Photo by Felix Bartlett

Festival season was officially kicked off festival for most last bank holiday weekend at none other than Slam Dunk! Summer is officially here and we could not be happier. Here are just a few of the highlights from Slam Dunk 2024…

Words & Photos: Felix Bartlett

STATE CHAMPS

It’s been 10 years since State Champs released ‘The Finer Things’ and what better was to celebrate than performing the album in full. It was pop-punk perfection giving us the ultimate nostalgia and summer vibes the UK has been waiting for. With timeless tracks off the album like ‘Elevated’ and ‘Remedy’ everyone was living their best pop-punk life singing along, the energy was infectious.

We may have missed some of their other tracks but no State Champs set is complete without the bands anthem ‘Secrets’, which ended the set on the ultimate high. Stay tuned to catch our chat with Derek and Tyler on all things pop-punk…

I PREVAIL

Known for bringing the chaos, I Prevail came in clutch bringing the madness to Slam Dunk over the weekend. Opening up with ‘There’s Fear In Letting Go’ straight into ‘Body Bag’the tone was set to be a set of heavy riffs and breakdowns, open-air mosh pit heaven.

You’ll usually only ever catch us listening to Taylor Swift when the boys in I Prevail are covering ‘Blank Space‘, and to our surprise the iconic pop goes punk cover made the setlist, a highlight of the day no question. we missed Brian but wish him all the best in recovering from his recent series of surgeries.

i prevail 40soph ditchfield — *Photo by: Sophie Ditchfield (Slam Dunk)*

THE GHOST INSIDE

Following on almost 10 years after their tragic tour bus accident in 2015, The Ghost Inside have been on a non-stop relentless journey proving nothing will drag them down.

Once again descending on the hallowed grounds of Slam Dunk with a performance of epic proportions filled with hard-hitting vocals and crunching guitar riffs. The Ghost Inside truly kicked off the GoPro stage showing festival attendees the heavier side of what the Slam Dunk line-up had to offer.

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

The bar was set high but boy did Luke Woodland of Holding Absence step up joining Funeral For A Friend for their Slam Dunk performances. To cover a song or two of another artist in a set is one thing, but to take on the challenge of performing another band’s discography of iconic tracks is a whole other ball game. Luke truly excelled and made it his own while sticking true to the Funeral For A Friend brand. It was truly the perfect throwback set, with well-known classics like ‘Rookie Of The Year’ and ‘Streetcar’it served to be the reunion set we have all been craving.

PALAYE ROYALE

After a small break following the loss of their mother, the boys of Palaye Royale are back and brought their rock and roll circus to Slam Dunk over the weekend. If anyone knows how to control a crowd and put on a show, its Palaye Royale with their audience interactions and songs you cannot help but dance to, even if you have never heard them before!

It’s not a true Palaye Royale show without lead-singer Remington Leith hanging from the stage rigs or jumping off of stacked up speakers. Despite being acknowledged in a letter by the UK government as “a danger to society” he told us a Reading Festival last year, Remington did not hold back and gave their fans his all. The band of brothers know how to leave a crowd craving more which felt perfectly timed after the announcement of their biggest UK headline show to date at Wembley Arena later this year!

THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS

If there was one band that brought the ultimate 2000’s nostalgia to Slam Dunk this year, it was The All-American Rejects. You don’t even have to be an active fan or listener to have enjoyed this set. It was the perfect opportunity to record a paint

and just have a dance and sing along with your friends and vibe along to the pop-punk classics ‘Swing-Swing’, ‘Dirty Little Secret’, ‘Gives You Hell’ and ‘Move Along’.

YOU ME AT SIX

Time for the main event, Slam Dunk this year served as You Me At Six’s final UK Festival appearances and it was a rollercoaster if emotions. As soon as you entered the site, you could see a funeral hearse with an “RIP YMAS” floral arrangement which was a brutal reminder that for some this was the last chance they would have to catch them alive.

From the get go, this show was bound to make history for the band and damn was the set list the perfect send off. They kicked things off with a few throwbacks, ‘Save It For The Bedroom’ and ‘Reckless’ had the crowd screaming from the start. Every You Me At Six era was represented with tracks from Cavalier Youth like ‘Lived A Lie’ and ‘Room To Breathe’ as well as their most recent triumphs SUCKAPUNCH with ‘Beautiful Way’ and their most recent album Truth Decay with ‘No Future? Yeah right released only last year.

It truly was one banger after another with anthems like ‘Bite My Tongue,’ ‘Underdog,’ and ‘Loverboy’ showcasing the bands victorious discography spanning over the last 20 years. The beginning of the end for the boys is upon us, but You Me At Six’s historical performances over the weekend showed us we are all “Sixers For Life.”