“I had the best time and now my voice is absolutely non-existent from screaming lyrics” – Meg
Taking the scene by storm every year, Slam Dunk Festival has come around again. Representing a massive change in scenery at Hatfield Park which is usually found playing host to tourists wishing for a scenic and calming day out, Slam Dunk instead played host to some of the biggest names in punk, rock, and metal across a packed-out festival site. With the weather on our side and only a handful of bands having to drop out at last minute, the day was looking promising when we rocked up on site.
Despite initial delays getting on-site for some early risers, the process of getting in when we arrived was quick and easy with no queues and minimal stress. The same however can’t be said for the bars who adopted a cashless system which initially failed, leading to hour-long queues to be served proving not ideal for people wishing to grab a quick drink between bands. Overall, however, the site layout proved to be spacious and well organised for eager festival-goers trying to find their way around.
A welcome change this year saw the Jägermeister stage moving from a tent to the open-air stage which once housed NOFX’s Punk In Drublic stage. The stage played host to some huge acts this year with a personal favourite being Counterparts playing their first set of UK shows since 2020 to a fanbase who have grown immeasurably since they last graced a UK stage. The Jägermeister stage also provided the set-up needed for the ‘almost German Eurovision contestants’ – Electric Callboy, to provide what’s been deemed to be of the most memorable sets of the day. Closing the Jägermeister stage after a day that saw an incredible lineup of some of the brightest up and coming bands and some iconic household names was never going to be an easy task, but a fabled UK show from the iconic Alexisonfire (Their first in 3 years) proved to be exactly what was needed.
Moving on from the hard hitters at the Jägermeister stage, the festival also played host to an interesting range of genres with Punk Rock Factory playing a mixture of reimagined punk covers of iconic Disney songs and TV themes on the Rock Sound stage, providing a very interesting start to my day with me screaming along to The Little Mermaids ‘Under the sea’ In a way I never thought I would. Keeping with the mix of genres on this stage, 3OH!3 returned to the UK for the first time since I saw them at the height of their fame in 2012 at the sorely missed UK edition of Vans Warped Tour, and their set reminded us that there’s a lot more to their music than a one-off collab with Katy Perry and one of my favourite quotes to this day: ‘Tell your boyfriend if he says he’s got beef, that I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t fuckin scared of him’.
It goes without saying that no Slam Dunk is complete without seeing some of the best band’s pop-punk has to offer. But wow did they deliver this year. Or should I say, The Wonder Years delivered. Following the heartbreaking last-minute cancellation of Motion City Soundtrack, The Wonder Years who were initially planning on playing anniversary shows for their albums ‘The Upsides’ and ‘Suburbia, I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing’ in an arrangement that would have seen one album played at Slam Dunk North and one at South, they instead opted to play both albums back-to-back at both events. It’s safe to say that the fans Came out swinging for these sets. The problem with playing both of these albums back-to-back is that each album consists of some of their best music, leaving no time to stop and breathe between moshing, crowd surfing, and generally just screaming your heart out to iconic lines like ‘I’m not a self-help book; I’m just a fucked up kid. I had to take my own advice and I did’ and ‘I’m not sad anymore, I’m just tired of this place. The homophobic bullshit that’s somehow okay just because you didn’t mean it that way.’ The Wonder Years by far provided my most memorable set of the day and most likely my most memorable show of the year.
Following The Wonder Years and keeping in rhythm with hearing classic modern pop-punk anthems, The Story So Far played a non-stop setlist of their biggest tracks over the past 12 years, even finding time to throw in a cover of No Cigar by Millencolin before going on to end the show with Quicksand and Empty Space. Closing out the stage rather deservedly was headliners Neck Deep after they were first chosen to play the festival in 2013 through winning a competition, they’ve since risen up the line-up marking their 6th Slam Dunk appearance in 9 years. The setlist was a welcomed mix of old and new with songs dating back to 2012’s Rain in July EP and the addition of the more festival-friendly full band version of December ensuring that the set was full of energy from start to finish.
Closing out the day we saw headline sets from Deaf Havana and Sum 41 with Deaf Havana taking to the Rock Sound stage to an audience of what must have been some very dedicated fans who were willing to miss legendary hits from Sum 41, in exchange for a Deaf Havana setlist geared more toward long-time fans with them passing up the opportunity to play some of their more iconic songs. For those who did see Sum 41 though it’s safe to say their show was All killer and no filler with a setlist comprising of some of the most popular pop-punk songs of our generation, receiving crowd singalongs that will no doubt go down in Slam Dunk history.
All in all Slam Dunk 2022 felt like a proper return to the UK festival scene with no trying to find signal to download my covid pass or being anxious about people coughing around you who weren’t wearing a mask. It’s completely set the tone for what to expect from the first full return to the UK festival circuit after 3 years of waiting and upcoming festivals like Download and 2000 Trees have a high bar set for them to overcome from this one-day event in the scenic grounds of Hatfield Park.
Special thanks to Slam Dunk and Public City for giving us the opportunity to review Slam Dunk 2022.