I think we all can agree that the first wave of bands announced by Slam Dunk for this years festival was incredible. Not only are there a whole load of great artists, but again they seem to have catered for everyone.
What do you like, pop punk? ska? emo? Hardcore? Yep, they’ve got you covered. Returning headliners Taking Back Sunday and You Me at Six are back to give you the big festival feel as well as pop punk favourites The Wonder Years, Neck Deep and Fireworks. Not good enough, the mighty Millencolin are playing their first Slam Dunk with Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger. What more do you guys want? Seriously? Ok, so how about throwing in The Gallows, Comeback Kid and H20 into the mix to add some extra sweaty mosh pits.
With that in mind, it’s time to grind the gears of the rumour mill again, as we close our eyes and shout out in hope the bands we think will be announced in he second wave. Here’s a couple of artists we have a sneaky suspicion may just stick their name down on the the rosta.
First up, it’d be naïve not to consider Transit and Such Gold to add their names to the line up as their joint headline tour starts on the 2nd May and runs just up until the 22nd, which coincidentally sees the start of the Slam Dunk festival. They both would fit perfectly onto the bill in the midst of bands like Fireworks and Bayside, so you could put a tenner on either of these two being announced next.
Man Overboard will be over in the UK in early May which is the right time of year to have us whispering and crossing our fingers that they will be sticking around long enough to see the end of their tour stretch over to the Slam Dunk Weekend.
Playing with Man Overboard at Fury Fest in Liverpool is Motion City Soundtrack who have given us a pop punk hard’on and are playing Commit This To Memory in full. Again, they only seem to be playing a few select dates but it wouldn’t be a million miles to think they may hit the stages of Slam Dunk again.
Again, every time I hear them deny it, someone turns around and says “are you suuuuuuuure?” Since the initial speculation that New Found Glory were definitely almost 99.9% perhaps self confirmed, we can’t make out if it’s a big tease, they’re trolling us or they may have been talking about something un-related. Is the line up pretty full for such a big band or are Slam Dunk going to pull out a the big guns this year
What about the big touring bands this year? Bands like Moose Blood have put the leg work in this year that could see them cement themselves onto the bill. Up and coming bands like Decade, Gnarwolves and ROAM have also been doing the rounds and Slam Dunk is the perfect place for them to draw a line under their year.
Our shot in the dark would be Cartel who have recently announced a US tour playing the 2005 album ‘Chroma’ in full. The band are no strangers to Slam Dunk and this would be perfect for them to bring a piece of that sweet sweet tour to the UK.
What do you think? Are we way off the mark? Who do you think will be announced next, or even better, who do you guys WANT to be announced next? Let us know what you think whilst I cross my fingers and empty all of my pennies into the fountain until Home Grown announce they’ll be playing this year…or they announce a Drive Thru Records stage.
By Matt Henson
