Our reaction to the first Slam Dunk 2016 announcement

By Ben Tipple

This morning, Slam Dunk Festival orgnisers have confirmed Panic! At The Disco as their tenth anniversary headliners, joined by Of Mice & Men, New Found Glory, Four Year Strong and more.

It’s a pretty solid announcement, as far as we are concerned. Although Panic! may raise some eyebrows, they’ve proven themselves a new beast at Reading and Leeds Festival earlier this year, and there’s always an air of nostalgia that’ll keep the older crowd happy. The All-American Rejects have already proven that emo tinged melodic pop-rock works at the top of the bill, and after a few beverages it’s almost guaranteed that I [Ben] will be there singing my heart out.

Elsewhere, the line-up sets the festival up for its various genre pigeonholes. Of Mice & Men are perhaps the most unexpected addition to the bill, especially considering their sub-headline position on the current line-up poster, but they still find themselves in the more credible end of the somewhat inconsistent metelcore market.

New Found Glory and Four Year Strong lead the pop-punk contingent, with Real Friends not far behind. We could throw early criticisms about rehashed line-ups, but these three are right up there in terms of quality. There’s also still plenty more to be announced (over 40 more, in fact), so we’d expect the new crowd of bands to be heavily represented further down the bill. Whether any of the bigger names have not graced the Slam Dunk stages before remains to be seen.

Every Time I Die always give a great performance, and since leaving fans in an anticipatory state following their postponement of recent UK shows, will draw in some ticket buyers. The same can be said about Issues, although I’m still not sure on that one. Memphis May Fire again sit towards the good end of an over-saturated genre.

All in all, it’s a strong announcement. It sets Slam Dunk up for more of what we are used to, with some strong names currently topping the various different genres that usually end up determining the stages. Panic! At The Disco is a great shout, and we’re sure that some bands that haven’t graced the line-up before (other than Issues) will be announced in the next batch.

Slam Dunk Midlands has also moved, which will please commuters (Birmingham is that bit easier to get to than Wolverhampton).

Slam Dunk Festival will take place on the 28th, 29th and 30th May 2015 in Leeds, Birmingham and Hatfield respectively. Tickets are on sale this Friday [27th November], priced at £42 or £47 with after-show. The festival will also be releasing limited Mega Tickets (£150), granting access to all three events plus after-shows, t-shirts and queue jumps.

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