Festival News: Slam Dunk makes it's first line up announcements!
Slam Dunk is back, and once more it’s set to be a stunner.
It feels like only days have passed since Slam Dunk 2022 — yet somehow, three months and the brunt of Summer have flown by. But with the cooler autumn months, and the restarting of schools worldwide, comes some of the most anticipated moments in the musical calendar — line-up announcements!
And one of the first out of the gates is Slam Dunk — and, as per, the organisers behind it have outdone themselves. Announced by way of a nostalgic little 8-bit game, the bands appeared en lieu of power ups, coins or rewards for the little arcade protagonist — and the little drip feed of acts that came through built the excitement, little by little, until the retro arcade music shifted to the third iconic version of a metal classic we’ve heard this weekend: a chiptune version of Sorry You’re Not A Winner (after the original and the surprise Pendulum remix from Reading and Leeds at the weekend). Enter Shikari are coming back to Hatfield and Leeds Temple Newsam, after their Take To The Skies anniversary celebration in 2017, for Slam Dunk 2023.
And that’s not all — Slam Dunk has also revealed that legendary punk band The Offspring are also headlining the festival, back in the UK 18 months after their Let The Bad Times Roll tour.
As if those two bands aren’t enough — because, let’s be honest, that’s already enough of a lineup to warrant a ticket — Slam Dunk have also begun to sketch out how a lot of the day will look. For the punk side, there’s festival-favourite Billy Talent, as well as Bowling For Soup, who always promise a good time — what screams fun more than belting the Phineas and Ferb theme tune in a field of thousands? — and an exciting anniversary celebration of ‘Hello Rockview’ from Less Than Jake. For the more rocky side there’s Welsh (and everywhere else) favourites Holding Absence, along with Creeper and doubtlessly their eponymous cult, already announced to be headlining an as of yet undisclosed stage; joining them otherwise are the riff-laden heaviness of Malevolence, the rowdy, raucous fun of Trash Boat, and the fantastic Fit For A King, making up for their 2020 appearance that obviously was cancelled. There’s also exclusive reunions from both Kids In Glass Houses, set to perform for the first time in almost nine years, and The Academy Is..., who themselves haven’t performed in almost eight.
Elsewhere, NoahFinnce makes his return, Four Year Strong keep going strong — and heavy, pop-punk speaking — and both girlfriends and Real Friends are set to make new Slammie D friends next May. SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Maggie Lindemann, Grayscale, Charlotte Sands, Destroy Boys are all also set to appear.
So, with a lineup like that, what are you waiting for?
Words by James O’Sullivan
