Slam Dunk south took place in Hatfield Park, a very convenient and easy walk from the train station as thousands flooded in for a day of mosh pits, pop-punk and surprisingly pretty good weather!

With Slam Dunk north taking place the day before, it had already been revealed/confirmed that Busted were the secret set, having been put on the line up under the synonym Y3K (or Year 3000), and getting to see them was definitely not the easiest of tasks due to the number of fans trying to cram in. The tent they were playing completely filling out and spilling over with fans going crazy for their old favourites. Busted played a mix of old and new tracks, still keeping in the classic moves like the jump during Air Hostess.

In another tent, starting just after Busted was hard-core, punk band Turnstile, a completely contrasting act. All along the barrier fans were headbanging, long hair being thrown back and forth and just behind that was a huge mosh pit that didn’t once stop throughout the entire set. Lead singer Brendan Yates showed off some impressive dance moves, wiggling his way around the stage, while the other members heavily slammed their instruments, throwing them around and encouraging the wolfish audience.

The main stage for Slam Dunk seemed to be reserved for more classic pop-punk acts, and one of these acts was Texas rock band Waterparks. Awsten Knight light up the stage with his luminous green hair and charming personality, playing up to the young fan base that were watching the show. With crowd surfers left right and centre, Waterparks attracted a huge audience and left their mark on the day.

Simple Plan was up on the main stage after Waterparks, their walk on featuring an air raid siren that attracted the attention of nearby punters and alerted them that something big was about to happen. They played a huge set and ended it on their hit song, ‘Perfect’ with all members but lead singer Pierre Bouvier left the stage, starting the track off acoustically before being re-joined by the rest of the band, as the audience sang along, their voices soaring with the music.

Neck Deep was another pop-punk esc band to take to the main stage, playing a 14-song set including their infamous Torn cover and a cover of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’. Having played the festival a few times before, they delivered the perfect set, giving their crowd exactly what they wanted and more. Filled with emotion and classic hits, they played their best performance, creating a good feeling around the audience.

A clever feature of Slam Dunk was the fact that each tent contained two stages next to each other. This meant there were no huge waiting times between sets as when a band was performing on one stage the crew was setting up the other stage for the next act, keeping the audience entertained and happy. This also meant in some cases that when one act stopped, the next would immediately start and this was the case for alternative hip-hop/rock musician Grandson. Wearing a ‘RIP AMERICA XX” t-shirt, Grandson made his views clear from the off-peak yelling “Fuck Donald Trump” into the crowd, his anger and vitality fuelling his mosh-pit heavy performance, strobe lighting and smoke machines added to the effect. It was potentially one of the most unique performances of the day and the crowd loved it from start to finish, as he ended on his biggest track ‘Blood // Water’.

As well as the two stages next to each other in the tent, there was also an outside area where two slightly smaller stages stood next to each other, and in the same style as Grandson, when one band had finished on the left stage the Plain White T’s came straight on, on the right. They mixed together with their older hits such as Our Time Now and of course ‘Hey There Delilah’ (but surprisingly not ending the set on this song), with their newest album. It was a sweet crowd and a sweet set and it seemed that the band were enjoying themselves just as much as the audience.

Slam Dunk had boasted it’s three-hit headliners, NOFX, Bullet For My Valentine and All Time Low, each different genre meaning there was something for everyone.
All Time Low opened with ‘Damned If I Do Ya, Damned If I Don’t, immediately pumping energy into the audience as they danced and sung along, under the huge rainbow stretching across the sky, that later on lead singer Alex joked he’d ordered for the show, after the terrible rain that Slam Dunk north had experienced the day before.
They closed the festival, keeping things light and full of laughter, as Waterparks singer Awstin joined the band to perform ‘Break Your Little Heart’ and they invited what looked like half the crowd onto stage to dance with them.

Slam Dunk 2019 was a day filled with music and elation and one that was enjoyed by every attendee, as they left the festival on a high, already looking forward to next year’s event, (and a special shout out to the train station crew that managed to organise getting everyone safely on their way back home).