Over the past two years Slam Dunk Festival has become
one of my favourite days of the year. I've enjoyed myself so much at the past
two years that I booked the day off from work without even getting a peak at
this year's line up. Another reason I love going to Slam Dunk is that it's one
of the few gigs of the year where a nice sized group of my friends will come
along with me. This year my friends Dan Moles, Smurf, Marilyn and Emily would
be coming and I couldn't wait.
After arriving at Hatfield University and joining seemingly
the world's longest queue (I hate queuing for gigs) we made our way into the
festival site and Dan Moles, Smurf and I made our way to the Desperados stage
where Survay Says were already a good way through their set. The New Jersey
based pop punk/ska band were playing their first ever run of shows in the UK
and from what I caught of their performance it was obvious to see that they
were giving everyone who came to see them a fantastic show. Definitely a band
on the rise. After Survay Says we headed over to the Monster Stage (via a food
stand) to meet Marilyn and Emily to watch a hardcore band named The Color Morale. I had never heard of The Color Morale before and in all honesty their
music isn't really my glass of coke but I did enjoy watching the kids get
excited for them. It was very entertaining watching the smaller kids in the pit
just bounce off this massive guy with ginger dreadlocks. At the conclusion on
their set I asked Marilyn what she thought of the band and she said "they
were alright, I only wanted to watch because the singer is friends with Jonny
Craig." Brilliant.
Next up it was time for my day to really get started. Long
running Boston ska punks Big D & The Kids Table were making their first
appearance in England in years and it would be my first time seeing them so you
can only imagine how excited I was. I clearly wasn't the only one because as
soon as the band started playing the floor began skanking as Big D ripped
through songs from their entire catalogue, whether it was fast paced ska punk
like LAX or slower summer ska like Shining On everything went down a storm. The
highlights of the set for me was the cover of The Specials song Little Bitch,
closing song Noise Complaint and of course the classic LAX, a song which I
helped start a circle pit for the first time ever, which was great fun. Big D
& The Kids Table done often tour the United Kingdom anymore so when they do
you have to make sure you go and see them. Another band that never tours anymore
is legendary Derbyshire ska punk band Lightyear. I was lucky enough to see
Lightyear at their last ever show at the Islington Academy back in 2012 and to
this day it remains one of my all time favourite gigs. A Lightyear show has
always been just pure unadulterated fun and nonsense and this would be no
different. From a giant backdrop of a crudely drawn penis, a picture of bass
player Bars as a young child or attempting to crowd surf as a pantomime horse Lightyear
were on a mission to have as much fun as possible. The good times that the band
were having were infectious, the smiles on the faces of the crowd indicated
that they were having just as good a time as the band. I wish Lightyear would
play more, there isn't a more entertaining band in the world. After Lightyear
finished with the excellent Pack Of Dogs I reluctantly wondered over to the
Monster Stage with Dan Moles and Smurf to see Bury Tomorrow. A massive crowd
had gathered to see this Portsmouth based five piece. Just like The Color
Morale this type of music is not a genre I'm a massive fan of but I could
certainly see why they are so popular. I watched from a far as the crowd went
mental for them. The dual vocals worked brilliantly as they switched from a
clean vocal to a more throaty growl. Bury Tomorrow are certainly leading the
way in the UK's metal scene.
Up next were festival favourites Zebrahead. I won't lie I
can't actually remember a thing from they're performance on the stage because
the pit was insane. I described it to a friend as part dance floor, part fight
for survival (Smurf came out of it with a cut next to his eye and I had a
bruise between my eyes) but 100% awesome. This would be my sixth time seeing
Orange County pop punk/rap group and like every other time they stole the show.
The crowd for their set was one of the best I've ever been in, everyone fully
focused on having as much fun as humanly possible and making sure everyone
around them was as well. One guy lost his shoes and another lost his phone but
they were looked after as they attempted to find them. Crowd surfers (of which
there were many) were carried, sometimes two at a time. If anyone hit the floor
they were picked up straight away. This is the kind of spirit that a punk show
should be all about. Absolutely loved it. Up next was the only time throughout
the day when things got a little negative. Unfortunately there were some
technical difficulties that delayed the start of Goldfingers set. Obviously
this was one of those things but it was frustrating having to wait around not
really knowing when Goldfinger would be on stage. As soon as Goldfinger were
ready everyone's mood was instantly lifted. Coming onto stage to that song Let
It Go from that Frozen movie, which even the security guards (who were
fantastic all day) sung along to Goldfinger exploded into Spokesman and the
crowd went nuts. Dan Moles, Smurf and I had all been wanting to see Goldfinger
for a long time and now it was finally happening. Goldfinger were a big part of
my introduction into punk music as a teenager and I was immediately hit with a
feeling of nostalgia listening to songs such as Counting The Days, Superman and
99 Red Balloons. I loved the surprise cover of Knowledge by Operation Ivy as
well. I'd waited a long long time to see Goldfinger but it was completely worth
the wait, just brilliant.
The day was beginning to beat us so we decided to hang out
towards the back for the final two bands of the day. The first of which was
Swedish skate punk legends Millencolin. A while ago I wrote a couple of blogs
showcasing some of Europe's best punk bands, Millencolin are the godfathers of
that scene - at the time of writing this I cannot think of a band that's had
more success all over the world. They were back in England for the first time
in a long time promoting brand new album True Brew. I had purposely not
listened to True Brew before Slam Dunk as I always enjoy hearing new material
live first and I have to say it sounded fantastic. The same can be said about
the bands older stuff, this was my first time seeing Millencolin and even from
the back of the room I was blown away. The songs were all great and the
performance was as energetic and fun as you would expect. I'm looking forward
to Millencolin coming back to England to do a run of headline shows, hopefully
sooner rather than later. Slam Dunk 2015 would be finished for me by Reel BigFish. The long running ska punk band have had plenty of line up changes over
the years but have always remained one of the best live acts in the scene, no
matter how many times I've see them I always come away with a great big smile
on my face whistling the tunes to some ska classics. This night would be no
different as they played songs from all of their albums, all of which got
fantastic receptions. The band through in a couple of nice surprises as well by
throwing in their cover of Veronica Sawyer by Edna's Goldfish (one for the old
school ska punk fans), mixing in Self Esteem by The Offspring during Beer and
bringing out Laila and Barney from Sonic Boom Six to perform Hiding In My
Headphones. Nobody would ever accuse Reel Big Fish of reinventing the wheel and
you do basically know exactly what you are going to get from their live show.
That's by no means a bad thing though, I can't think of many better bands to
close another brilliant Slam Dunk Festival.
Now listening to I Can Not Live Without You by The Apers
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