Past, present, and future collide: Slam Dunk 2023

28th May 2023

Highlights come from Enter Shikari, Spanish Love Songs, The Academy Is… and more.

Words: Ben Tipple
31st May 2023

The Academy Is…Since its first iteration in 2006, Slam Dunk has rapidly become synonymous with the UK’s ever-strong alternative rock scene, across the better part of two decades cementing itself as one of only a handful of major outdoor ventures for pin-badge aficionados. Its line-ups have provided early platforms for genre stalwarts, jumping on the likes of You Me At Six and Paramore long before they reached household name status. It has consistently thrived on its balance between the new school and the old, billing the likes of pop-punk veterans The Offspring against the ever-impressive Creeper, led up to by standout performances by Los Angeles future emo-punk heroes Spanish Love Songs and a powerhouse outing by hometown rockers Static Dress. Past, present, and future of a celebrated alternative niche collide across a campus of guitars, eyeliner, patches, and an unadulterated love of music.

Slam Dunk lives and breathes music across its six stages. Two pairs alternate between bands offering fans four stages of uninterrupted music, with the compact site deliberately or not designed to encourage accidental music discovery. Turn the corner from your favourite band and find yourself face-to-face with something entirely different, the line-up highlighting the diverse direction one scene can take. The likes of PVRIS and Kids In Glass Houses represent the more upbeat end of the scale, while the Knotfest stage projects a perfectly relentless onslaught of crushing guitars.

This alternative paradise doesn’t arrive without its problems, with festival organisers prompted to apologise for logistical issues on arrival and a glaringly obvious underestimation of food and drink for festival punters. But away from the queues, it’s business as usual, a festival for those on the edges of a fringe, yet judging by the sheer number in attendance, who are far from alone.

For the aging emos (ahem) there are long-awaited reunions by scene underdogs Kids In Glass Houses and The Academy Is..., both evidently ecstatic to have made their return to the live stage. Both frontmen - Aled Phillips and William Beckett respectively – brim with energy as they run through a setlist of fan favourites, the latter ending on a particularly rousing rendition of the pop-leaning ‘About A Girl’, an understated definer for a certain MySpace generation. KIGH, faced with a bigger space to fill, traverse a comparably short but impactful career with ease, bringing with them a clear sense of confident identity honed in their near-decade break.

It's underground heroes Spanish Love Songs that steal the daytime, making easy work of immediately following Hawthorne Heights’ iconic ‘Ohio Is For Lovers’. The epitome of hardworking, they project unrivalled emotion from the stage, across just eight tracks further cementing themselves as an exciting prospect.

And there’s more than enough space for the ever-reliable old timers too. Despite an arguably difficult mid-afternoon sun kissed slot, Florida’s Underoath are on top form as they slay through a powerful barrage of convulsing noise, broken only by the melodies of long-time favourite ‘A Boy Brushed Red In Black and White’. But the evening’s title is reserved for St Albans stalwarts Enter Shikari who dazzle with a breathtaking live show and unmatched energy. Over 20 years in, the four-piece remain remarkably current, avoiding any sense of nostalgia with a fine-tuned setlist and dazzling production. Topping a bill that timestamps much of a genre, they effortlessly maintain relevance and authenticity, and in their message embody the spirit of a scene so well encapsulated by Slam Dunk.