SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL 2025

SlamDunk made its yearly return to its home at Temple Newsam Park last weekend, providing a day stacked with incredible talent both world-renowned and up-and-coming. Attendees flocked to the gates well before opening, with everyone eager to step foot onto SlamDunk ground to see their favourite artists. A sea of band merch and free Monsters in hand – it was time to kickstart festival season in style. This year's festival was undoubtedly my favourite Slam Dunk event since I started attending way back in 2018. All of the raised issues in previous years had been well addressed, resulting in a flawless day, the only downside being the lack of sun – but that’s the UK for you.

As aforementioned, the line-up was incredibly stacked this year with every artist peaking my attention in one way or another. Whether it was the world renowned headline acts such as A Day To Remember and Electric Callboy, or rising stars South Arcade and Scowl – there was something for everyone covering all genres of alternative music. Here’s who we managed to catch at Slam Dunk Festival North:

SWEET PILL
Main Stage West

Mainstage openers Sweet Pill set the mark high with their phenomenal performance. They’re a band I’ve wanted to see for a while, with their debut album Where The Heart Is dominating my On Repeat. With no playing around, the band ripped straight into their short set with personal favourites ‘Where The Heart Is’ and ‘Cut’ being highlights for me – and they sounded just as good live, if not better, than the studio recording. Sweet Pill is a band that I can see, and hope, make it to the big stages frequently. I’ll be impatiently waiting for their return to the UK.

SOPHIE POWERS
Kerrang! Stage

Sophie Powers is an artist that’s still relatively new to me with the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the Manchester Pvris date being cancelled, so I never got to catch her set. Fast forward to now and Sophie makes her Slam Dunk debut with an early set on Kerrang stage. The set consisted of fan-favourite tracks such as ‘Better On Mute’ and ‘PLAYBOi’, as well as some newer tracks yet to be released. Sophie stood out on the stage with her stellar vocals and crowd work, and even took to the barrier to get up close and personal with her fans.

KNUCKLE PUCK
Main Stage West

Easily one of my most anticipated sets of the day. It’s been over five years since I last saw Knuckle Puck on UK soil way back when they headlined the Club Academy in Manchester. This time they played a mainstage slot with a large gathering to witness them play the phenomenal album Copacetic in full. Running through the album in order, the set was kicked off with ‘Wall to Wall (Depreciation)’ which got the crowd riled up from the get-go. In no time, fans were climbing over the top of the crowd and ensuing in mosh-pits – a testament to how incredible the album truly is. My personal highlights were ‘Evergreen’ and ‘Untitled’, two tracks that have always stuck with me and getting to see them power through my favourite record in full will forever be a memory that stays with me.

STRAY FROM THE PATH
Main Stage East

I was incredibly excited to see Stray From The Path live again, the last time being on their tour supporting Motionless In White. They are a band with an incredible discography, and I don’t believe they get enough credit. Their performance was energetic and powerful, with frontman Drew Dijorio spending the majority of the set in the air. Covering everything from their fan-favourite album Subliminal Criminal which celebrates it’s ten-year anniversary to their most recent album (at the time), fans were treated to the hits. My own personal favourites ‘Goodnight Alt-Right’, ‘Guillotine’ and ‘First World Problem Child’ which I was absolutely gassed to see perform live. However, seeing Stray From The Path was bitter sweet as they have announced that the band will be parting ways after dropping their final album Clockworked days later, with their EU tour and festival circuit being the last chance to see them live. I wish the lads all the best on what comes next for them.

HOT MULLIGAN
Main Stage West

Listen, it’s not a Slam Dunk Festival without some whiny midwest-emo, and the fan-favourite Hot Mulligan brought that in abundance. Easily one of my favourite bands, I will never skip a set where I get to hear a setlist full of raw screams partnered with some of the catchiest instrumentals you’ll find amongst the scene. Kicking off with ‘How Do You Know It’s Not Armadillo Shells?’ from Pilot, the tone was set. The fans were incredibly responsive with the front rows screaming right back at Tades whilst crowd surfers flew overhead. It’s one of those sets were every track makes you want to jump around in the mosh pit as they burst through anthems such as ‘Drink Milk and Run’, ‘Gans Media Retro Games’, ‘SPS’, ‘BCKYRD’ and .. honestly the whole setlist was phenomenal. Since Slam Dunk, they’ve also announced their new album The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still, another body of work with comedic track names to bolster their discography.

DELILAH BON
The Key Club Stage

Delilah Bon is undeniably one of the most important artists in our scene right now. She speaks up on important issues facing women and the queer community which are evidently getting worse. Her set is a middle finger to the people who judge, belittle and abuse – and for good reason. If there’s one way to describe being at a Delilah Bon set, it’s a safe space to be who you are without judgement. Bursting onto the stage with unrelenting energy, my personal favourite ‘Brat’ kicks off the set and sets the tone going forward. It’s a track that perfectly showcases Delilah’s rapping and screaming ability. Drawing a huge crowd, the setlist consisted of stellar tracks such as ‘Chop Dicks’, ‘I Wish a Bitch Would’ and ‘Evil, Hate Filled Female’, engaging with fans all the way through and getting up-close with fans at the barrier. It made sense for the set to close on ‘Dead Men Don’t Rape’ as the crowd screamed and cheered along throughout. Delilah Bon is an incredible artist with a powerful and important message.

AS IT IS
Kerrang! Stage

This was a set that many people were impatiently anticipating for a good while. After multiple members leaving As It Is way back, an official statement from vocalist Patty Walters mentioning a hiatus took their passionate fanbase on an emotional rollercoaster despite seeing the signs. However in August, teases were being made about the band reuniting with its founding members – this ignited the fanbase, and not long after it was announced that they would be playing Slam Dunk Festival. Fans flocked to the stage well before set time to witness their favourite band grace the stage once again, and we were in for a treat. As soon as the band set foot on stage, you could tell the spark was reignited. With Patty Walters doing microphone tricks and Ben Bliss maintaining air time – the energy was at an all time high. The setlist contained all the hits, aligning with their newly released album Never Happy, Ever After which features and endless list of.. Features. South got more guest appearances, but North had Joe Cabrera of Beauty School, Noahfinnce and Rae Brazil of Artio for their respective tracks. Fans were, as expected, very passionate about their return. Lots of screaming, lots of energy, and even (happy) tears. I do hope we get more from As It Is going forward past this album.

NECK DEEP
Main Stage West

Listen, I’m always going to be incredibly biased about Neck Deep – we’re from the same town and I’ve seen them more times than I can count, and watching them go from the small to the biggest stages is nothing short of inspirational. Their sets at Slam Dunk never fail to cement themselves as one of the best UK Pop Punk bands. Kicking off with the star of their latest self-titled album, ‘Heartbreak of the Century’ got the crowd riled up with fans ensuing in mosh pits from the start. Just like their set at Leeds Festival last year, they had the pyro to match a fiery performance as Ben Barlow danced around the stage. The setlist continued to crunch through fan favourite Neck Deep anthems such as ‘Kali Ma’, ‘Gold Steps’ and ‘Can’t Kick Up The Roots’, before Ben took to the mic to introduce a song that hadn’t been heard in a while. As soon as the opening chords of ‘What Did You Expect’, the energy levels despite being at a high, got higher. If you’re a fan of Neck Deep – this set had all the best cuts from their discography, ending with their iconic trio of ‘A Part of Me’, ‘December (Again)’ and ‘In Bloom’.

ELECTRIC CALLBOY
Main Stage East

I first discovered Electric Callboy in Leeds during their 2023 Tekkno Tour, and having not listened to them beforehand, it was a breath-taking and eye-opening experience. Since then they have become a staple amongst my playlists with latest tracks ‘Revery’ and ‘Elevator Operator’ taking centre stage. This year they headlined the Main Stage East, and even from walking around the site you could see the abundance of fans they had as people donned matching attire, disco ball helmets and mullets. The set opened with an explosive blast of energy as ‘Elevator Operator’ rang out, with a burst of colourful streamers covering the crowd. The energy was matched as fans gave it their all throughout, with an uncountable amount of crowd-surfers and mosh pits. We saw pyro galore as the stage was full of sparks, confetti, streamers and fire – there was so much going on, but in a good way. The setlist consisted of the hits, but surprisingly a lot of covers such as Sum 41’s ‘Still Waiting’, Maggie Reilly’s ‘Everytime We Touch’ (Tekkno Edition), Linkin Park’s ‘Crawling’ and Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’.

However they made sure to give fans their all – We were treated to Electric Callboy hits such as ‘Spaceman’, ‘Hurrikan’, and ‘Pump It’. Leading into the closing end of the segment, the energy refused to cease until ‘MC Thunder’ was paused and restarted due to an incident in the crowd, but it didn’t take long for the energy to resume. ‘Hypa Hypa’ took the crowd to the next level, which was followed by BabyMetal collab ‘RATATA’ and set closer ‘We Got The Moves’. If there’s one band I can see being a massive headliner for the overall festival in the future, it’s Electric Callboy. They’ve got it all. The energy, the music, the theatrics and most importantly, a devout fanbase.

SCOWL
The Key Club Stage

Scowl are a band I’ve been a fan of for quite a while, and the last time I was able to catch them was at Outbreak Festival a few years ago. I was worried I was going to have to miss them at Slam Dunk due to their rough clashing, but I made sure to catch the first twenty minutes. Without a doubt, Scowl are an incredible band. Their latest album Are We All Angels is a masterpiece. Even despite fighting for the crowd between multiple headline acts, there was a really good turnout for them, and the band delivered an incredible sounding set. Kat Moss danced around the set throughout – playing my favourites such as ‘Shot Down’, ‘Psychic Dance Routine’ and ‘Wired’. Hopefully it won’t be too long until I can catch a full set, let my hair down, and go absolutely feral in the mosh-pit.

A DAY TO REMEMBER
Main Stage West

I’ll be honest, I had my reservations about A Day To Remember headline the overall festival. They obviously have the fanbase, however I never saw them as that band compared to previous headliners. Well, I’ve been wrong before and I won’t deny that I was wrong on this occasion too. A Day To Remember delivered a phenomenal performance to close the festival, and even if I only knew a handful of songs, I really enjoyed experiencing them live for the first time. Opening with their biggest track ‘The Downfall of Us All’ was a surprise, but one thing is for sure, it got the crowd riled up and moving as confetti filled the main stage of Temple Newsam Park.

The main body of the setlist consisted of fan favourites such as ‘I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?’, ‘Have Faith In Me’, ‘All I Want’ and ‘Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End’ to name a few. All of which saw fans all around the packed field dancing around and having a good time. It was the busiest I had seen the main stage for a band, making it hard to traverse around the site to get a better vantage point from the hill. Vocalist Jeremy McKinnon talks about how their drummer had to learn the set, and they let him pick a song to cover – teasing Pantera’s ‘Walk’, before kicking into Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since U Been Gone’, which is definitely the perfect pick for a playful UK crowd.

Calls from vocalist Jeremy McKinnon to “definitely not try” crowd surfer surfing resulting in many doing so, some successfully, and some not so much. Edging closer to the end of the set, the crowd's energy didn’t falter, with plenty of crowd surfers still making their way over the barrier. The closer trio of tracks were ‘If It Means a Lot to You’, ‘Flowers’ and fan-favourite ‘All Signs Point to Lauderdale’ – and with more pyro, confetti and.. Toilet paper.. A Day To Remember ended a phenomenal headline set to an incredible day. This one is for the history books.