SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL

Waking up at 4am on a Saturday morning would usually be my idea of hell but when it means means travelling 5+ hours on a coach to Leeds to see your ‘all time’ favourite band at Slam Dunk Festival... it all seems worth it.

Slam Dunk is a 1 day pop punk/rock festival held on the May bank holiday weekend at Leeds (North) and Hatfield (South). Basically, my inner emo‘s idea of heaven.

The day began at 19 degrees and sunny spending £5.50 a pint on dark fruits (I know). With bands including WSTR - who genuinely have really good, catchy, pop punk classic tunes however, were so out of time and off key it ruined the set in my opinion which was disappointing. Next up, we ran to the Key Club tent to see the mystery act who turned out to be the first ever band I went to see live, at the age of 5 (thanks Aly)... Busted!

Playing all of their classics squeezed into a half hour set including crashed the wedding, what I go to school for and Year 3000. They were amazing, the crowd couldn’t even fit in the tent there was that many people there to see them it was insane!

We also sampled the obviously overpriced festival food and I had beef chilli with beans and rice and it wasn’t quite David’s chilli for those of you who know how good my stepdad is at crafting the best chilli in the world, it was slightly mediocre in comparison.

We then went to see As It Is who I’ve seen in concert 3 times previously but this time the spark just wasn’t there. Their new album is definitely heavier than their previous releases and honestly I was disappointed in their set, it was basically all their new album with maybe 2 older songs and nothing from their last album which personally was my favourite!

Next up, was Simple Plan. I was so so looking forward to seeing them all day as I’ve never had the chance to see them before and they definitely did not disappoint.

Their ability to get the crowd jumping around and singing along was amazing and they even had big blow up beach balls during ‘Summer Paradise’. Their set as a whole lifted my spirits despite the weather starting to turn to rain, they sang all the classics and put a smile on my face.

Unfortunately, the rain wasn’t looking to be stopping anytime soon and it continued throughout the next act, Neck Deep. Neck Deep’s crowd definitely knew how to create an atmosphere and each song they played got better and better, even playing their cover of Natalie Ambrulia’s ’Torn’ which was amazing. Overall, they were definitely up there as the best acts of the day however, by the end of their set, we were soaked through and absolutely freezing.

New Found Glory were up next and I’m not going to lie, at this stage, I just wanted to go home. The rain had gotten heavier and you could tell the crowd just weren’t feeling the spirit of New Found Glory’s renditions of ‘Let it Go’, ‘The Power of Love’ and ‘Eye of the Tiger’ (random I know). They did sing their classics thouch which went down well but the rain really did put a dampener on the crowd as a whole.

Finally for the main event, All Time Low. Thankfully they managed to bring the sun out and stop the rain as by this point, my entire outfit was soaking. All Time Low played an amazing set and I couldn’t have asked for better, they played 8 songs from ‘Nothing Personal’ as it was the 10 year anniversary and even played one of my favourites, ‘Stella’! They also played ‘Break My Little Heart’ which hasn’t been played in over 5 years and also a brand new yet to be released song, ‘Getaway Green’.

Overall, despite not getting home to 4:10am the next morning, it was definitely worth it. The whole day was amazing start to end despite the weather, I’d more than certainly be going back possibly next year.