FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Slam Dunk Festival 2023
Bank holiday weekends in May can only mean one thing: bands, bevs, and the beginning of festival season. Sounding the alarm for a whole summer of singing our hearts out, Slam Dunk Festival is back for its annual bank holiday bonanza at Hatfield Park and Leeds Temple Newsam. With five stages of premier pop-punk, ska, metalcore, and more to dive into, here’s everything you need to know about this year’s supersized bill.
The Dickies Stage
Grab your board and drop down Slam Dunk Festival’s halfpipe for a stage stacked with pop-punk, skate-punk, and ska royalty. Whilst you can grind out early helpings of ska punk staples TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET, ZEBRAHEAD, and MILLENCOLIN, you won’t want to miss stage opener MILLIE MANDERS & THE SHUTUP. This cross-genre star is making a real noise right now, so don’t miss out on their molotov cocktail of pop-punk and ska that’s bound to explode.
Don’t get stuck in the dining cart queues; gypsy punk’s GOGOL BORDELLO and Celtic punks FLOGGING MOLLY will make you hungry for more with their polka folk-punk. Ska-punk legends LESS THAN JAKE and pop-punk heroes BOWLING FOR SOUP bring the sing-alongs, before headliners THE OFFSPRING hit you with a greatest hits set few bands could conjure to close out the night.
Amazon Music Presents Rock Scene Stage
Slam Dunk Festival never shies away from throwing fans from all corners of the musical world together, and this year’s Amazon Music Presents Rock Scene Stage lineup makes a strong statement. Opening with all guns blazing, ugly-popper ZAND injects the stage with alt-pop bangers before Scottish sensations VUKOVI take you to space on the back of last year’s stratosphere-smashing NULA. Don’t take your foot off the gas, next up is a triple threat match-up of British alternative music: TRASH BOAT, HOLDING ABSENCE, and WARGASM.
Take out your time machines as metalcore stalwarts UNDERØATH run you through the ringer with their back catalogue, before KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES make their highly-anticipated return, playing Smart Casual from start to finish. Synth-pop superstars PVRIS unleash new album Evergreen, before BILLY TALENT get political with their punk. Finishing up the night with a light show you’ll likely see from far-off planets, genre-bending national treasures ENTER SHIKARI will give A Kiss For The Whole World with cuts from their new album.
The Kerrang! Tent
The Kerrang! Tent doesn’t give you one stacked lineup to choose from; it gives you two. With no clashes across their two stages, this hearty mix of ones-to-watch and scene legends is best served with summer bevs and sing-alongs. Midwest emo newcomer SINCERE ENGINEER and garage punks DESTROY BOYS deal in wake-up calls with early door sets, emo punks-turned-dream-poppers MOVEMENTS set the sing-alongs in motion.
Later in the day, SPANISH LOVE SONGS dig out the songbook for a string of emo pop-punk stars, new and old; following the return of FIREWORKS, there’s TROPHY EYES, REAL FRIENDS, and FOUR YEAR STRONG to choose from. BOSTON MANOR continue their rise with more cuts from Datura, whilst THE MENZINGERS dish out hearty servings of emo-americana. Co-headliners CREEPER usher in their new chapter with their first live show since that night at The Roundhouse, whilst YELLOWCARD close the day with a trip to Ocean Avenue, playing the classic from start to finish.
The Key Club Stage
The Key Club Stage is Slam Dunk Festival’s staple stage. With a reputation for kaleidoscopic lineups, this year’s two-stage, no-clash bill takes the term genre-bending to a whole new level. British indie-rockers THE TYNE and Canadian emo-poppers YOUTH FOUNTAIN bring you up to speed with a brunch of bangers, before every style and sound under the sun gets served up.
Alt-metal pop stars SCENE QUEEN and LØLØ will steal hearts whilst storming the stages, next-gen newcomers CHARLOTTE SANDS and NOAHFINNCE should not be missed, and emo-rapper JXDN and dark-popper MAGGIE LINDEMANN will show you why the TikTok generation are here to stay. If you’ve still got a voice left, and legs to dance, there’s co-headliners THE MAINE and THE HUNNA, who’ll both be battling for top spots in your weekend highlights.
Knotfest Stage
More interested in banging heads, slaying circle pits, and screaming your lungs out? This year’s Knotfest Stage can scratch that itch. Fresh off the back of a LAMB OF GOD support slot, HERIOT will open up the stage, taking another stab at showing why they’re the future of British metal. Following on, they’ll be slamming sets from HIGHER POWER, SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY, and DRAGGED UNDER, before post-hardcore horror-punks STATIC DRESS stop any afternoon naps with as many pits as they have sing-alongs.
That’s not all, there’s a meaty metalcore meal to enjoy in the evening, as LANDMVRKS, FIT FOR A KING, ESCAPE THE FATE, and WE CAME AS ROMANS dish up bangers and mosh for dinner. Continuing their meteoric climb, Sheffield’s hardcore heroes MALEVOLENCE will deliver a headline set you do not want to miss, offering up a victory lap for last year’s scene-stealing Malicious Intent.
Slam Dunk Festival 2023 promises to be the party of the year. We’re stoked to sing our hearts out and get the blood pumping all day and night. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for our review if you can’t make the date, and if you can, then we can’t wait to join in having a fantastic time!
SDF South will take place on Saturday May 27th 2023 at Hatfield Park, Hatfield and SDF North will take place on Sunday May 28th at Temple Newsam, Leeds. Tickets are available now and can be purchased here.
For more information on Slam Dunk Festival like their official page on Facebook.