Slam Dunk Festival is one of the highlights of my year, kicking off the festival season in style. It’s usually a joyous occasion, celebrating the very best of punk and modern rock music. However, this year was a little different, due to the numerous logistical issues that plagued the event.
Review by Jane Howkins
Photos by John Hayhurst
Whenever I’ve been to the Temple Newsam site before, there’s also been a bit of a queue to get into the car park, which is expected. However, spending two and a half hours waiting to get in is not ideal and apparently we were the lucky ones, as other festival goers have stated they were forced to park miles away, coming back later to find that their vehicles had been towed.
When we finally arrived (after unfortunately missing Millie Manders & the Shutup & Teenage Bottlerocket), it was immediately apparent that the event had been oversold. The festival team have since denied this, but we’re sure that anyone that attended can testify to this statement.
Queues for food, merchandise, toilets, bars and water points were horrendous all day, with people waiting hours for the basic necessities. Another confusing aspect of the day was the fact that the few food points all seemed to be crammed into one area, with lots of space left over at the entrance to the festival and near the Amazon/Rock Scene stage. These issues need to be addressed in future – hopefully the Slam Dunk team will take heed and take the necessary steps needed to ensure the success of the event in 2024.
Now onto the music itself…
The first band we managed to see was Zebrahead, who were fantastic as always. Despite being Slam Dunk stalwarts, they’re usually plonked onto one of the smaller stages, so it was amazing to finally see them performing on the main stage. The crowd was fairly big for such an early start time, as the band ran through a selection of hits – Falling Apart was a particular delight.
Due to the queues, we didn’t manage to see all the band’s we wanted to see, with Gogol Bordello being our next stop. Also playing on the Dickies stage, the Ukrainian gypsy punk band fit in well. Flying the colours of their native homeland in the background, they stormed through a range of songs, from the catchy Start Wearing Purple all the way through to the surprising Tribal Connection (it’s one of my favourite Bordello songs, but it’s one of the deeper cuts from their catalogue).
The Menzingers are one of my all time favourite bands, and they certainly did not disappoint. There was an eminent feeling of joy present during their set, from both the fans and the band. They’re a great live band, bouncing around the stage with glee throughout their relatively short stage time. House On Fire really got the energy pumping, with punk banger Nice Things providing a high point for the band near the end.
Again, queueing hampered us from seeing Creeper (although doubtless they’ll be at the festival next year), so we headed over to see Billy Talent. I love this band, and they have a reputation for putting on fantastic live performances – even for people who don’t like their music. Opening with one of their most famous songs, the menacing Devil In A Midnight Mass, the band ran through a slew of songs from their back catalogue, creating a nice overall mix of tracks.
Finally, it was time for main stage headliners The Offspring to take the stage. They’re one of those bands that have a huge variety of hits, from the frenetic All I Want all the way through to Pretty Fly (For A White Guy). Whilst the band were certainly very technically proficient, I have to admit that the performance felt a little stale and mundane at times. There was hardly any on-stage banter until the middle of the set, when cringey dad jokes and too many attempted cover songs took over the set. It didn’t quite work for a mostly British audience, although there’s no doubt that the jokes might have been better received in their home nation. The Offspring weren’t bad by any means, but they weren’t particularly exciting either.
All in all, the music was fairly decent, but the organisation and infrastructure issues need to be rectified next time around.
