Slam Dunk Festival 2015 [Festival Review]
From the outside, alternative music festivals can seem intimidating. Certain corners of the media choose to portray alternative music fans as universally antisocial and self destructive. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
Festivals are full of people out for nothing more than a good time. Great bands, passionate fans, and meticulous organisation are all essential pieces of the puzzle – and Slam Dunk’s organisers provided the former and latter. In Wolverhampton, everybody won.
Behind black t-shirts and often morbid iconography, the themes of the day were love, respect, and gratitude. Second stage openers Shvpes set the tone with a rapturously received hometown set packed full of Read more…
The first thing that needs to be said is this: Takedown Festival 2015 was really well-run. Organising an event that takes in over 40 bands across five stages, runs to schedule, and delivers a smooth, hassle-free and fun experience for punters is a serious ask – but the Takedown crew rose to the challenge and did an awesome job. Even the security were nice guys. Or maybe paid actors.
Tuesday was a good day until I got to this show and realised it had started earlier than predicted, and I’d missed not only openers Sutek, but also one of my favourite new bands of math-metal maniacs, Let’s Talk Daggers. Sad face indeed. Still, Swim Good soothed my cravings for complex tunes with a loose but still awesome set. These guys can do no wrong, even when beset by technical issues. They really are that goddamn good. Happy face: restored for the rest of the night.
With the sun making ever more frequent appearances here in the still-fucking-freezing UK, pop-punk season can’t come fast enough. Dora Nadine’s Summer EP may be 
Although Coming For You‘s grooves lack the granite-solid feel of the Offspring’s greatest songs, you can’t fault them for trying something new. Coming For You is a no-nonsense rock tune, and it would likely go over well as part of a full-on live set – but still, on this recording it feels like 
Some experiences come along just once in a lifetime – and the capacity crowd jammed sardine-like into the Boileroom were keenly aware of that fact. The tickets held by the lucky three hundred had been coveted by thousands of others, with five figures’ worth of rabid rock fans flooding ticket sites and ensuring 
A message for punk-loving guys suffering from the January (and/or pre-Valentine’s-Day) blues: If 
Punchy and poignant punk-pop songs painted in primary colours on a pitch-black background. That’s a lot of alliteration – but it’s also an accurate way of summarising Bowling For Soup’s considerable back catalogue.