 

This was something that would continue throughout the set as the band powered through the biggest songs in their career to date with an almost childlike joy and energy that was so infectious. Looking around the field during their set (which was perhaps also one of the most well attended on that stage during the entire day) and it was hard to see many people who were not singing along to the anthemic and totally unifying vocal hooks and jumping or swaying along to this type of ska punk that makes the likes of Rancid and Operation Ivy such a blast to listen to. Throwing in a cover of each of these bands helped to solidify the fact that The Interrupters can compete with those bands in the live environment, and these days could possibly even surpass them. 

In saying that, there was one minor gripe I had with the set in that the sound of the instruments at times seemed to disappear quite quickly in the mix. I'd put this down to the set up of the stage which sat at the bottom of a hill and was quite exposed around the two sides. It felt here like this meant the sound would sometimes escape quicker around the crowd than it maybe would in an indoor venue. It possibly didn't help that I was a little far back in the crowd as well, but it was definitely something that was on my mind a little during their set.

However, all of that said, it didn't really affect my enjoyment of their performance. If anything, it only made me want to see them again in a smaller, indoor stage. But as it was, I could barely think of a band of their type today that could make the crowd go as wild or simply look so utterly joyful to be playing to so many people as The Interrupters did. I'm very much hoping I'll get a chance to see them play in a tent at Download later in a few weeks but if not, I hope they come back to the UK and do a tour very soon!

Check out the video below if you want to see some of this enthusiasm in action. 

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Back over to the Impericon stage it was to see one of the most consistently great live bands in hardcore, Cancer Bats. The set that they played here only went on to solidify that seemingly bold claim, as they smashed through a 9 song set rammed with big hitters and newer tunes alike. 

As I said in my review of Cancer Bats' latest album 'The Spark That Moves' (you can check this out here), the newer material contains some of the best material this band has written in years, and the mixture of thrashy punk goodness, sludgy riffing and killer vocal hooks of this new material ('Brightest Day', 'Gatekeeper' and 'Winterpeg') slotted in perfectly with the rest of their back catalogue. 

Speaking of which, it is forever impressive just how much Cancer Bats excel at throwing everything they have into the songs that they have been playing for around a decade now. Whether they played slower Black Sabbath inspired groove laden bangers such as 'Lucifer's Chair' or 'Bricks and Mortar', or full out circle pit starting skatepunk like 'Hail Destroyer' and 'Pneumonia Hawk', Cancer Bats had the crowd moshing, crowd surfing and chanting like they do best. As always, their cover of Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage' ended the set excellently and got much of the tent going nuts.

Therefore, this would have been a standard (albeit excellent as always) set from one of Toronto's most famous punk bands, if not for the great moment where Nikki Bruman from Pagan joined the band to play 'Pneumonia Hawk'. When she joined the stage, there were a good few people around me quite clearly wondering who she was, but were quickly won over by her intense screeched vocals and the solid interplay between herself and Liam. As is always the case with Cancer Bats, their friendliness towards smaller bands and willingness to expose them to a larger audience was evident here and it's something I've always found admirable about this band. 

And it finally all goes to show just how great of an act Cancer Bats really are, both on record and in the live environment. Their ability to appeal to punk, hardcore and metal fans alike as was shown in the enthusiasm and diversity of the crowd here was testament to how well they exist within each of these worlds. Cancer Bats are so consistently great live that I almost forget just how killer they really are until I wrote the review for this. It goes without saying that you need to check out this band live if you ever have the chance to, as you'll have a great time regardless of which style of rock music you prefer.

Simply one of the best, and the video below should help to further show that.

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This led nicely onto Pagan's set over on the Key Club tent, where I would spend the next few hours of the festival. As mentioned before, Pagan are a small band within alternative spheres, but they've certainly made an impact in the few years that they have been around. 

Classifying themselves as 'blackened rock n' roll', the Melbourne band take musical influences from the likes of Turbonegro, Blood Command and Marmozets and merge it all with a slightly occult manner of delivery that ties in with the band name. As a fan of pretty much all of these things and finding myself quite liking their 2018 album 'Black Wash', I was keen to finally check out this band live.

What I found was a band that, while visually resembling many of the alternative rock bands you'll find out there, sonically don't really sound like anyone else out there. As described with her duet with Cancer Bats, vocalist Nikki Bruman's intense screeched vocals are something which is completely impossible not to be impressed by, even if the marmite style may not appeal to everyone. It is also by far the heaviest element of this band when combined with the musical elements. 

The danceable, groovy rock n'roll rhythms by the drummer and bassist when accentuated with the soaring melodic lead parts of the guitarist Xavier Santilli are utterly irresistible when in full flow and this was displayed wonderfully in the live environment. Unfortunately I don't have the songs they played to hand, but I did recognise a few of them, so I'm assuming they played a fair amount of songs from 'Black Wash'. Add in the weird occult mannerisms of Nikki Bruman when referring to the audience as the 'cult' which was witnessing Pagan's 'congregation of fucking hell' (or something along those lines) and you have a band here that are pretty much unique in their field, and an awesome prospect to witness live with their blend of metallic darkness and funky alt rock joyfulness. 

Although the crowd for this band was a good bit smaller than some of the others I had seen up until this point in the day, Pagan seemed to make a bit impression on those who were there to see them. This was also one of those times that the opening of the heavens meant that more people ended up watching this band than maybe would have done ordinarily. Whether or not they only stayed in the tent to hide from the rain or because they liked what they heard, there were more than a few people who seemed genuinely intrigued with what they were witnessing. Myself included. 

Coming from the other side of the world, I'm not sure how often this band will be able to make it to these shores, but rest assured that whenever they do, I'll be seeing Pagan again. I would recommend them to anyone else who likes the idea of this band to do so as well. Great stuff.

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While Pagan finished up their set on the Left Key Club Stage, Birmingham's Shvpes were setting up to play on the Right stage next door. I found this transition to be pretty seamless considering how close the stages were set up to one another. 

In all honesty, I normally wouldn't have bothered to watch this band as I've seen them before supporting someone and wasn't much impressed by their brand of melodic metalcore at the time. But with the rain still chucking it down, there being nothing else on that I really wanted to see and feeling a bit tired at that middle point of the day, I sat at the Left stage and caught a bit of this set in between having a bit of a lie down. 

In the last few years, Shvpes have appeared to have changed their sound a bit, and this has accompanied a growth in their size and the amount of people who are keen on their music. This was very much evident here with the healthy crowd that came to see them and the new direction that could be heard here. In contrast to their earlier material, much of this set sounded considerably more 'rock' oriented and actually ended up reminded me a bit of Fever 333's recent material (check out my review of that album here if you want to know what I think of that one). The attempt here to take 90s rap rock in the style of Linkin Park, Papa Roach and a little bit of Rage Against The Machine and further push the radio friendly melodic aspects to the nth degree, was something that I wasn't too keen on when I heard some of their material on record so it still really didn't do all that much for me here either.

To give them credit though, I did think that the musical elements of their sound in the live environment, alongside frontman Griffen Dickinson's charisma onstage (yes, of course he's a son of the Iron Maiden legend) made Shvpes sound a good bit heavier and more engaging live than they have ever been on record for me. They also seem to have improved as a live unit in the few years since I last saw them, and the band are quite clearly continuing to find their feet in the musical environment they've placed themselves in. 

It seemed that this energy resonated with the dedicated crowd that they had garnered as well, as although there wasn't much material which resulted in pits or jumping, the section of people near the front seemed to be singing along to some of the bigger songs in their set. As such, although they came across more like a pale imitation of the 90s nu-metal that they are clearly influenced by, I can't really say they played a bad set, as they did everything that this style of music really demands. It's not for me, but those were there seemed to enjoy their set. Fair play to Shvpes for their performance here, I guess.

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Over to a band I was keen to see, Employed To Serve began to set up at the end of Shvpes' set back on the Left Key stage. The time between both of these bands highlighted perhaps one of the only issues I saw relating to the stage set up that day however.

As Shvpes were due to finish their set 5 minutes before Employed To Serve came on, but decided to play one last song that made them cut into their set time, it became quite quickly clear that EtS were becoming frustrated that the band next to them were still playing when they should have had time to soundcheck in peace. This resulted in the band looking moodily over to the Right Stage and thrashing out some loud notes while the other band were still playing. By the time that Shvpes left the stage therefore, EtS were due to start and seemed to neglect a more thorough sound check before launching into their set.

Whether or not this apparent irritability seeped into their performance is hard to say due to the head crushingly furious sound of this band at the best of times, but my god, this was a blistering set. Playing songs from the recently released Eternal Forward Motion and 2017's critically acclaimed Warmth of a Dying Sun to volumes which were almost painful to the ear, Employed To Serve were the heaviest and loudest band I saw at the festival all day. By far.

I've seen this band play a support slot before (oddly enough for Milk Teeth a few years ago), but this band was far more intense than I remember them being then. It seems like EtS have continued to improve as a live unit; chucking out absolutely filthy, technically proficient hardcore that gives Code Orange, Converge and as described earlier, Knocked Loose a real run for their money. Each member of the band here displayed an impressive amount of confrontational energy, which made the dedicated crowd of moshers lose their minds during some of those brutal but slightly off kilter drops and breakdowns.

Quite clearly, Employed To Serve are a band that are more than able to live up to their recorded sound in the live environment. And then some. Very much a case of every member here being vital to the construction of such an anvil heavy and mind-melting sound, from the high register guttural power of vocalist Justine Jones, to the tight rhythm section which helps to create a sound like the world is falling down around you, to guitarist and co-vocalist Sammy Urwin's ability to pump the crowd up; jumping into the audience while still managing to play those difficult guitar parts.

This was a killer set that more than any band I saw that day, and perhaps more than any band I've seen this year so far, made me feel more physically attacked by the sheer volume and weight of their sound. Whether Employed To Serve played their more wild tempo-flipping older material or their newer more locked-in but still equally heavy newer material, they definitely gave a performance that no one in the tent watching them will forget any time soon.

Check out this band if you like the sound of your brain being sonically kicked in. If not, best give the video below a miss. 

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Faced with the choice of seeing Less Than Jake over on the outdoor Punk in Drublic Stage or Gallows inside the Impericon tent while it was at this point chucking it down with rain, it seemed quite obvious I was going to be watching Watford's premier hardcore band. 

I've always quite liked Gallows' material from back when Frank Carter was in the band, but I've never really gotten into them as much as others my age seemed to at the time. This has only continued in the wake of Frank's departure and as a result, I'm pretty unfamiliar with what the band has been up to in the last few years. In saying that, I'd heard a lot about how good Gallows were in the live environment with Black Lungs vocalist Wade MacNeil at the helm, so I was pretty keen to see them live.

Met again with a pretty rammed tent, me and a friend ended up towards the edge of the tent to watch their set rather than be up in the thick of things. This turned out to suit me quite well, as I largely felt like I didn't know the material anywhere near as well as those who were participating in the relatively large pit in the centre of the tent. Of which, it must be said, the songs that particularly made the crowd set off the most were Frank era songs such as 'Misery', 'Orchestra of Wolves', 'In the Belly of a Shark' among others. To be expected as well I suppose, considering the gravity of such releases at the time. It does slightly speak volumes however that, alongside a pretty decent cover of Ramones' 'Blitzkreig Bop', only 4 of the songs here were from Wade's era of the band. Clearly it will take another release or two to further solidify the lineup without Frank at the front of things. 

As it stands at the moment though, I though Gallows were pretty decent live, and I don't really have anything negative to say about the performance itself. The band itself engaged well with the enthusiastic audience, and Wade's comments about England's current enjoyment of throwing milkshakes at 'fascists' very much tied in with the overall politically charged vibe of the band and the older material. Although I thought that Wade's vocal style is less distinctive than Frank's live (it would be hard for anyone to be as unique as Frank here to be fair) and didn't grab me quite in the way that Gallows' older material did, I can't really fault the level of commitment and musicianship shown by the band or the vocalist here. 

I suppose this review seems a bit negative towards Gallows, but I guess this band just never really resonated with me in the same way that it did with other people, so the songs themselves tended to pass me by here and I found myself waiting for the set to end rather than being fully immersed in the experience. This was a case of 'it's not you, it's me' though, as much of the crowd around me was losing their minds to some of the songs that defined a particular era of British heavy music. Although by the end of their set, I found myself slightly wishing I had watched Less Than Jake instead, I was still quite glad I watched Gallows, as I now know that they are a solid live band. But they're just not really for me. 

If they are up your street however, I would definitely recommend checking them out whenever they do a UK tour in the near future. 

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Finally forcing myself to venture out into the overcast rainy field of Temple Newsam, I went over for the first time that day to the Monster stage to watch Florida's pop punk veterans New Found Glory. 

Upon reaching the stage which was draped in the artwork for their recently released third From The Screen To Your Stereo album, it became quickly clear that there was going to be a few covers performed during their set. This was immediately confirmed when the band came on stage to their pop-punked up version of Survivor's 'Eye of the Tiger'. Rocky style boxing gown and all. So far, so typically New Found Glory, albeit with the addition of William Ryan Key who has been enthusiastically filling in the second guitar part from the end of last year. 

The sense of enjoyment conveyed by both Key and the band themselves within this first song only continued with the rest of their set that I saw. As is common with New Found Glory's live performances within the last decade or so, their set was pretty much rammed from end to end with absolute bangers from throughout their 25+ year career ('All Downhill From Here', 'Hit or Miss', 'My Friends Over You' and their cover of Sixpence None The Richer's 'Kiss Me' being the most obvious of these, of course). 

So far, this was very much a really good New Found Glory show, regardless of the dreary weather they were playing in. Although the soggy feel of the place perhaps stopped much of the crowd from bouncing around as they may normally have done, there was no lack of singing along to any of the material from their back catalogue. All of this was delivered with a sense of youthful energy that is rare to see within younger bands of their style, let alone a band that is seen as one of the forefathers of the pop punk scene more generally. 

As I have seen this band a good five times already however, I felt like I had seen much of what they were doing many times before, and decided to head over to watch a bit of Bad Religion so I ended up missing about half of NFG's set. Although I can't say I was all that bothered about missing the band play their cover of Frozen's 'Let It Go' (I wish that song would just die already), I'm a bit sad I missed their rendition of Huey Lewis and the News' 'The Power of Love', which I'm told was accompanied by the brass section from Less Than Jake. All the 80s cheese right there. 

You win some, you lose some. Although I'll see New Found Glory probably in the near future so I think this was less a case of the latter. For those who grew up on the sounds of early 00's pop punk, New Found Glory are by far one of the best live bands to still be touring and you should check them out if you can. 

Video below if you want to see some of their set here.

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Back to the Punk in Drublic stage it was for the last time of the day for the LA punk godfathers, Bad Religion. Although it was still raining, albeit a bit less heavily than before, the band had still managed to get a sizeable crowd to watch them play. I situated myself towards the back of the crowd, so that I could quickly leave after a few songs. Only catching three songs therefore ('My Sanity', 'Social Sanity' and '21st Century Boy'), this will be a short review. 

For a band that is nearly 40 years into their career, I was pretty impressed by how good Bad Religion still sounded, particularly on the vocal front. From where I was standing, I couldn't quite see just how energetic the band were onstage, but I could see that the crowd towards the front seemed really into what was being played to them. 

As with The Interrupters, it seemed again like the positioning of the stage, in addition to the rain at this point, meant that the sound seemed to vanish quite quickly. This again was more a reflection of the stage than the performance itself, as the band seemed to be doing really well otherwise.

Although I would've liked to have stuck around for the rest of their set, after I heard them play '21st Century Boy', I went to another stage see the last band I would watch that day. I'll definitely need to try and catch this band if they're ever playing a festival again. 

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Therefore it was back over to the Dickies stage once more to see the band that was the main reason I had travelled down to Leeds for this festival: The Menzingers. Hailing from the emotional driven rock stronghold Pennsylvania, this band have very quickly become one of my favourites after they released the stunning Americana infused punk masterpiece After The Party back in 2017. Having seen them earlier in that album cycle, I was more than happy to be seeing this band once again headlining the Dickies stage. 

Wandering over to the stage to meet a friend about 15 minutes before they were due to come in, the nostalgia inducing Plain White T's were still playing on the Marshall stage next door. There must have been a couple of hundred people watching their set, and maybe about a third of them were in the crowd for The Menzingers rather than themselves. I can't say I really paid much attention to their set, but needless to say, it was an odd experience seeing a bit of the band who had that one mammoth and era defining song back in the day have a less than legendary reception in 2019. This experience was made odder by the fact that the crowd response to The Menzingers coming on stage to simply do their soundcheck was louder than the reception for Plain White T's as a whole. What a time to be alive. 

This feeling was only cemented once The Menzingers started playing. By the time they came onstage, the crowd had grown significantly, and we found ourselves in a pretty packed position near the front of the stage. The excitement that was evident here was palpable, so that by the time they started playing 'Tellin' Lies', the crowd went immediately mental and starting screaming along to every word. Responding to this, the band thanked the crowd for coming to see them during such a miserable day. The pleasure to be playing the festival for the first time was also so clear to see by the huge grins on each of the band members' faces.

Following up such a huge set opener, The Menzingers went on to play a mix of their back catalogue during the 15 songs that they played, but tended to focus primarily on songs from After The Party and 2012's genre defining album On The Impossible Past. With songs as utterly anthemic and cathartic as 'Lookers', 'Midwestern States', 'Casey', 'I Don't Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore' and so many others, it was clear that the songs here had such a grip on the audience who could pretty much relate to every word. 

And that is the utter beauty of this band. Although the vocals are slightly out of tune at times, and there is sometimes a wrong note hit here or there with the instruments, it all just feels so authentic, heartwarming and amazing to sing along to this band with their Springstein-esque lyrics about working class American life. Even if you've never been in the positions that band are describing, you would be hard pressed not to feel like you had due to their emotive and descriptive narratives. And it doesn't hurt that some of the melodies written here are the best you can find anywhere.

In a performance that was pretty much an entire setlist of highlights, some of the best moments for me were when they played After The Party material, and the fact that the crowd were as enthusiastic for this material as any of their older stuff was fantastic to see. The song 'After The Party' itself has long become one of my favourite song ever as well, so simply being able to hear this song live has become such a wonderful moment to experience. I hope they never remove the song from their set ever. That line of: 'To the nights we lose our self control, from the sex, from the drugs, from the rock and roll' in particular seems like it will never not be one of the best things to ever sing along with a crowd of people as well. Simply magical. 

And that is how I would sum up seeing this band live. I felt like this the first time I saw them, and that was only enhanced here by the commitment of the crowd and the sheer incredibly atmosphere that was created during their set. As they got to around the half-way mark of the set, one of the vocalists (I can't remember whether it was Greg or Tom) pointed out that it had stopped raining and the crowd cheered as the sun which had been absent for much of the day started to pop out from behind the clouds as it set. It almost feels cliche to say, but upon seeing that a similar thing happened during their Hatfield set the next day (There's an awesome picture out there of the band playing underneath a rainbow. Please check it out on their socials), everything about this performance felt like a special moment. By the time the band finished with their conventional set closer 'In Remission', the skies were as clear as they had been earlier in the day, and the crowd was grinning ear to ear at what they had just seen. 

It may seem like an exaggeration to say, but I genuinely believe that The Menzingers are simply one of the best bands on the planet, and everyone who even has the slightest interest in punk or heartland rock needs to listen to this band. If you need any further convincing, check out the videos I took of the set below. 

  

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And with that, Slam Dunk was over for me for the year. Although there were three other bands playing on the other stages (All Time Low, Bullet For My Valentine and NOFX), I decided that the day couldn't end any better than it would seeing The Menzingers last. With All Time Low being a band I really dislike, Bullet being a completely different band to the one I fell in love with in my teens (see my review of their latest album here if you want to see why that is) and simply feeling too tired to watch NOFX play what may be a patchy set, I definitely feel like I made the right choice here. 

So all in all, this was a fantastic end to a great day. If this festival continues to book bands of a similar quality, it will be very likely that I will be returning next year. Overall, I thought that the move to an outdoor stage was a good choice, and although it may have upset some people, the calibre of acts on display here will more than likely convince most of the sceptics in the future if they keep it up. Well done Slam Dunk, and hopefully I'll see you in 2020!

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