With a bigger event and a lot more bands than ever before, this year’s Slam Dunk festival was always going to be impressive. With a back catalogue of bands including Reel Big Fish, Paramore and Fall Out Boy, everyone was expecting great things from this years line up, despite the fact that the headliners, Cute Is What We Aim For are not as high profile as bands in the past.

 After over an hour in the queue alongside former Make It Better Later drummer and now Second Chance frontman Steve O’Gallagher, we finally made it inside to have a scout round and see what all the fuss is about. To sum up, there’s a small stage for Ska-punk bands such as Fandangle and Big D & the Kids Table, a reasonably big area for the slightly heavier bands like Fightstar and Story of the Year, another small stage, this time at the back of the room where the main stage is, showcasing the best new talent that the UK has to offer, including the likes of Tonight Is Goodbye and Me vs Hero, and finally, the Main Stage, showcasing the likes of Boys Like Girls, Kids In Glass Houses and You Me At Six.

 First of all, we saw the last ten minutes of Random Hand on the Non-Stop stage, the one for the ska bands. Having seen Random Hand before and not being overly impressed, I wasn’t expecting too much, and I have to say I was proven wrong. The amount of energy these guys have on stage, and the way the crowd reacted to this set was quite surprising, especially with them being the first thing most people went to see, but then again, it could be because they still had the energy to move around at this point.
Rating: 6/10

 Following Random Hand was a trip to the main stage to see We The Kings, an American band who seem to be on the verge of a break-through over here in the UK. With punk-pop hooks that the likes of Fall Out Boy would be more than proud of, and vocals which are, well, very typical of any band in the current ‘emo’ scene (and I use the term lightly) there seems to be nothing stopping these guys making it. In all honesty, the band seemed as surprised as I did to see quite a large crowd all singing along to every word of their set, I don’t think either of us realised how much of a following they had developed seemingly overnight.
Rating: 6.5/10
 
 Ten minutes talking to the guys from Fandangle at their merch desk followed, then an interview with one of the biggest bands on the bill, Fightstar, which can be heard in the podcasting section under interviews. After this was Fandangle’s set, which I must say, was nothing short of immense. I really wanted to see You Me At Six again, and planned to leave half way through to see them on the Main Stage, but Fandangle were simply too good to leave. Sounding a lot like a British Less Than Jake can never be a bad thing in my eyes, but can often bring criticism about originality, and it’s also clear that these guys need a much bigger stage, but they manage to take this and make the entire room, from front to back bounce, skank and just generally jump around. The highlight of the day so far.
Rating: 9/10

 I’d already interviewed the bassist from the next band, and he’d promised a great show. Up step Sonic Boom Six. Anyone who’s seen this band before will know that as soon as they take to the stage, you’re in for a lot of fun. I nipped off during their set to interview Me vs Hero, a band whose set I has missed earlier on in the day. They seemed like nice guys. I quickly got through the interview and got back to the last ten minutes of SB6, who, as always, impressed everyone with their fusion of punk, reggae and hip hop, and believe it or not, this combination of genres does not make them a ska band. Another diamond of a set from Manchester’s female-fronted punk four-piece.
Rating: 8/10
 
 Due to ‘passport trouble’, Cute Is What We Aim for were minus their lead singer. He wasn’t in Leeds, he wasn’t even in the UK. How could a band headline without their lead singer? They can’t. Their set was switched with Boys Like Girls and their guitarist filled in on lead vocals. I was looking forward to CIWWAF, but after just two songs of this disaster, I had to leave. The stand-in could sing, the band were pretty tight, but without their lead singer, they sounded like nothing more than a cover band.
Rating: 3/10
 
 To finish the day were Story of the Year, a band who I wasn’t originally planning on seeing, but after a comment from Steve informing me that their guitarist does back-flips onstage, Boys Like Girls or Zebrahead were never going to have me in the audience. SOTY were the heaviest band I’d seen that day, and were quite impressive. The acrobatics were kept to a minimum (excluding one or two moments of flair) and replaced by something which nearly every band has had more than enough of today, raw energy. Not the highlight of the day by any means, but a solid and entertaining set nevertheless.
Rating: 7/10
 
 Overall, a solid day. The bands that were there gave everything they had, played well and everyone was left satisfied. Despite the absence of big names, Slam Dunk 2008 was a great success.  

Website: http://www.myspace.com/slamdunkclub

Date Added: Thursday May 29th, 2008