On Sunday 29th May, Flick of the Finger headed down to Birmingham’s
NEC for the Midlands edition of the biggest event of the year for poppunk/rock music fans. With it being the 10th Anniversary, the festival
was proposed to be bigger and better than ever with a new, larger venue
and a stellar line up, including headliners such as Panic! at the Disco, Of
Mice & Men, New Found Glory and more.
During the 11 hours that I spent at the popular festival, I managed to fit in an
impressive number of twelve bands, thanks to the handy clash-finder/map
flyer that the festival decided to provide. With seven stages and over 40 acts,
there really was something for everyone at Slam Dunk 2016 and this was
evident by the huge queues I witnessed upon my arrival. There was a buzz of
excitement among all in attendance that did not seem to die in the slightest
throughout the day, and who could blame them when the acts that took to the
stages just got better and better throughout the day.
My day had a disappointing start, sadly, as I headed to the Atlas Stage to
catch Japanese rockers, coldrain. After 25 minutes had passed since the fivepiece were due on stage, a member of the Slam Dunk team took to the stage
to inform everyone that due to a technical difficulty, that had taken so long to
be resolved, coldrain, would not be able to perform (obviously to allow for the
rest of the day to run smoothly without delays) – but the best part of this
announcement was that the microphone, ironically, cut out when he started to
explain why they would not be able to perform – classic!
But onwards and upwards, as the next band due on the Atlas Stage were
metalcore band The Word Alive. Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, the five-piece
received a huge welcome as they, unexpectedly, opened the second largest
stage of the festival – something which they did extremely well. The audience
immediately took to the band, and their music, and were involved from start to
finish – singing and dancing at every opportunity. Frontman, Telle Smith, had
huge amounts of energy that was infectious to all in close proximity and he it
was evident that he did really “at home” on the stage, as he exclaimed at one
point in the set. They were a truly wonderful start to the day.
Then it was time for me to weave my way through the bottleneck crowds that
consumed the corridors to reach the main stage in time for Young Guns to
play. Young Guns are a band that I have seen a few times throughout my
years of attending pop-punk/rock gigs, as they seemed to support anyone and
everyone in their first few years as a band. This obviously paid off though as
all members of the band, especially lead vocalist Gustav Wood, exuded
confidence and energy – completely owning the stage as they worked their
way through their forty-five minute set. The passion and liveliness of the band
was evident to all and they seemed to have the audience completely
mesmerised. I was extremely impressed with how far they have come, which
led to them being one of my highlights of the day for sure.
I then went back, weaving through the crowds, to catch a little bit of Miss May
I as they thrashed onto the Atlas stage. These guys were definitely a band for
people who like heavier music, and although they weren’t my cup of tea, I had
to appreciate them and their passion. I’m not sure how their frontman, Levi
Benton, was able to stand by the end of their set as he never stopped moving
or head-banging (with considerable force), but this energy and enthusiasm
was clearly something that their fans also adopted while watching the
metalcore quintet.
Then, the moment I had been waiting for, Mayday Parade stepped out onto
the main stage to a packed audience of 6000+. The band lacked their
drummer, Jake Bundrick, due to medical reasons (and instead had a
replacement) but this didn’t seem to phase the band as they launched into the
first song of their set and I was immediately sent back in time to my early
teenage years. Mayday Parade, for me, are like an aged-wine, only getting
better and better with time. I may be a little biased, but I felt like the entire
audience was in the same boat as me, as we all watched the 11-year-old
rock/pop-punk band play hit after hit. Lead vocalist, Derek Sanders, looked as
happy as could be as they smashed through their set and took a photo of the
large crowd that had turned up to watch them, as requested by his daughter
apparently. Again, a little biased, but the five-piece were definitely the
highlight of the day for me.
The rest of the day consisted of the same kind of thing – running from stage to
stage to catch as many bands as possible, and I managed to see Yellowcard
(who played popular album Ocean Avenue from start to finish after some
minor technical issues), The Amity Affliction, Mallory Knox, Four Year Strong,
New Found Glory, Memphis May Fire, Of Mice & Men, and headliners Panic!
at the Disco.
Panic! at the Disco were interesting headliners in my opinion, as they have
recently become more mainstream which is far from the running theme of
genres of the other acts on this year’s line up. However, this meant absolutely
nothing as everyone possible seemed to head to the main stage ready to see
the popular band take to the main stage. This was their second show of the
day, after rushing from BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend to get to Birmingham in
time for a short nap before hitting the stage – as frontman Brendon Urie told
the crowd. The rock band absolutely smashed their set, performing hit after
hit, with the crowd singing along to every single word. The atmosphere was
incredible and was definitely a perfect end to an exciting and incredible day.
My first time at Slam Dunk festival but it certainly won’t be the last!