Messed!Up
It is simply impossible to imagine a better way to kick off the festival summer than Slam Dunk Festival in late May. If you’re a millennial like me who grew up hearing American pop-punk bands singing about summer at the Warped Tour but weren’t allowed or able to go as a teenager or young adult, Slam Dunk Festival is a godsent. Not only is the line-up spectacular every single year and makes our emo hearts beat faster (because we no longer get picked on for our musical taste!) it also takes place in much more humane temperatures and your day is less likely to be cut short by inevitable dehydration and heat stroke before your favorite band’s set. The cloudy skies over Hatfield were a welcome touch, just like the quick check-in and accreditation by friendly staff and a wonderful PR team, as I had an interview scheduled first thing. Since I was on my own for this one, the day flew by as I juggled interviewing, shooting sets, meeting old and new friends, as well as actually getting to enjoy some bands!
Greywind from Ireland, who recently went viral with their incredible emo sound from 2017, kicked things off at the Key Club Stage. Singer Steph O’Sullivan moved around the stage confidently while performing their new single ‘Acid Rain’, putting on a nurse’s hat as a playful nod to the ‘Antidote’ music video. Sadly, their most streamed (and probably most anticipated) song, ‘In Autumn’, was not on the setlist, and the second fan favorite single Afterthoughts’ was a bit anticlimactic in a live setting. However Steph made an effort to engage the crowd and put on an energetic show, and they made a great addition to the up-and-coming artists at the festival.
On to Main Stage West where The Starting Line put on the first UK show in 9 years. This was my first time seeing the band, whose album ’Say It Like You Mean It’ I used to play on my iPod nano on the school bus in 2006. Having just played Islington Academy the night before, it was time for the big stage, where ‘The Best Of Me’ unsurprisingly provoked a gigantic singalong. Moving on to Noah Finnce, attracting a visibly younger audience on the Kerrang! Stage, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of all those beautiful, youthful, naive, hopeful, singing faces filled with awe, screaming along every word with the sort of excitement you can really only feel as a teenager. Noah Finnce’s message of celebrating neurodiversity resonated strongly with the fans who walked away from the set visibly empowered and beaming with joy.
No time for breaks. Next up, Finch. This is probably a good time to reveal that for the past 10 years, I have been on a mission to find a sadder song than Mineral’s ‘Parking Lot’. But I think I completely blanked on the fact that Finch put out ‘What It Is To Burn’ in 2002, which was the soundtrack of my coming-of-emo. I don’t remember how I first came across ‘Letters To You’ – Acoustic Version of course – but I was in my MySpace prime and at that age I certainly did not have anyone to ‘miss’ or write ‘letters to’ but that is beside the point! The intensity of ‘What It Is To Burn’ and ‘Without You Here’ completely devastated my soul, and the darkness of it drew me in, maybe because there was not much darkness around me growing up. The band has since had this air of elusive mystery surrounding them when they went on a hiatus, and other inconsistencies within the band’s lineup, and not having an oversaturated social media presence. I never thought the day would come that I’d get to see them play a show. Yet here we were all witnessing it on Slam Dunk’s Main Stage East.
Not having seen much footage of their live performances on social media, I thought this could go two ways. Although the band has done touring in the US over the last year and is going out to tour the States with The Starting Line, you don’t know what to expect what a band might sound like that has not performed together for years. Let me tell you that they sounded absolutely incredible. Singer Nate Barcalow’s vocals in particular effortlessly switching from clean singing to screaming. Finch’s set must have been a special highlight for a lot of elder emos here at Slam Dunk. After shooting the first three, some dude in the crowd showed me his original Finch hoodie from the early 2000s. As they also played a new song, I am so excited for what may come next. Special shoutout to Morgan from Sappenin’ Podcast as he got to sit down with Nate for a special episode on Finch, which I just cannot wait to listen to.
But there was no time to come down from the high after Finch’s set as I headed over to shoot pop-punk legends New Found Glory, who haven’t been on the Slam Dunk line-up since 2019. Howeve,r this year they are also playing across Slam Dunk’s European editions in Switzerland and Italy. Covering for guitarist Chad Gilbert while he is recovering from severe health issues, Four Year Strong’s Dan O’Connor was a familiar face up on Main Stage West. As clashes are inevitable when the line-up is so freaking fantastic, I had to abandon the pop-punk party and trade it in for The Used’s complete performance of ‘In Love And Death’ so kicking off the set with ‘Take It Away’ was absolutely iconic, leading the crowd through all kinds of emotional dynamics with this record. I am so pleased to finally add them to my interview portfolio as they’re yet another hugely influential band who has only gotten better with time (–opener off of their latest album ‘MEDZ’? Incredible).
As the sun slowly started to set, I headed to the Monster Energy Stage to shoot Alkaline Trio, whose drummer, Atom Willard, must have been the happiest-looking drummer I have photographed to date. Exploding into ‘Time To Waste’, these living legends attracted not only young millennial parents with fairy lights wrapped around their sleeping babies’ strollers but also young kids holding up signs saying ‘Can I please have a drumstick?’ standing in front of their parents in the front row.
The day was over way too soon, but A Day To Remember put on a show perfectly suited to leave all fans going home happy and elated. The ‘Downfall Of Us All’ intro sang by thousands of fans before the beat drops just hits different, as I’m singing ‘All My Friends’ along with ‘all your friends’. Mix in some confetti, pyro, and plenty of cryo and a God-tier lighting tech, and you’ve got the ultimate recipe for a magical Slam Dunk Festival closing ceremony. It was an honor to be part of it again this year – how on earth are they going to top this for the big 20-year anniversary in 2026?!?!
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Photographer: Sophie Dobschall
