Slam Dunk South 2022 - Festival Review
Written in collaboration with Jack Press and Dev Place.
The Queen might’ve roped in Queen + Adam Lambert, George Ezra, and Paddington Bear for the Platty Joobs celebrations, but Slam Dunk Festival has ALEXISONFIRE, Neck Deep, and Sum 41 dialling it up to 11 for all the punks. Whether you were slamming pints, shopping for merch, or singing your heart out, this year’s South leg at Hatfield House felt like a holy communion for one and all. Stacked wall-to-wall with all the pop-punk and post-hardcore you could possibly ask for, here’s what we thought of an awesome day out.
Caskets – The Key Club Stage
Opening up a stage is tough enough. Opening up a stage when half the festival-goers aren’t even through the gates is even tougher. And opening up a stage when there’s several other sets on, too, is even worse. But Leeds newcomers Caskets give it a good go. Whilst their underwhelming post-hardcore doesn’t punch any lights out – with mic issues in the mix muddying the sound – they still pump up the crowd. Cuts from last years’ Lost Souls like ‘Glass Heart’ and ‘Lost In Echoes’ don’t explode out the gate, yet there’s enough energy injected into each one to get the pits powering up. Credit where credit’s due, Caskets whip up the circle pits and it’s not even midday, which is no mean feat for experienced acts, let alone fresh meat.
Rating: 6/10
CASSYETTE – Jägermeister Stage
Cassyette @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: @katiemcmillanphoto
When you’re known as an electro-pop princess, opening up the heaviest stage at a festival is enough to get the elitists out of bed. But few acts have sent shockwaves through the alternative scene like Cassyette has in a single year, so it’s no surprise she smashes through her set, slapping smiles across more than a few faces. A double whammy of ‘Dear Goth’ and ‘Behind Closed Doors’ proves this nu-metal meets pop provocateur has the firepower for a stage featuring Cancer Bats and Beartooth, whilst ‘Sad Girl Summer’ serves up a dance-a-long The Interrupters would be envious of. If Cassyette’s set at Slam Dunk shows anything, it’s that she’s come on leaps and bounds as a live act since last year’s breakthrough shows. Every song is stacked with energy, and every interaction is meaningful – not a single moment’s wasted. And the crowd surfing craziness of ‘Mayhem’ is proof in the pudding that Cassyette can hang with the heavy acts.
Rating: 8/10
COUNTERPARTS – Jägermeister Stage
Counterparts @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: @bethanmillerco
In a change from this year’s Slam Dunk Festival theme of pop-punk bands, Canadian hardcore outfit Counterparts explode onto the stage with ‘Love Me’ – the opening track of their latest album ‘Nothing Left To Love’. They’re just the second band of the day to play the Jägermeister Stage and it’s not even 1pm, but they don’t let this stop them from giving it their all. Their brand of melodic metal goes down well with the audience that have braved the early(ish) start to come down and see them, only to reward them with one hell of a performance that’s full of Brendan Murphy’s aggressive vocals and breakdowns that start many a pit among the crowd they are beginning to draw in. The sleepy crowd is soon woken up by a rendition of the band’s brand-new single ‘Unwavering Vow’. It is a thrashy number that anyone in a three-mile radius should be able to hear with the pure passion that the band put behind their performance. Closing out the set with an oldie (but still a goldie) ‘The Disconnect’, Counterparts have cemented the idea that Slam Dunk thrives off variety within genre, giving something that the heavier fans can really get their teeth stuck into.
Rating: 7/10
YOURS TRULY – Rock Sound Stage
Yours Truly @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: @apertunes
Yours Truly’s set is the filling of an Aussie pop-punk sandwich on the Rock Sound Stage, and it’s clear they’re feeling the family vibes. Vocalist Mikayla Delgado dives and jives across the stage with swagger, clearly buzzing from their last-minute slots with You Me At Six in the same field just days before. Mikayla’s efforts aren’t lost on the crowd, as early helpings of ‘Circles’ and ‘Siamese Souls’ shake the ground as the crowd gets jumping, whilst she brings ‘Composure’ to a close to roars of applause as she chants “fuck whoever broke your heart!” As much as their Slam Dunk debut is a victory lap for last year’s ‘Self Care’, it seems Mikayla’s bandmates don’t share the enthusiasm. Songs like ‘Lights On’ and ‘High Hopes’ are adrenaline junkie numbers, but they stand static on the stage, letting the intensity drop off. Making matters worse, the mix isn’t great with the vocals far too quiet for full impact. But nobody notices enough to stop having fun, so Yours Truly bounce off the stage victorious.
Rating: 7/10
HOT MILK – Rock Scene Stage
You know a band has hype when the tent’s bouncing before they’re even on-stage, so by the time Hot Milk’s Jim Shaw and Hannah Mee explode across the stage like someone’s set off fireworks indoor, the energy in the Rock Scene Stage is palpable. Opener ‘I Just Wanna Know What Happens When I’m Dead’ dives straight in to the madness, whilst ‘Wide Awake’ wakes up any latecomers, as the band baits them out to start up “big fat gaping holes” for circle pits to erupt in. If you didn’t think they could steal the show anymore, ‘Candy Coated Lies’’ sing-along is so seismic the Richter Scale couldn’t cover it. Hot Milk haven’t got an album to their names, yet their stage presence is enough to persuade you they’re headliners. They inject a real rock and roll spectacle to their show, from Han hopping on top of the drum kit to kick back some riffs to Jim diving headfirst into the crowd to get up close and personal. New single ‘Teenage Runaways’ is proof in the pudding they’re getting bigger and better, whilst closing duo ‘Awful Ever After’ and ‘Split Personality’ are festival anthems already. Watch this space, Hot Milk could easily headline in 10 years’ time.
Rating: 10/10
SILVERSTEIN – Jägermeister Stage
Silverstein @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
When Silverstein take the stage, it’s easy to tell by the vast majority of the crowd that this is band that had huge popularity in the early noughties. Their set is a treat of nostalgia, as they race through a set of post-hardcore/emo. A couple of the expected favourites make their appearance, although maybe not where you’d expect them to slot into the setlist. ‘My Heroine’ makes an early appearance, with vocalist Shane Told bowing as he grips his mic to deliver those heavy lows. The entire band’s vocals sound very polished live, with Paul Marc Rousseau’s lead guitar jolting through the mix to underpin the set with those early-favoured riffs from ‘Smile In Your Sleep’ and tracks from their album ‘Misery Made Me’, released just last month. It’s clear that this newer material may need a bit more time for their fanbase to receive it as well as 2005’s ‘Discovering The Waterfront’, but these tracks don’t sound out of place in the setlist, and are performed with the same vigour from the entire band.
Rating: 7/10
PUNK ROCK FACTORY – Rock Sound Stage
Bringing the fun to the Rock Sound Stage was Welsh outfit Punk Rock Factory. A unique band in themselves, they bring something to the table for almost everyone with their own brand of pop-punk covers – though this set proved to be popular among the Disney fans in the audience. Coming off the back of their fourth album’s release just a few days prior, they had absolutely no worries of the audience singing along because they already knew the words. In a set that comprised mainly of Disney covers, Punk Rock Factory showed the audience how to truly have fun and let go of that worry that everyone around you is watching your every move – fittingly, this is probably the first time many people had seen a circle pit to Frozen’s ‘Let It Go’ until today. In a day that feels so rushed, Punk Rock Factory gave their audience a chance to relax and enjoy themselves instead of worrying what was coming next – and with pop-punk covers of the Encanto soundtrack, what’s not to like? They make sure to not take themselves too seriously and actually enjoy themselves alongside their audience, throwing pool inflatable hotdogs into the audience to give them a chance to crowd surf in true Punk Rock Factory fashion while they all relive their childhood by belting out the Pokémon theme tune. They really know how to use their platform for good, giving the parents in the audience a chance to bond with their younger children by using one of the purest forms of communication possible: music.
Rating: 8/10
KENNYHOOPLA – Rock Scene Stage
KennyHoopla @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
The Rock Scene Stage at Slam Dunk welcomes KennyHoopla, just 24 hours before he will go on to win Best International Breakthrough Artist at the Heavy Music Awards. Kenneth La’ron – aka KennyHoopla – leaps around the stage like an excited kid, quite literally unable to contain his energy. There’s no half-measures throughout the set, Kenneth and the band perform with full throttle. He addresses the crowd, expressing how excited he is to be sharing the stage with names he looks up to. KennyHoopla performs as though it’s hard-wired, effortless and as though he has a decade of experience under his belt- despite this project only starting in 2017. The crowd soaks up his infectious energy, roaming through singles such as ‘estella//’ and ‘how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?//’. The entire set is filled with a real essence of theatrics, but in the most natural way; La’ron just jolts himself about the stage, flailing his limbs while he distorts his voice the heavier mixes in his pop-punk sound- whatever the formula he’s using is- it’s working.
Rating: 9/10
CANCER BATS – Jägermeister Stage
Cancer Bats @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
Up next on the Jägermeister Stage was hardcore punk veterans Cancer Bats. They’re an extremely solid band and it is evident that they’ve been playing festivals of this calibre for years now – its just a bit of a shame that they always seem to end up playing so early in the day when an evening slot when they audience is a little more riled up would not only suit them better but give them the recognition they deserve. Regardless, they put their all into their performance, which happens to be one of their first with new guitarists and already accomplished musicians KT Lamond and Stephen Harrison. The pair blend right in with the rest of the band, and it feels like a natural and easy match for them both. They open the set with the title track from new album ‘Psychic Jailbreak’ and instead of solely promoting this new release, they choose to rattle through a set of crowd pleasers that evoke some of the strongest reactions of the day. Their cover of Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’ is always bound to go down well with the crowd and today was no exception. With nearly 20 years at the helm of the band, it’s clear that vocalist Liam Cormier knows how to take command of a crowd and does so impressively, especially in that lunchtime lull that festival season brings with it.
Rating: 8/10
ELECTRIC CALLBOY – Jägermeister Stage
Electric Callboy @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: @stateofloveandtrustalex
Just as the heat at Hatfield Park begins to subside a little, German outfit Electric Callboy make sure to turn it all the way back up. They may be missing their drummer, but it doesn’t stop them performing by using pre-recorded backing tracks alongside a questionable looking doll placed on their drumkit in an homage. Donned in some rather interesting 80s workout gear, the band waste no time in getting started, opening their set with 80s inspired electronic banger Pump It. It’s a set that was highly anticipated among most of the audience and its evident in the sheer amount of people that have turned up to see them and waste absolutely no time in getting stuck in before they can even play the opening notes. Their dual frontmen Kevin Ratajczak and newer addition Nico Sallach is an electric mixture that elevates the rest of the band’s performance – it’s almost easy to forget that they don’t have a drummer on stage with them. They’re definitely one of the more unique bands of the day, edging slightly more toward the realm of acts like Basshunter than heavy metal, yet they pull their style off flawlessly and its evidently one that the audience can get behind.
Rating: 9/10
MOD SUN – Rock Sound Stage
Mod Sun @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
Mod Sun played to a bustling Rock Sound Stage as the sun beats down in the late afternoon. The set is not short of energy, that’s for sure; he scurries about the small stage, oftentimes leaving it entirely to crouch onto the front monitors to overlook his audience. He spends a lot of time interacting with the crowd, expressing how stoked he is to play this festival, and how much he loves the UK. In between songs you can hear crowd members gossiping after a rumour spread that Derek – aka Mod Sun – has brought his fiancé Avril Lavigne along today. That is quickly distinguished when he addresses the audience, asking them to sing the chorus “I still burn you” from last year’s single ‘Flames’, which features Avril, loud enough that she can her them back home. While Mod Sun dedicates himself entirely for this set, it does seem to be a little unpolished. Unfortunately the technical problems that heavily delayed the set beginning seem to have interrupted what may normally be a bit more of a cohesive performance. The vocals sound a little muddy during the tracks that are more full instrumentally, and Derek seems to enjoy interrupting himself singing a little too much, hyping the crowd, or telling them what each track is about. He’s a natural born performer, but unfortunately that gets in the way of the sound just a little too much today.
Rating: 5/10
THE SUMMER SET – Rock Sound Stage
Along with 3OH!3 later this evening, THE SUMMER SET’s return to our shores for Slam Dunk is a reunion for the MySpace masses. Better yet, it’s their first time back since 2016, having gotten back together last year. Frontman Brian Logan Dales beam is so bright he could challenge the sun for solar power, as he dances and dashes across the stage, stoking the sing-alongs and dance-a-thons throughout their set. It’s clear they’ve all missed making music together, so it’s no surprise they stick to the hits. With the sun shining surprisingly, ‘Boomerang’ and ‘Chelsea’ feel like a summer celebration, bringing the beach party to Hatfield House whilst ‘All My Friends’ and ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ prove they’ve still got the chops to kick it live. And they’re not afraid to have some fun, as Dales dances with a blow-up doll during ‘All My Friends’, serenading it before sending it back to the crowd. It shouldn’t be so much fun to be seeing The Summer Set in 2022, but it’s safe to say you can call this a comeback.
Rating: 8/10
PENNYWISE – Dickies Stage
Pennywise @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
When the sun’s shining, the beer’s flowing, and there’s political unrest, some good old fashioned punk is just what the doctor ordered. And Californian legends Pennywise deliver a real dose of the good stuff. Blasting off like Woody and Buzz strapped to a rocket, they pull no punches and take no prisoners as they launch straight into ‘Fight Till You Die’ and ‘My Own Country’. ‘Same Old Story’ and ‘My Own Way’ up the ante, so that everywhere you look there’s either sing-alongs or mosh-pits no matter the song. Whilst their cover of ‘Stand By Me’ is a touching time for all, their set suffers from them toying around with too many cover songs. There’s no need to cut their own classics out to cover the likes of Nirvana and AC/DC, yet they do it anyway. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s one too many. However, ‘Fuck Authority’ and ‘Bro Hymn’ bring the house down proving once and for all that old-school punk always wins. Besides, no band got a bigger cheer than when they called out Ted Cruz and Boris Johnson more than a few times.
Rating: 7/10
THE AMITY AFFLICTION – Jägermeister Stage
The Amity Affliction @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
The Jägermeister Stage at Slam Dunk hosted most of the ‘heavier bands’ of the day, including The Amity Affliction, a band that has stayed pretty consistent in their sound since their 2012 record ‘Chasing Ghosts’, which was hugely hyped in the days of metal Tumblr fan pages, through to 2020’s ‘Everyone Loves You…Once You Leave Them’. That metalcore thundering element they’re known for sounds just as clean-cut live today. During this set, the band sound best during the mixed distorted and clean vocal sections on tracks like ‘Soak Me In Bleach’ and ‘Coffin’. The band are storming through their set until an interruption during ‘All Fucked Up’, when a panicked crowd alerted to someone needing help, and medics had to make their way through. After a long time of waiting for the assistance to clear the crowd and safely help out, it seemed that the set was likely over. Eventually, however, the band returned to whizz few another few songs. There seemed to be a little hesitation in performing with he same tenacity, but they still sound huge on this big stage, with the crowd continuing to soak up every riff they have to offer.
Rating: 8/10
THE WONDER YEARS – Rock Scene Stage
The Wonder Years @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
The Wonder Years are greeted to the Rock Scene tent with the adoration that you’d expect from a predominantly pop-punk festival. They were specially asked to perform two of their albums (2010’s ‘The Upsides’ and 2011’s ‘Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing’) in full across their two sets today following The Used having to drop out of the lineup. Frontman Dan Campbell almost demands of his crowd, yelling “alright Slam Dunk, I know you know the fucking words, show me how loud you can sing ‘em!” Just before the bridge of the iconic 2011 hit ‘Came Out Swinging’. And he was right, the crowd bellow loudly, fused with nostalgia as Campbell drops the mic to conduct them screaming “And I spent the winter writing songs about getting better, and if I’m being honest, I’m getting there.” The set seems cathartic, going through such integral tracks in a lot of pop-punk kids’ handbooks. The crowd just lap up all Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell throws at them. It’s obvious this band will always retain that ferocious love from an audience like this, and they match that energy with an authentic, powerful set. There’s not a moment there’s not a sea of hands or a crowd surfer in sight.
Rating: 8/10
STAND ATLANTIC – Rock Sound Stage
Off the back of the first leg of their US tour, Australian band Stand Atlantic have been kind to give us all a lesson in pop-punk mastery. The second leg of this tour will begin in just a few days time, so they’ve had little time to prepare themselves before travelling back over the pond to continue their headline run. This busy touring schedule comes from the release of brand-new album ‘F.E.A.R.’, and after a hectic few months of gigging, they show absolutely no signs of giving up just yet. They may be exhausted but this doesn’t stop them from putting on a show that leaves current fans more than satisfied and will no doubt create some new fans in the remaining audience members. They use this opportunity with a primetime set at Slam Dunk Festival to introduce those old and new fans to their new material, and rightly so because it’s absolutely fantastic. Front-woman Bonnie Fraser wastes no time in throwing herself around the stage and interacting with the audience who have no troubles singing their lyrics back to her. She and the rest of the band don’t take themselves overly seriously on stage, spending time to joke around with one another and complete forfeits for lost bets – something that we as the audience rarely get to see. Everything always seems so rigid and professional – this slight slip is a welcome change and hinders their performance in no way whatsoever. They still sound exactly as they do on record, making it easy for the audience to follow along and enjoy themselves. This attitude and these skills make Fraser one of the most charismatic singers in the genre right now and the energy that the rest of the band carries proves why Stand Atlantic are slowly creeping their way up toward the top of each festival lineup.
Rating: 10/10
BEARTOOTH – Jägermeister Stage
Beartooth @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
Just when the audience’s energy seems to start lacking, we are thrown in the direction of heavyweights Beartooth and the incredibly bruising set they manage to deliver. They’ve gone all out on their budget with pyrotechnics and smoke, but they deserve it. They are a band that are quickly reaching the top of their game and they’re now that step up that calls for this production value. Frontman Caleb Shomo wastes no time in quite literally exploding onto the stage with The Lines, immediately syncing with the audience’s enthusiastic headbanging. He somehow manages to keep this energy up throughout their entire hour-long set, throwing himself around on stage and somehow losing his shirt in the process. Guitarist Zach Huston has a brace supporting his leg throughout, yet still gives Shomo a run for his money on the energy front – a true sign of a dedication to their audience and putting on a good show. As a band that have been around for nearly ten years, it’s difficult to know what your audience will enjoy but a mix of some tracks off their first release, namely ‘Body Bag’ that evokes the loudest cheer of the day so far, and newer tracks like the brutal ‘Devastation’, they have the audience eating out of the palm of their hands. Beartooth somehow manage to defy all expectations during their allotted hour, encouraging an obscene amount of crowd surfing and other carnage within the crowd. The audience have clearly been hungry to see them over the last few years, but none more than the band wanted to see them. In a lull between songs an ever-grateful Shomo echoes a sentiment that most feel in this exact moment, after so long without these moments; “Music is not ‘something’ for me, music is literally fucking everything. It’s the blood coursing through my veins. Music is my first language.”
Rating: 10/10
THE STORY SO FAR – Rock Scene Stage
The Story So Far @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
The Story So Far play what is normally a bit of an early evening slump slot – but they show no signs of slowing the day down. They are sandwiched between two pop-punk powerhouses – The Wonder Years and Neck Deep. Looking at the Rock Scene Stage’s lineup today, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was 2012 and most of the audience were making gifs for other kids to reblog when they got home. This set however, proves that The Story So Far are not just a slice of nostalgia, but rather a band that have way more heavy hitters than you may remember under their belt, who have progressed and finessed throughout their near 13 year career. The nicest thing about their performance, is that they seem to be having a genuinely great time. Vocalist Parker Cannon is spotted side of stage before the band are due on, waiting patiently for line checks, smiling and waving at fans on the barricade. He enters the stage with a huge grin on his face and the crowd scream every word to every track. They sound surprisingly tight for a band of this ilk, and do justice to their cult favourites ‘Empty Space’ and ‘Quicksand’, as well as entire setlist full of infectious hooks.
Rating: 9/10
COLD YEARS – The Key Club Stage
Cold Years @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: @apertunes
With half of today’s headliners hitting the stage at the same time, last-minute replacements Cold Years’ have a mountain to climb to muster up a crowd on The Key Club Stage. Where other bands would fall, Cold Years rise to the challenge. There may only be 50 or so punters piled into the tent at any one time during their set, yet they play with the passion they’d give a crowd of a thousand. And the smiles on their faces, and the gratitude in their speeches between songs show they don’t care who’s turned up, they’re happy to be here playing to who is. ‘Kicking And Screaming’ is a rip-roaring affair whilst old cut ‘Breathe’ has the few singing like the plenty. But for all their efforts, their set does slip away a little when they try out a wall of death and several circle pits, but leaving just empty holes in the crowd instead of pits full of spirit. It’s safe to say that Cold Years deserved far better billing than this, but they more than rose to the challenge of stepping into a less than envious slot.
Rating: 7/10
ALEXISONFIRE – Jägermeister Stage
Alexisonfire @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
Since getting back together in 2015, post-hardcore pioneers Alexisonfire have gone from strength-to-strength in the UK. With major slots at Reading & Leeds and Download, as well as a headliner at Ally Pally, it’s a headline slot at Slam Dunk to kick off the ‘Otherness’ era, their first album in 13 years. But beyond a powerful playthrough of lead single ‘Sweet Dreams Of Otherness’, tonight’s set is a celebration of their past, stringing together a greatest hits set that half the band’s on the Jägermeister stage can only dream of having. A ridiculous opening run of ‘Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints’, ‘Boiled Frogs’, ‘Old Crows’, and ‘.44 Caliber Love Letter’ riles up all in attendance, as the circle pits get rowdy and the sing-alongs shake the ground.
Masters of pacing, they pack out the middle of their set with a treasure chest of songs. From ‘We Are The Sound’’s mosh-pit madness to ‘Pulmonary Archery’ and ‘Dog’s Blood’’s brooding melodies, these two decade-old songs are delivered like they were written weeks ago. George Pettit, Dallas Green and Wade MacNeil are so on form tonight you could start a fire, whilst bassist Chris Steele is like a moth to a flame, buzzing about the stage with an undeniable deathwish. Whereas Beartooth bought enough gunpowder to put Guy Fawkes to shame, Alexisonfire rely on nothing but a bag full of bangers to blow away the crowd. Closing trio ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World’, ‘Young Cardinals’, and ‘Happiness By The Kilowatt’ is a triumphant finish for a band who are bigger and better than they’ve ever been.
Rating: 10/10
NECK DEEP – Rock Scene Stage
Neck Deep @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
All the way back when in 2013, Neck Deep were announced as winners of a fan-voted competition in which they got to play their first Slam Dunk Festival. This year, the band would play the same festival but in a headline slot. It seems fitting considering that the band are on the cusp of their ten year anniversary and find themselves back in the place that catapulted them into the role of pop punk royalty. They have just over an hour to prove themselves to any naysayers in the audience and they try their best at doing just this. They explode out of the gate with brand new single ‘STFU’ – a track that is just stereotypical pop-punk in the best way. The rest of the set follows the same sort of vibe, taking us on a journey through the last ten years and their ‘best of’s. They crack out tracks like ‘Can’t Kick Up The Roots’, showcasing that feel good pop punk that they are so well known for. They manage to mix the tender and nostalgic moments with ones of pure joy, with Ben Barlow fronting all of it, joking that audience needs to “save battery” on their phones as soon as he asks for them to shine their lights. They finish off the night with ‘In Bloom’, one that almost everyone in the room can belt out. It’s an achievement for this band to climb the ranks the way that they have and there are not many more deserving than Neck Deep to close out the night on the Rock Scene Stage with a real emotion inducing set like theirs.
Rating: 9/10
DEAF HAVANA – Rock Sound Stage
Deaf Havana @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
This time last year, it looked like Deaf Havana were dead in the water. Having hung up their boots without telling anyone during the pandemic, they went their separate ways. After a year of not speaking and getting sober, songwriting duo and brothers James and Matty Veck-Gilodi got together again. With new album ‘The Present Is A Foreign Land’ just weeks away, their headline set on the Rock Sound stage showcases the singles, whilst separating themselves from their past. Their setlist tonight leans heavily on synth-pop experiment ‘Rituals’ and the new record, completely ignoring ‘Fools & Worthless Liars’, which feels weird when the super sing-along ‘Hunstanton Pier’ is omitted.
They start things off with a slow burn slide through the broodingly dark ‘Epiphany’ and ‘Hell’, before ‘Mildred’ shakes off the cobwebs as the crowd suddenly jumps into life, singing it word for word. New cuts like ‘Kids’ and ‘Going Clear’ go toe-to-toe with ‘Worship’ and ‘Trigger’, whilst ‘Old Souls’’ highlights ‘Speeding Cars’ and ‘Cara Padre’ prove just how powerful their deep cuts can be. On their last UK run in 2019, Deaf Havana were a difficult band to digest live, as the passion had clearly run out like gas in a car. But tonight, they’re alive and kicking, sounding as fired up as they did when they took on Brixton Academy in 2018. ‘On The Wire’ works up a frenzy, feeding the hunger for their new music, whilst closing number ‘Sinner’ is a neon waltz of pop majesty. Welcome back Deaf Havana, we missed you.
Rating: 9/10
SUM 41 – Dickies Stage
Sum 41 @ Slam Dunk Festival 2022 – South. Photo: Dev Place Photos
Sum 41 play for 70 minutes, and have no hesitations in starting out strong with their aptly named 2001 album ‘All Killer, No Filler’s Motivation’. They certainly bring the headliner status, with a stage production looking more appropriate for a band like Tenacious D, as they play in-front of a gigantic Devil’s head, Marshall amps covered in fake blood, and lots of pyro. It’s a bit of a juxtaposition to the same band we all remember for rapping at some local convenience store cashiers. They surprisingly understand the crowd they’re playing to really well, and don’t spend too much time on their newer material, which wasn’t as widely received as their noughties classics.
They do take a moment to stir things up with a Queen cover of ‘We Will Rock You’ – it’s a little cheesy, sure, but it’s a crowd warmer; which is just an appetiser for he final two songs of the set – ‘Fat Lip’ and ‘Still Waiting’. There’s an urgency to their set, and vocalist Deryck Whibley is a crowdpleaser. This is not a band who have slowed down after a few zingers in their 20+ year career and become complacent. They prove they are still integral in the pop punk scene.
Rating: 8/10
