Page 61 - Black Velvet Issue 89

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SLAM DUNK MIDLANDS At 4.15pm it’s time for As It Is on The Key
BIRMINGHAM GENTING ARENA, 29.05.16 Club Stage. The crowd is massive for the
Happy Anniversary to Slam Dunk for Brighton-based band. These guys are des-
making it to ten years. 2016 marks a decade tined to be huge. Their set is nonstop energy.
since the first ever Slam Dunk Festival, which They’ve won lots of fans in the last year and
back in 2006 solely took place in Leeds. Over momentum is picking up speed. Patty Walters
the years, Slam Dunk has grown and estab- makes a great frontman and the rest of the
lished itself as one of the best music festivals band concentrate on their playing while he
in the UK, if not the world. Now with a Mid- whips the audience into a frenzy during songs
lands leg, the event has been in Wolverhamp- like ‘Winter’s Weather’ and set ender, ‘Dial
ton for the last three years, however 2016 Tones’.
saw Birmingham NEC/Genting Arena host Another highlight of the day is what
the central slot, while Wolverhampton Civic comes next: Yellowcard perform their ‘Ocean
and Wulfrun Hall was being renovated. And Avenue’ album in full. There’s not much that
Genting Arena proved to be a positive and could better this – only perhaps the band’s
successful choice, with the venue being line-up from that time being present. But here
packed with over twice the amount of pop- we have their current line-up, with Rob Chi-
punk fans than the Civic and Wulfrun could anelli of We Are The In Crowd playing drums.
hold. The best songs are arguably at the start of the
With eight different stages and 7 – 9 album, and so, also, the set. ‘Way Away’ and
bands on each stage, it’s tough to know which ‘Breathing’ are bliss, while Ryan Key tells the
bands to see. Luckily, a large portion of our crowd it’s weird playing ‘Ocean Avenue’ third
favourite bands are on the main stage, so that as it usually ends the set. You can’t get much
is our first port of call. Moose Blood open the better than ‘Ocean Avenue’, the track. ‘View New Found Glory
main arena stage at 1.30pm. Unfortunately From Heaven’ was about losing a friend,
technical problems get in the way of a smooth Scott, 15 years ago, while ‘Believe’ is appar-
intro and vocalist Eddy Brewerton looks quite ently violinist Sean Mackin’s favourite song.
sad and embarrassed as he thanks the audi- It’s one of ours too and helps start to wind the
ence for being patient when they’re finally set up. ‘Ocean Avenue’ was an album we
ready to begin. The band are unashamedly used to have on repeat back when it was first
emo and songs like ‘Bukowski’, the first song released. It was an album that was THAT
they ever wrote, and ‘Boston’ sound like they good, so to hear the whole thing played live
were inspired by Taking Back Sunday and is very special.
Brand New. There’s an honesty to their lyrics The lit up ‘MK’ signage indicates that Mal-
and an earnest feeling to their tone. They go lory Knox are next up on the main stage.
down well with the ever-growing arena crowd, These guys also do not disappoint. They’re
and by the end of their set, the problems at one of the rockier bands of the festival, with a
the start have been forgotten. well-rounded sound. ‘Ghost In The Mirror’,
Young Guns have been away working ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Lighthouse’ cement their tal-
on a new album and rock fans are eager to ent. It was at Slam Dunk a few years ago that
see them again. The band, who had bid we saw Mallory Knox for the first time and
farewell to drummer Ben Jolliffe a few days were blown away. Now they’ve become a
earlier, have not lost any of their live perform- band we never want to miss. Mikey Chapman
ance prowess and the powerful and familiar talks about how you can make your dreams
strains of ‘Bones’ incite fists in the air while come true if you work hard and don’t give up.
‘Winter Kiss’ brings an anthemic atmosphere. Maybe in a couple more years they’ll be
They add in new song ‘Bulletproof’ from their headlining the festival. We wouldn’t be sur-
forthcoming new album, a song that shows prised.
that they haven’t strayed too far from their We head back to The Key Club stage to
bearings, and still retains that Young Guns take photos of Four Year Strong, where
sound. Young Guns kind of fill that hole left by things are chaotic from the moment they kick
Lostprophets and the forthcoming new album off. Their boisterous punk rock ferments the
will no doubt take them to the next level. crowd and security have their work cut out.
We rush over to the Key Club Stage for We have to leave the photopit after the sec- Mallory Knox
Hit The Lights. It’s not too far from the main ond song as security need all the space to
stage, so we catch songs such as ‘Fucked Up pull crowd surfers out. It’s nearly time for New
Kids’ and ‘The Real’. The energetic pop-punk Found Glory so we head back to the main
tunes prompt members of the crowd to crowd stage where Jordan Pundik, Chad Gilbert, Ian
surf and pogo. The stage is quite small so Grushka and Cyrus Bolooki please the crowd
there’s not too much space but they don’t let with the likes of ‘Hit Or Miss’, ‘All Downhill
that deter them from putting everything into From Here’ and ‘Listen To Your Friends’.
their set. Chad speaks about how Slam Dunk has
And then it’s back to the main stage for grown over the years, giving credit to the fans
Mayday Parade. The band are without their for making it happen. These guys are veter-
usual drummer, Jake Bundrick, who had had ans compared to most on the bill and a staple
surgery on his hip a couple of weeks before in any pop-punk line-up. ‘Kiss Me’ provides a
the festival. In his place is good friend of the big sing along, while ‘My Friends Over You’ is
band, Dylan Taylor. One of the best things the icing on the cake.
about this year’s festival is purely seeing It’s been a while since The Starting Line
frontman Derek Sanders’ face while the band were in the UK. These days they seem to only
are on stage. He constantly has a huge smile, cross the pond for festivals, so we’re eager to
like he’s over the moon to be there. It’s the see them. It’s been a while since we heard
genuine gratitude that warms the band to you. ‘Up & Go’ and ‘Making Love To The Camera’
Of course their music rocks too, and new so feelings of nostalgia swim over us. This
songs such as ‘Keep In Mind, Transmogrifi- band was one of our faves in the early 2000’s.
cation Is A New Technology’ fit seamlessly It seems so long ago, and they’ve all grown
alongside old favourites such as ‘Jamie All up since then. “Believe it or not, we put out
Over’ and ‘Black Cat’. Guitarist Alex Garcia is some new music recently,” vocalist Kenny Va-
focused on his guitar playing, often with his soli tells the crowd before they play ‘Any-
hair in front of his face. ways’. The song shares the same melodic Yellowcard
SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL