Slam Dunk 2025

What is Slam Dunk Festival?

Venue: Hatfield House, Hertfordshire

Date: Saturday 24th May 2025

Slam Dunk is the UK's premier pop-punk and alternative music festival. It began as a small festival in Leeds in 2006 and has evolved through several iterations to feature two huge outdoor venues: Temple Newsam Park in Leeds and the grounds of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. It is held over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May and has previously had a third venue in the Midlands, initially in Wolverhampton, and then at the NEC, before reverting to its two-day setup.

This year's lineup was one of the strongest since the festival had started, and I look forward to what they do with a big anniversary coming up next year...

My Slam Dunk Background:

I’m heading towards double figures in Slam Dunk Festival attendance now, and it keeps getting bigger, especially in terms of the size of the bands. I still haven't got over the lack of a Midlands date since the decision to go with Hatfield and Leeds as the only two venues. I have only missed one Festival since 2016 due to work issues (this is a common theme that is being worked on!).

The early years were very much a chance to get drunk and watch music, but as I've gotten older, this has turned into enjoying the music more and leaving the drinking to everyone else. I don't go completely liquid-free, though, as I take my trusty Dinosaur water bottle with me to fill up at the various water stations around the arena area...

Getting There:

The trip down south meant an early start, leaving Birmingham at 7:30. Due to work issues (I had to be at work the following day at 7 a.m.), I had to drive and would also have to drive home after the festival. More on the timings of that later.

Having the usual stop at Beaconsfield services on the way down (I think I could happily live there!), we arrived on site at around 10:30. The car park opens at 9, I believe, but the gates to the arena area aren’t supposed to open until 11. As usual, it was just after 11 when they finally opened, but everyone was in good spirits, and there didn’t seem to be any moaning this year.

Even more importantly, I found this guy really quickly. There should be a prize for that, surely?!

N.B. I need a new phone, so the photography throughout this is pretty awful... that, and I definitely didn't inherit the photography gene from my family!
Also, watch out for the titles from here onwards.

Between Bloodlines and Bloodbath...

We headed straight for the toilets (get them while they're clean because you’ll be hoping for the rest of the day!) and then set off for our first band of the day. We decided on Lake Malice (6) on the Kerrang! Stage. They were pleasant enough. The voice and the outfit of lead singer Alice Guala were both things to behold. The addition of backing dancers also made it a spectacle, and I wouldn’t be sorry to see them again, but we headed over to Main Stage East after a couple of songs to see…

…Defects (7)! I must be honest, other than listening to a couple of songs on Spotify while checking out all the bands playing, I knew very little about them, but they were on my list of potentials. My word, they're a good live band! If you’re a fan of screamy verses and melodic choruses, these guys are for you. I get the feeling that I will be seeing more of these guys at Festivals and as support to bands that I like soon, and there's a possibility that they could make it into my rotation of bands that I will see at their shows.

Bittersweet Scars Of My Past

We then stuck around for a band that I know and love, Dream State (8). I was there during the formative years of CJ, which were delightful, but Jessie Powell is something else on vocals! This wonderful, quaint little Welsh lass thanked everyone for being there in the cutest little voice before absolutely destroying some of the heaviest vocals you would see at Slam Dunk all day.

They are still unsigned after all these years and do everything themselves without management, but the songs live up to the billing, the band is tight as ever, and Jake’s vocals offset the delightfulness of Jessie’s. Hand in Hand and White Lies, in particular, feel bigger than ever.

Into The Dark

We headed back to the Kerrang Stage to check out Point North (6). I must admit that I only knew the songs I had listened to a couple of weeks before, so I was entering the unknown. They are a three-piece band without a bass player (comprising a singer, guitarist, and drummer). I thought everything was ok. The songs were chirpy enough, but it didn’t blow me away. The drummer was exceptional, though.

While we were waiting for another band to come on, we stuck around to see the start of I See Stars (2). I may have been generous with giving them 2. That was not for me, and we only lasted a song and a half before heading to the Monster Stage in the tent for…

The Boys of Summer

…The Ataris (8). Oh, this was joyful! Last year, I managed to catch The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus at a similar time of day, and the nostalgia of a band I used to listen to frequently was heightened by their exceptional performance. This was the same. Kristopher Roe couldn’t look much less like his former self from the early 00s, but my god, his voice still packs a punch.

The on-stage banter is a delight when we can hear it (I hate tents at festivals unless you’re on the front barrier), and starting with the huge In This Diary gets the crowd going instantly. But it’s obvious what the crowd are waiting for later on in the set, and their cover of Don Henley’s Boys of Summer is the loudest singalong of the day so far.

First World Problem Child(ren)

Next up, it’s back to the Kerrang! Stage for Rain City Drive (7). Matt McAndrew may have been a runner-up on The Voice in the US, and there are poppy tones to the sound, but these guys know how to hit the harder sounds too, with the others having formed from the band Slaves. It was an enjoyable 35 minutes.

By the time they finished, it wasn't worth heading over to see The Starting Line, so we headed to Main Stage East to grab some food and catch Stray From The Path (6). They have become a well-loved band and have a very political undertone, but something doesn’t work for me with them. But they did seem to go down a storm.

Stayyyyy Wiiiiiitttthhhh Meeeeeee

Then came a run of bands that I've adored for about as long as I’ve been into music, starting with the absolute legends of emo, Finch (8). They are a fantastic live band that has deprived us of their talents on this side of the Atlantic for far too long. I was lucky to see them in 2023 when they came over for a couple of gigs, and the setlist that day was perfect. This was less so for me, but it still hit the spot due to Nate’s exceptional vocals and the band's tightness.

They start with some of their harder-hitting material, including a brutal Grey Matter, but it's the opening riff of Letters to You that gets the crowd going. Stay With Me provides a huge singalong moment, but it's closer, What It Is To Burn, that provides the noise and chaos that the crowd has been waiting to provide. Joyous start to the evening.

Understatement

And so we come to the big three (four, in a way). We start with New Found Glory (9). That 9 was nearly a 10, and you can tell how good it was because I've had to steal photos (Thank you, Jemma Dodd Photography)! They are another band that has taken a swerve on UK dates, as they haven’t toured since 2018. But they do have an exceptionally good reason. Guitarist Chad Gilbert is fighting a very aggressive cancer at the moment. Following the departure of the original rhythm guitarist, Steve Klein, in 2013, the band now has two touring guitarists for the foreseeable future.

But this is NFG, and they don’t just end up with anyone. Having previously had Ryan Key from Yellowcard and Kevin Skaff from A Day To Remember (more on them later), they have now added David Knox from Real Friends and the simply outstanding Dan O’Connor from Four Year Strong (below).

Starting with All Downhill From Here and going straight into Understatement, it feels like a weird thing to be saying, but they almost sound as good as ever with the two stand-ins. Running through classics such as Hit or Miss and Failure’s Not Flattering, we hit a run of four songs that are tough to beat all day.

They have produced some incredible covers over the years, and on this day, we got to hear a couple: Sixpence None the Richer’s "Kiss Me" and the simply brilliant "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Mixed in with these are Dressed to Kill and Head on Collision before the crowd goes nuts for closer, My Friends Over You. It is an exceptional set from one of the greatest of all time in their genre.

Dial Tones

I said it was the big four because straight after NFG finished, we decided to run over to catch the end of the As It Is (8) set. Slam Dunk’s resident house band thrilled the audience with their ‘festival comeback’ gig. Catching the end of the Noahfinnce-enhanced Can’t Save Myself, the beautiful singalongs that accompanied Silence, and then You, The Room & The Devil On Your Shoulder were a lovely build-up to closer Dial Tones. Had there been a roof, it would have been blown miles into space! Tickets booked for the September tour!

Dumbstruck DumbF**k

And so to the only UK band on Main Stage West all day, Neck Deep (9). They are so close to headlining this festival. They are top of the tree for UK bands in this genre now, and they once again proved it with a blistering set that started with bangers, had bangers in the middle, and finished off with the biggest ones of the lot.

It's remarkable to think of the songs they left out of this 15-song set, considering every song they played has been a huge hit. Highlights included the classics Kali Ma and a twice-played Gold Steps (due to having to stop for the crowd), standing alongside the newer opener Heartbreak of the Century, and the exceptional Dumbstruck Dumbf**k.

It was hard to think at the time of a band having a better singalong last three songs than A Part of Me, December, and In Bloom. But what stands out from the whole set is how much fun they are having, and, in particular, the addition of Seb Barlow (lead singer Ben’s brother) on bass has seemingly made a massive difference to the band's happiness. And nobody is happier to be on stage than Seb himself, as the smile never leaves his face while he sings every word.

They are about to tour the Life's Not Out To Get You album in full in December. It will probably be the last time for a while that they will perform at Academy venues, as they are heading for arenas again after the next album. Then, there is a realistic chance they will be headlining this Festival in a couple of years.

All Signs Point to Lauderdale

And so we come to the headliners. This is remarkably A Day to Remember’s (10) first-ever Slam Dunk! What it isn’t, though, is their first rodeo. These boys come out swinging with The Downfall of Us All, I’m Made of Wax, Larry, the brutal 2nd Sucks, and the delightfully bouncy Right Back at It Again.

There’s pyro aplenty as we make our way through the new song Bad Blood and the heavy Paranoia. But it's halfway through the set when we get the moment that tips this from exceptional to other-worldly.

The band has recently started having a bass player on stage again (thankfully!!!), namely Fit For a King’s Bobby Lynge. Bobby was allowed to pick one song for the setlist that he wanted to play, and he chose…that’s right…the song that the band have refused to play for the last 15 years, their cover of Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone!

Bobby knew what he was doing, as did the band. From this point onwards, everything continued to build. As expected, when listening to the new album, LeBron and Feedback are superb additions to the setlist. Having gone through Miracle, All I Want, and Sometimes You’re the Hammer, one wonders where they can go with their last 10 minutes?

The answer is a three-song run that surpasses all the other remarkable set finishes we've seen all day. The beautiful change of pace of If It Means a Lot to You is sung loudly throughout, the surprise inclusion of my favourite song on the new album, Flowers, is greeted with a surprisingly bigger singalong during the chorus, and then we get to the closer…”I hate this town, it’s so washed up, and all my friends don’t give a f**k.”

As the last few seconds of All Signs Point to Lauderdale (co-written by the aforementioned Chad Gilbert of NFG) ring out, every single face is full of happiness and contentment at an exceptional set that proves that A Day to Remember has reached the top of this music scene and are there to stay. Expect them to headline Download very soon.

The End.

All in all, Slam Dunk excelled this year. There were the usual hang-ups (zero phone signal/internet, some horrendous toilets), but the lineup had something for everyone who would usually head to Hatfield or Leeds. As the sun sets on the start of my festival season, I’m left wondering how big the lineup will be with bands next year for their 20th anniversary…

Could it be Blink, Paramore, Bring Me The Horizon or, dare I say it, a 20th-anniversary Black Parade MCR? All would need a bigger stage to perform, but there is space available if the licence could be sorted. And do they bring back a Midlands date? Either way, I shall return as usual next year.

Oh, and I got home at 2am for anyone wondering...and yes, I was up and at work for 7am. Next up, it’s Download Festival!