Slumdunk Festival
Slamdunk Festival – Hatfield – 29 May 2010
Words by Ian Dickinson, Brendan Monteiro, Ryan Cooper, Jamie Reynolds, Marcus Maschwitz and Dai Knight
Slam Dunk Festival has become a staple diet for music lovers in Leeds and it’s only fitting that the one day event would soon enough make an appearance a little more South, to accommodate the London folk. As saturday rolled on we made our trek out to Hatfield; only to be greeted by the infamous and unreliable UK weather (as usual that iPhone app got it all wrong) but besides that the excitement was steadily growing. Soon enough the hordes from the queues were aloud in to the venue grounds and with a few hours of damp settled on our backs it was a hasty run for cover. Inside the confounds and out of the spit the Hatfield Forum was pretty much full in an instant, with people taking full advantage of the market like stalls of band merch and cheap shoes, sort of like a mini camden town of all things music related. Although the shutters are all down on the Imperial Clothing stage while My Passion do final checks, they are no barrier to the soundscapes and by what we could hear of it, the goth/punk synthers were going to be ending the night with a massive and terrorizing bang.
With stage times in hand it seemed a bitter choice as to whom you are going to get to see, I know bands stage times are always going to clash but I wonder if starting the event earlier might of had any positive effect on that. Even after a solid 30 minutes the indecisiveness as to whom your going to see didn’t seem any easier and so the choice was made to just wonder around from stage to stage and see what sounded good. First band we managed to see were The Skints, as far as the program looked it seemed like the Vans stage was a ska stage for the day but The Skints had a bit too much of a Reggae vibe for my liking.
Meanwhile outside Save Your Breath would of been better off in wetsuits as signs of the weather making trouble today were starting to show from the get go. With one main stage outside and one inside it was only logical that the indecisiveness of some fans would be clarified by the weather. While mincing around we manage to get about the last 3 chords of Azriel and instantly regret that the path didn’t lead us to them sooner. Next hard decision is between Me Vs Hero and Kill Casino with hopefully enough time to catch Flood Of Red on the way out to the Jager stage. Me Vs Hero throw together a tight set and entertain enough to kill any thoughts of waiting to get into another stage. Flood Of Red employ enough charm and melody to win over a fair amount of new fans and as usual, Calum Doris displays an immense amount of energy.
The Gods are truly smiling on Young Guns lately, with an amzing year behind them and a promising debut ahead; out of nowhere the rain stops and shows signs of hope, Weight Of The World just seems so much better when your dry. Gus powers the Wycombe mob through an explosive set and looking at Son Of Apathy as a reference, I can see these guys a lot further up the bill next year, possibly even headlining. Within the realms of the inside stage things are really starting to get a little cramped, Random Hand are dishing out an ample amount of ska-core while FACT do their best at turning their listeners into a mini takeshi’s castle pit on speed.
Macbeth might not have the biggest stage but they have some class acts, with Gavin Butler of the Blackout making an amazing performance, his voice is well suited for this down tone performance and it’s nice to catch this other side of him. Save Ourselves was a particular treat for The Blackout fans, with Sean Smith making an appearance. Outside Rolo Tamassi are not as lucky with the weather and it shows in the crowd, for the few fans that do stay, they are treated to a fully fledged offering of whacked out jazzed up melody’s and some “shit in your pants she’s scary” screams courtesy of Ms Spence.
Richard Carter Let’s loose on a rowdy crowd, showcasing that he’s not just Gallows younger brother and has some mean vocal chords that he tugs on continuously, furthermore Blackhole are definitely my suprise act of the festival.
Back at the Macbeth stage and there are suprise guest slots, firstly Liam of We Are The Ocean and then James Veck-Gilodi. As Liam takes to the tiny stage you can see all eyes on him are glued. His enchanting voice induces goosebumps and a sudden urge to dig in the pockets and pull out the old lighter routine, in all seriousness though the man has an amazing voice. The set is made ever more emotive when Liam calls upon his dad to help him with a cover of The Eagles Take It Easy, a moment that I don’t think will ever happen again. Although the crowd is super small they all lend a voice and the resulting chorus of Nothing Good Has Happened Yet is nothing short of breathtaking. James of Deaf Havana is powerful, emotive and engaging through out and should be commended for his cover of Angeles by elliot smith. The fact he forgot a couple of words only increased the songs charm; he closed the set with Nicotine And Alcohol Saved My Life, which with its lyrical content lends perfectly to a troubadours touch.
RX Bandits are lagging behind time a little due to technical difficulties and end up starting there set 25 minutes late, by this time the crowd are impatient but Matt Embree Calms the masses efficiently within on bar, their fusion of ska rock might be missing a little brass but the effect they have on the crowd is unmistakable. Christopher Tsagakis is like a machine, playing some of the most interesting and intricate rhythms of the day. Next door Your Demise have kids hurricane swinging like there’s no tomorrow while outside We Are The Ocean draw a big crowd, their set is brutal and energetic with Dan showcasing his tree climbing skills,
when he finally bellows his section of Confessions from his leafy confines I am lost for words. WATO are another UK band to make a big impact on Slamdunk and in my eyes overshadow Set Your Goals playing the main stage inside, some might say it’s due to the restrictions in place but I can confirm the next band after WATO didn’t pull as big a crowd. Fireworks put on a good showing but by now Slamdunk is starting to really show signs of strain, with some people claiming to have only seen 1 or 2 bands by now. One band that is not going to let the funk in the crowds bring them down is Deaf Havana, they annihilate the stage and even though they might be missing Ryan Mellor, they seem stronger than ever. Inside the Baby Cakes Bar Sean Smith has brought the party again, playing a wide range of songs that get the upstairs venue buzzing. His medley of bumping house tracks like Sidney Samson’s Riverside and righteous classis in the form of Haddaway’s What is Love ensure that all shoes are turned to dance mode, nice touch with the weener mac too.
As the day draws on it’s not a choice of who you wanted to see but rather who your forced to see, for those lucky enough to be upstairs for Four Year Strong, Damn you. Skindred explode onto the vans stage, the welsh ragga boys are always a good show to watch and today is no different.
Against Me! come out swinging, it’s suprising that a band so big and so good hasn’t pulled a bigger crowd, there’s a long ranging queue of unhappy people ranting to get inside the main building which is sad because Against Me! are on top form tonight, and no wonder because they even had an Accordion player with a proper french moustache, now that’s rock n roll.
check out the backstage acoustic song they Tom Gabel performed with the help of the aforementioned accordionist.
Alkaline Trio open their set with Private Eye; I thought the girl giving her boyfriend a repressed public climax was a bit much but she clearly didn’t . As far Matt, Dan and Derek’s performance goes; they put on the show of the evening. Other stand out moments were the poor organising that left more than a few upset and disappointed fans unable to enter The Forum for the last few bands, including New Found Glory. The mass gathered in unison chanting of “This Is Shit” outside while some banged on the windows. The police weren’t going to quiet down this mob but luckily for the organiser’s that Liam from WATO felt the need to make it up to the crowd with an impromptu unplugged session outside.
Other downers were the lack of proper security, the result of which left some fans hurt when coming over the top from crowd surfing, but hopefully all these problems will get solved for next years. Disappointments for the day was missing out on New Found Glory, The Wonder Years, Capdown and Moneen (I wonder if they did a cover of celine dion’s track from the titanic?)
