Arriving in Leeds and having around 90% of our hotel filled with people going to Slam Dunk, you could tell by the atmosphere in the queue to check in that it was going to be a great day.
We arrived in the wristband queue shortly after 2pm, when it was wrapping around corners and right out of the university campus. We expected a very long wait, but it turned out that we only waited around an hour, which made me think right away that the whole festival was going to done very efficiently.
Once we were inside, we headed right to the Jagermeister stage (The Refectory) to see HelloGoodbye (7/10). Having already bumped in to MC Lars walking around the site, HelloGoodbye's pop fuelled setlist entertained us enough to keep us watching, and not realising they'd been on as long as they had until they ended quite abruptly after In Your Arms.
Next up, after sampling the food and drink outside the Front bar, was Anti-Flag (9/10). Nothing like I'd expected them to be, they belted through song after song, entertaining everyone and getting the crowd well and truly warmed up for what had shaped up to be an amazing line up of bands.
Following Anti-Flag for us, was VersaEmerge (7/10). Known widely as an alternative to Paramore, I didn't really have high expectations for the band, mainly because I don't like female vocals in rock music very much. However, VersaEmerge definitely impressed me and were great at what they were doing, especially with the crowd going as wild as they did, but there's definitely room for improvement on the stage presence of the band.
However, I did leave halfway though their performance to go to see Akira The Don, so they could have got better as they got further in to their set.
Akira The Don wasn't on stage when we arrived 5 minutes after his scheduled starting time, and in fact, didn't come on stage at all. When asking stewards/bar staff what was happening, nobody seemed to know, so we gave up and hung around waiting for friends.
MC Lars and Weerd Science (10/10) were up next, and in all honesty, they put in the best performance I saw of the entire day. Steaming through his better known songs, and dotting in the occasional Weerd Science song, you could tell that Lars was having a great time as well as we were. Download This Song made the crowd go crazy, and not just for the free DVD he was offering, and Mr Raven and iGeneration kept up that form. Lars stagediving and crowdsurfing against the wishes of security ended a fantastic set.
Less Than Jake (9/10) were next, and as well as all their hits and fan favourites, we were treated to their covers of the Spongebob Squarepants theme song and the Scooby Doo theme song. Amazing.
Reel Big Fish (8/10) ended our night, rather earlier than their set finished as a friend got injured, but what I saw of the band, they were definitely on form. Some great songs played and what seemed like a great stage presence.
Overall, Slam Dunk was a definite 10/10 and lineup dependant, I'll be in attendance for years to come!
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
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