Slam
Dunk, a fixture on the Leeds and North punk scene for many a year, made its leap
from the city centre where it’s been based since its inception to Temple
Newsam this year (which to people of a certain age will always be home to Leeds Festival
before it turned into a drug fuelled pop music monstrosity at the other great
park in Leeds, Brahman). Consequently, I was happy for Slam Dunk to make the move
to such a venue and despite the mid-afternoon downpour I think it worked.
Navigating stages was much easier, no massive queues anywhere (apart from the
toilets by the Punk in Drublic stage it seemed – maybe us older punks have
bladder control issues?!?) and a wide variety of food stalls which, although
more expensive than the obligatory Wetherspoons quick bite, covered cuisine
from across the globe!
The
first band we headed for whilst enjoying a beer was the Bombpops. Needless to
say they are the perfect pop punk band to open the festival; the crowd lapping
up their endearing and anthemic tunes in the sunshine. With a set list
containing fan favourites “Dear Beer” and “I Can’t”, the band easily win over
casual listeners and both Jen and Poli more than making the female voice heard
on a male dominated stage!
Next
up, Anti-Flag bring their political discourse and melodic punk arsenal to bear
on an expectant crowd; their backdrop of an upturned Stars and Stripes greeted
with cheers when unveiled. They bulldoze through the set with gusto opening
with “Die for the Government”, and closing with “Brandenburg Gate”. The highlight was undoubtedly “Fuck Police Brutality” which generated numerous middle finger
salutes from the passionate front rows.
My
girlfriend loves ska and on mentioning that the Mad Caddies were playing was
desperate to go; and they did not disappoint. In fact they take to the stage at
the sunniest part of the day meaning that real festival vibe takes hold of the
crowd with lots of early drunken dancing exploding around the Punk In Drublic
stage. Despite complaining about the lack of sound on the stage monitors, the band
sound sublime from the pit; which must be attributable to how much of a
well-oiled live machine they are. Personal highlights are the tracks off of
Duck And Cover and Quality Soft Core (“Road Rash”, “Monkeys” and “Goleta”) and
the flawless cover of Propaghandhi’s “Nation States”. But what makes them so
good live is how good a frontman Chuck Robertson is – casually dancing around
the stage like a camp George Michael, bantering with his band mates and looking
effortlessly cool; he remains one of my favourite front men to watch because
it’s obvious he loves doing what he does and it’s that infectious you can’t
help but be swept along. The Caddies producing one of the best sets of the day
with ease!
After
spending a good few hours at the Punk in Drublic stage, we made the first of two
visits to the Dickies stage. Now, to be fair, I could have stayed here all day
and had a mint time; however there were other bands I was desperate to see
having never seen them before so Saves The Day and The Get Up Kids had to miss
out (I’ve a feeling some of my friends would disown me for that decision given
how iconic both groups are). Anyway my reason for heading to this stage, was
Scranton duo (with full band) Tigers Jaw. I genuinely can’t describe how much I
love this band and a set that can only be described as containing all the hits
was truly wonderful. Their emotionally charged songs getting fists in the air
from the get go. Opener “Favourite” is a wonderful dancey singalong tune which
sets the tone for their set, followed by “The Sun” – the epic, fast shout along
anthem that opens their self titled album. Inevitably it goes off; fists and
bodies collide, whilst both Ben and Brianne look on in amazement at the scenes
unfolding in front of them. After such a massive double salvo “Frame You” is a
welcome change of pace; one of their most straightforward rock songs, it allows everyone a bit of a breather to enjoy watching the band. This is
followed by “Follows”, another banger from their last album Spin (and I would
argue massively underrated – they should have been huge on the back of that
one!). It’s another big singalong with its refrain of “Breathing in slow,
breathing out and letting go” shouted back at the band with such gusto it’s
both life affirming and deafening. Its followed by another fan favourite “Hum”,
a sombre song that lets the band’s vocal harmonies shine; it’s the calm before
the storm as the next 5 songs bring joyous chaos. Starting with the frenetic,
melodic “Guardian”, its chorus eliciting a gigantic response from the crowd. Whilst the refrain remains one of my favourite pieces of music of recent years, hardcore beat down-esque it’s the epitome of what true emo is. After this it’s the
first of their big three from their self-titled, “Chemicals”. The bodies literally
flying whilst many a sore throat ensued, it’s the kind of song you have to sing
along with like its last song you’ll ever hear. Brienne
dedicates the next song to her best friend before taking us through the
gorgeous “June” (the crowd singing the keyboard parts eliciting smiles and
laughter from the stage). Closing the set off, the trio of “Plane vs Tank vs
Submarine” unleashes even more carnage; the opening lines of “Lie to me, like
you used to” again almost deafening! “I Saw Water” generates a similar response
as crowd surfers rain down on the front rows. The final song “Window” closes a
truly wonderful set by a truly wonderful band in a special way. If I thought it
was hard to top the Caddies, Tigers Jaw have done it and some – they were one of
the main draws to Slam Dunk for me and again didn’t disappoint.
Next
up we had the two heavy bands I wanted to see. First up, the Cancer Bats. I
haven’t kept up with these guys since they put out their third album Beats
Mayors, Scraps and Bones in 2010. However, this didn’t take away from my
enjoyment of them and, having seen them before and how great they are live, they
certainly didn’t disappoint. The devil horn metal anthem “Lucifer's Rocking
Chair”, anthemic “Hail Destroyer”, “Pneumonia Hawk” and “Bricks And Mortar” are the pick
of the songs as they lay waste to an adoring crowd. It’s hard to find fault
with the Cancer Bats; their sound is so unique, bordering on the fringes of
punk, hardcore and metal and they have an ability to cross these boundaries
easily. What may have seemed like a stretch when they did it was adding hip-hop
to the mix. Their cover of the Beastie Boys “Sabotage” remains one of the most
successful covers I can think of and created a war zone of a pit, akin to
something you’d expect from the early years of hardcore before the idea of
looking out for your fellow gig goers was a thing. It was all sorts of good
natured brutal, with hugs and high fives exchanged by the slam dancers. Again, the Cancer Bats prove why they are one of the best in the business; sure they
don’t take themselves too seriously but Liam is a bonafide legend of a front
man and the band excel at pummelling beats and dirty riffs.
After Cancer Bats we have a different type of heavy in the form of Silverstein. The duel stage tent approach works well as no sooner have the Cancer Bats finished we’ve turned round had a short hop to the other side of the tent and the Canadian emocore mob have taken to the stage. Whilst not an entirely career spanning greatest hits set, the spread of songs throughout their near 20 years of releasing material is impressive. Opening with the iconic “Smashed Into Pieces” the standout track from their debut LP When Broken is easily fixed. It’s an instantly recognisable song that made them stand out ahead of their peers and still sounds epic, relevant and exciting to this day. As one would expect, it’s the songs off of Discovering The Waterfront that generate the biggest reactions; both “Smile In Your sleep” and “My Heroine” are big sing along songs and are greeted by the crowd with mass cheers within their first chords. Personally I found their recent album Dead Reflections a near perfect representation of the band and 4 of the 10 tracks are taken from this most recent release. Again the crowds passionate response to each is testament to their staying power and ability to keep taking risks and developing their sound – the brutal “Retrograde” at one extreme sits well alongside the pop infused “The Afterglow”. Silverstein delivered everything you’d want from a mid-afternoon festival slot; the only downside being the lack of backdrop meant that those coming into the tent to escape the rain maybe left unsure of who they had just watched. Still, for those of us in the know, they were another highlight of the day!
After Cancer Bats we have a different type of heavy in the form of Silverstein. The duel stage tent approach works well as no sooner have the Cancer Bats finished we’ve turned round had a short hop to the other side of the tent and the Canadian emocore mob have taken to the stage. Whilst not an entirely career spanning greatest hits set, the spread of songs throughout their near 20 years of releasing material is impressive. Opening with the iconic “Smashed Into Pieces” the standout track from their debut LP When Broken is easily fixed. It’s an instantly recognisable song that made them stand out ahead of their peers and still sounds epic, relevant and exciting to this day. As one would expect, it’s the songs off of Discovering The Waterfront that generate the biggest reactions; both “Smile In Your sleep” and “My Heroine” are big sing along songs and are greeted by the crowd with mass cheers within their first chords. Personally I found their recent album Dead Reflections a near perfect representation of the band and 4 of the 10 tracks are taken from this most recent release. Again the crowds passionate response to each is testament to their staying power and ability to keep taking risks and developing their sound – the brutal “Retrograde” at one extreme sits well alongside the pop infused “The Afterglow”. Silverstein delivered everything you’d want from a mid-afternoon festival slot; the only downside being the lack of backdrop meant that those coming into the tent to escape the rain maybe left unsure of who they had just watched. Still, for those of us in the know, they were another highlight of the day!
Despite
the rain we decided to head back down the hill to the Punk In Drublic stage for
both Millencolin and Less Than Jake. The weather playing havoc with the Swedish
legends’ sound, they battled through a greatest hits set. On a personal level, the
older tunes from Life On A Plate through to Pennybridge Pioneers steal the
show, and generate the biggest singalong dances. But their
two most recent albums (True Brew and this year’s SOS) comfortably stand
alongside the classics and the reception greeting these new songs demonstrates
how polished a machine they have now become.
Talking
of polished machines, Less Than Jake trotted out their usual schtick; funny,
endearing, high energy. For a fleeting half hour you don’t notice the rain and
bask in the warmth of the Florida veterans’ ska-punk anthems. The set is heavy on
songs from Anthem, Borders And Boundaries and Hello Rockview. It’s a proper
festival set by a proper festival band. I’ve seen them countless times over the
years and they never disappoint – today was certainly no exception.
Our
final band on the Punk in Drublic stage was Bad Religion; however in what was
the absolute worst clash possible they would eat into The Menzingers set (a
band who I wouldn’t miss under any circumstances). Consequently we made the
decision to leave early, but not before we were treated to classics from their
seminal Stranger Than Fiction which was my first introduction to the band and
it’s follow up The Grey Race (my favourite Bad Religion album)! I always love
watching Greg Graffin on stage; he’s a man who appears to be living in his own
world, enjoying the music and playing off the other members of the band. By
the time we walk away with the anthemic generator playing, I’m unsure if the
decision to leave early is a wise one… certainly a cursory glance at setlist.fm makes me feel that those who
stayed were treated to some absolute bangers.
Absolute
bangers is the reason we decided to head for The Menzingers, a band that have
built a career out of writing blue collar anthems akin to the best of The
Gaslight Anthem and Hot Water Music. I personally think that Tom May and Greg
Barnett are two of the best songwriters out there and their ability to craft
passionate, heart-on-your-sleeve and fists-in-the-air songs is unrivalled. Prior to taking
the stage proper, Greg mills about taking photos of the crowd and generally
winding people up to a frenzy whilst Plain White Ts conclude on the adjoining
stage. Somehow the big draw and overzealous, excitable crowd earn the ire of
Plain White Ts frontman Tom Higgenson, who is constantly asking us to be
patient… perhaps the only incident of the day where the duel stage approach
fell down. Frankly I don’t think anyone waiting for the Philly foursome cares and
as soon as they take to the stage properly and kick off with “Tellin Lies” we’re in party mode. The Menzingers do generate the most amazing and
friendly pits and in unison every word of every song is sung as if they are our own
words, such is the band’s ability to write such human and relatable tunes. With
a set almost exclusively taken from the last three albums, it’s obviously a play
to win over any sceptics with all the big hitters getting aired. The pleasant
melodies of “Tellin’ Lies” making way for the raucous “Good Things”, which
turns the pit into a frenzy of limbs, fists and bodies. Rattling through the
set we’re treated to other classics from On The Impossible Past namely “Gates”,
“Obituaries” and “Burn After Writing”; all just immensely smile inducing and
helping take our minds off the now slow drizzle. It’s
also great that personal favourites “I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore” and
“Casey” are performed, but it’s the newer songs off of my 2017 album of the
year After The Party that again really wow. The album’s lead single “Lookers” is
performed with aplomb and greeted by the crowd like a returning hero, “Midwestern
States” is another great turn by the band and what I’d argue is the single best
song of the last few years. “After The Party” is just stunning. As
expected they close the set (and our day) with the bombastic “In Remission”.
It’s one last chance for the crowd to lose themselves in
the music and they do so with the kind of energy you’d expect to see at the
start of a set and not towards the end of a day of incredible music.
This
concluded our Slam Dunk 2019; if I’d watched anyone else I’d have been
disappointed with myself for not closing it on the highest high of the day and
as a result we left as the main headliners took to the stage. Frankly we
weren’t the only ones who couldn’t bear to watch anyone after the Menzingers
and a mini exodus to the exit ensued after their set. Slam Dunk 2019 was a
huge success; the new venue was excellent, the layout working really well and a
great selection of bands. 2020 has a lot to live up to!!!
This review was written by Richard Mair.
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