As the annual celebration of pop punk, emo, metalcore and more hits the continent, we explore what makes the event so special and why this next bigger step into Europe is so exciting for music fans worldwide.
The beauty of calling somewhere home is that it doesn’t have to be in one place. Sure, the foundations embedded into the Earth that hold up the bricks and mortar in which you grew, changed and learnt everything throughout your life will always be there. But when the place you call home is more of a feeling, an aura, it becomes endless. It’s as omnipresent as the oxygen we breathe, forever available whenever we need that comfort and calm. And when you share that same sense of home with thousands of others, you want to spread it even further, letting everyone that you can know what this world has to offer.
For many, Slam Dunk has become precisely that. Of course, it is a physical event that has seen legions come to dance, sing, mosh, laugh, cry and live at it for the past twenty years. But the spirit of Slam Dunk lingers throughout the year, not just the May Bank Holiday in Leeds and Hatfield. Being able to bottle the joy, the wonder, the exuberance of loving a scene and a community so deeply and knowing that it is there for you whenever you need it is something very special indeed. It’s something that doesn’t happen very often.
And it’s for this reason that the fact Slam Dunk making its way across Europe this Summer, setting up camp in Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Italy and Switzerland, is such an important adventure. Because this feeling deserves to be shared. It deserves to be enjoyed and adored by as many people as possible. And this is a sentiment that isn’t exclusive to fans. It extends to the bands that are set to be playing as well.
For example, LANDMVRKS guitarist Nico Exposito is chomping at the bit to bring the spirit of Slam Dunk to the mainland. That’s especially prominent with the fact that he will do it in his home country of France, with the band scheduled to play in Lyon before heading to Milan during the festival’s grand tour. After finding out what made it tick when they played Hatfield Park and Temple Newsam Park back in 2023, he knows just how exhilarating a place it is to perform. Sandwiched between Static Dress and Fit For A King on the Knotfest Stage, their potent blend of throat-shredding choruses, iron-clad breakdowns and rejection of convention turned the crowd into a battleground. It’s a moment that sticks with the band in more ways than one.
“Our first time playing Slam Dunk was a big one for us,” he explains. “We didn’t know what to expect, but the response from the crowd was insane. Seeing so many people come out to watch us, knowing the effort it takes for them to show up early and support smaller bands, meant a lot. Also, just being able to share the stage with bands we grew up listening to is always a surreal experience.”
That surreal experience will be even more prominent with them sharing the stage with the likes of A Day To Remember and The Used this time around. But aside from the dreams-coming-true aspect of all this, the festival’s support of them as they found their footing and cut their teeth stands out the most. The want and need to give upcoming bands like them the chance to show what they are made of, especially when it comes to the heavier side of the scene, is absolutely vital to keeping this whole infrastructure standing. And in allowing them to gain new fans on an international scale such as this means even more.
“Festivals like Slam Dunk are essential for keeping alternative culture alive and pushing it forward,” Nico continues. “They give a platform to both established and upcoming bands in the scene, which is super important for the longevity of this music. It also creates a space where fans of alternative music can come together, discover new bands, and just feel like they belong.”
To belong. Isn’t that what we all want to do? To know that we are not alone in the things that we love and live for. That there are others who see life through the same lens as we do. And why should that feeling be exclusive to one place? It is the love of this that binds us together, no matter the place from which we discovered it. Those are the principles that Slam Dunk is built on, and it deserves to be heard worldwide.
Speaking of worldwide, Slam Dunk has even had a lasting effect on bands that are thousands of miles away from home whenever they play there. Just ask Zebrahead‘s Ali Tabatabaee, who has stood on the SD stage no less than eight times over the last 17 years, making them pretty much royalty in these parts. They are set to bring their spiky brand of chaotic pop-punk to all five dates of this European run, heading to Antwerp, Utrecht and Zurich, as well as the aforementioned Milan and Lyon. And it is fair to say they couldn’t be happier or prouder to be putting in such a shift. Because no matter the size of the stage they were playing – from the basement bars of Leeds University to the Punk In Drublic stage at Hatfield House – they knew that a good time was always just around the corner.
“Festivals like Slam Dunk are keeping alternative music alive and thriving,” he beams. “It gives bands a place to connect with fans who genuinely care about this scene, and it brings together so many different genres like punk, ska, hardcore, and pop-punk all in one place. That doesn’t happen as often as it should, making Slam Dunk so much more special.”
That crossover does go a long way to further establishing that feeling of belonging that shines through at Slam Dunk. The fact that so many different sorts of people – from spin-kick kids to Myspace revivalists, flat cap punks, to eyeliner enthusiasts – can find common ground in one space is, as Ali states, a lot rarer than it should be. But such opportunity to cross streams, make new connections and realise that we aren’t that different after all is becoming more and more vital in the times that we are living in.
“There’s a real sense of community at Slam Dunk,” Ali continues. “It’s not just another festival because it’s a giant reunion for both the fans and the bands. We get to catch up with old friends, discover new music, and just be a part of something that feels bigger than any one set or performance. There’s no ego or separation from fans at this festival. It’s a bunch of people who love this music coming together for one insane weekend.”
And that’s precisely it. Slam Dunk really does feel bigger than any one band that plays it or any one fan who loses all inhibitions at it. It’s bigger than the stages, the venues, the riffs, the singalongs, and the memories made all combined. That’s because it is all about the whole and the endless potential that the whole continues to have.
From the Millennium Square to the L’Amphithéâtre 3000, Hatfield University to Carroponte, the spirit of Slam Dunk, which keeps blossoming with every year that passes, binds them all together. It is a constant in people’s lives and calendars, a certainty that this place that welcomes them for who they are will always be there. It’s a sense of magic that courses through everything that this festival, this institution, touches. A guarantee that you will have the sort of time of your life, in whatever form that may take, that sticks with you long after the last amp is turned off.
The UK has had the pleasure of feeling all this for nearly 20 years now. To have watched a once-in-a-generation gathering of music, culture and community become a solace, homestead and comfort for so many. Now, it is time for Europe to feel it, too.
Tickets for Slam Dunk Europe are on sale now.
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Content shared from rocksound.tv.