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Ashwin Bhandari interviewed Horse The Band at their London Borderline show in August 2013

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SLAM DUNK REVIEW 2013 BARNEY HALL – SLAM DUNK SOUTH (HATFIELD) ASHWIN BHANDARI – SLAM DUNK MIDLANDS (WOLVERHAMPTON) What started off as a series of club nights at The Cockpit venue in Leeds back in 2001, has now expanded into a touring Festival across the UK. And with the further addition of a Midlands concert in Wolverhampton, I can safely say that Slam Dunk will be around for years to come. For the Wolverhampton date, the Vans and Monsters stages were outdoors, while the main headline acts and other support bands played the prestigious Wolverhampton Civic Hall, with further stages in other rooms. Naturally, with a set up like this, you'd expect a lot of running around trying to find your favourite bands, however unlike Warped Tour UK, there were little problems with venue capacity, and surprisingly very little sound problems either! (AB) The American Scene (5) after a month of touring with two of the most hyped bands on this years Slam Dunk bill – Gnarwolves and The Story So Far, The American Scene had a lot to live up to in order for them to compare with their live companions.  Despite having decent enough songs from their 2012 album ‘Safe For Now’, The American Scene lack any sort of energy and merely look like they don’t want to be there. (BH) Gnarwolves (9) Quite the contrast to The American Scene, a packed out Vans stage sees Gnarwolves opening up to the iconic drums and guitar riff of Slayer’s reigning blood before diving into opening staple song, ‘History Is Bunk’.  Gnarwolves blister through an immense 11 songs including a passionate cover of Green Day’s classic ‘Basket Case’.  The whole room doesn’t stop moving throughout the entire set, with a huge pit and the whole room screaming every lyric back at the triumphant three-piece. (BH) Gnarwolves (9) opened up the Vans Stage with a showcase of the majority of their back catalogue, however it never seems to get old with dedicated fans, and certainly those who came down just to check them out at 2:30PM were just as enthusiastic. They showcased a few new songs from their upcoming Funemployed EP, such as Tounge Surfer, and the Title Fight esque Limerence, and ended with the classic “Coffee”, a perfect set to accompany the rest of the day. (AB) After hastily moving from the other side of the Festival grounds to the Wulfrun Hall, Transit (7) deliver to the audience a very chilled and tentative set of songs in comparison. Rather than letting endless crowd-surfing or copious attempts to open up pits at will, the audience are more graceful, and admirable towards the musicianship on display here. From the opening of Long Lost Friends, to the ending of Skipping Stone, Transit show how to pull off tentative and mellow songs, while keeping everyone there just as captivated as when they played Slam Dunk last year. (AB)

  The Story So Far (8) Opening with a raucous ‘Roam’, the highly energetic stomping pop punk of California’s newest princes of the genre, The Story So Far, take to the stage.  What next unfolds is unadulterated chaos.  During songs from 2011’s ‘Under Soil & Dirt’, the day’s biggest mosh pits are opened up, even with a wall of death at one point and during  ‘High Regard’ there are people jumping from the balconies at the side of the stages.  Although there is a slight energy dip for songs off the recent ‘What You Don’t See’ such as ‘Stifled’ and ‘Things I Can’t Change’, but the energy is full restored for closing hit single ‘Quicksand’. (BH) The Story So Far (8) open with Roam, and the entire venue suddenly erupts into a balanced mixture of barrier hogging finger pointers, hardcore dancers, and wave after wave of enthusiastic crowd surfers.  Their forte may be songs about ex girlfriends and experiences shared with close personal friends, however these attitudes and concepts are undoubtedly universal, and this is clearly the case here.  The new material from their newest album What You Don't See  arguably may not be as popular as Under Soil and Dirt ,however, again, this makes no difference here at all, with the closing of Quicksand, and Charlie from Gnarwolves joining in for the last verse. (AB)

Man Overboard (8) Despite the crowd drastically thinning in the aftermath of the bedlam that descended over the Macbeth stage during The Story So Far, Man Overboard don’t hesitate in sparking energy and sing-alongs with opener ‘Dead Ends Dreams’.  Playing a range of material spanning their 3 album career, including tracks from new album ‘Heart Attack’ due to be released in the very near future, Man Overboard manage to light up the smiles of the crowd and warm their hearts with a collection of sing-along pop-punk gems, closing with the euphoric double hit of ‘Love Your Friends Die Laughing’ and ‘Montrose’. (BH) Man Overboard (6) are perhaps not as energetic as other pop punk bands with whom they're sharing the Macbeth stage with, but nonetheless show off their ever so catchy pop punk anthems about rejection, the friend-zone and longing to be with the girls they never had a chance with in their youths. Nik and Zack add their trademark harmonies and screeching pleas of “lets fucking go” into the mix to keep the crowd bouncing throught.  Samey, but still fun regardless. (AB)

Sleeping With Sirens (7) On the tail end of their debut UK headline tour and after an announcement that at the end of the year they will be headlining London’s prestigious Brixton Academy, a lot of expectation was placed upon Sleeping With Sirens to live up to the hype. With songs such as ‘Do It Now, Remember Later’, ‘If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn’ and ‘If You Can’t Hang’, Sleeping With Sirens show that with a greater greatest hits collection hopefully provided by new album, ‘Feel’, Sleeping With Sirens show they have the substance to live up to the hype, despite some technical difficulties. (BH) Outside onto North Street, is the Monster Energy stage, a small performance area with great potential for heavier bands to drop crushing breakdowns and for the crowds to get ignorant.  Experimental metalcore outfit The Word Alive (7)  sound almost identical to their recordings live wise; no attempts from Telle are made to stop screaming due to lack of breath, no imbalance of sound mixes instrumentally speaking, and most importantly, there doesn’t seem to be anybody who isn't having a good time watching these guys.  TWA have definitely stepped up their live performance game in greater comparison to their tour with Parkway Drive in November, which I previously found to be somewhat mediocre and uninspired. (AB) Southampton metalcore giants Bury Tomorrow (9) however, play an entirely different ballgame altogether. From the impressive beer catch from lead vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates at the beginning of the set, to the crowd mimicking the lead guitar sections of Royal Blood near the very end, it's a wonder why they aren't headlining any of the stages tonight.  Even bassist Davyd Winter-Bates's borderline intimidating but passionate facial expressions at crowd members add a sense of sheer blissfulness of performing to so many fans from Wolverhampton, even referring to the Midlands as a “second home”. Suffice to say, even those who criticized their newest album “Union of Crowns” of being too samey, would find it hard to argue about how fantastic they are live wise. (AB)

The Wonder Years (9) In pop punk you don’t quite get much more respected bands than the mighty The Wonder Years, these Slam Dunk shows follow the release of their new acclaimed masterpiece ‘The Greatest Generation’ and opening with ‘Passing Through A Screen Door’ from said release causes their cult fanbase to go insane.  Playing old song from ‘The Upsides’, ‘Washington Square Park’ to honour their increase in size since last playing in 2010 and the dedication of the fanbase and songs such as ‘Came Out Swinging’ and new song ‘Dismantling Summer’ create hysteria and then closing with fan favourite ‘All My Friends In Bar Bands’ with members of A Loss For Words, Fireworks and Handguns is a euphoric moment. (BH) Hastily running back to the Macbeth stage again, The Wonder Years (10) are one of the many DIY pop punk revival bands, who have gained a lot of publicity in the UK thanks to various tours supporting the likes of Yellowcard, and the Kerrang Relentless Tour in 2011, as well as of course, exposure on Tumblr. In this case however, they deserve all the hype they can get, with Dan 'Soupy' Campbell belting out with full haste a mixture of new songs from The Greatest Generation and classics like Washington Square Park and Don't Let Me Cave In. There's nothing quite spectacular than males in their mid 20's scream inspiring lyrics literately at each other's faces, and somehow an audience member bypasses security and gets on stage to sing the last verse of All My Friends Are In Bar Bands.  A formidable display of showmanship and camaraderie if there ever was an example to show.  (AB)

Deaf Havana (8) Bursting onto stage to the sound of a cover of Robbie Williams’ ‘Let Me Entertain You’, Deaf Havana have clearly aimed to do this tonight, and entertain us they shall.  Despite frontman James Veck-Gilodi’s unfortunate lost voice, Deaf Havana tumble through hit singles from 2011’s ‘Fools And Worthless Liars’ which are all met with a raucous response. This band have shown how far they have improved and how much of a force they are just not in the UK rock scene, but as a worldwide force closing with hit song ‘Hunstanton Pier’. Despite a short set due to James’ voice,  this is a crowning moment. (BH) Nipping over to the Main-Stage in the Civic Hall, Deaf Havana (8) suffer from a vocalist who's voice has noticeably deteriorated on the last main Slam Dunk tour date. However, back up vocals provided by James's brother and audience participation helps ease the awkward squeaks and cracks coming from the lead singer's vocals. Since the release of Fools and Worthless Liars in early 2012, their live sound has matured massively since their early days as a five piece. Gone are the post-hardcore screams and overly energetic pop punk songs from 2009's Meet Me Halfway At Least, and instead are replaced with a seven piece outfit with a more alternative rock sound, almost reminiscent of how bands like Brand New have changed over time. Regardless, they try their hardest to make due with what they have, and still leave the crowd wanting more. (AB)

Cancer Bats – Everyone knows Cancer Bats slay live, it’s a pure fact that this band can convert almost any crowd and if there were any onlookers tonight not a part of the Cancer Bats family then they now are.  Opening with the monsterous ‘Sorceress’, Cancer Bats blister through a mammoth setlist representative of their near flawless back catalogue, even taking a song from their debut EP, ‘Shillelagh’.  Facing a tough clash with the mighty Your Demise, Four Year Strong and All Time Low,  Cancer Bats fill up this tiny room and provoke insanity , with frontman Liam Cormier spending the majority of the set in the crowd. (9/10) Finally, I make my way back to the Macbeth stage to watch pop punkers Four Year Strong (7) who seem to have enough songs to pull off a great performance, however, awkward silences fill the room in-between songs, and their stage presence seems dull in comparison to The Wonder Years. Sure, there's a few jokes in between (Alan Day's shirt apparently being something that wouldn't be out of place in Ace Ventura) and the old material is just as satisfying as ever, but the fact that the room wasn't even at full capacity by the time they had arrived shows that maybe not that many people were too bothered about them. A shame, considering how great some of the sing alongs for Wasting Time were, and the giant circle pit during Manic. (AB) Overall, Slam Dunk Festival was a fantastic experience, and while I didn't get to see Cancer Bats or Heights like I wanted to, the entire day way incredibly satisfying, and I hope to see it continue at the same place, and the same time next year. (AB)

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  Touche Amore/Title Fight Split - Record Store Day Release.

If you're not already aware of bands associated with “The Wave” (Modern bands who emulate sounds of hardcore/post hardcore bands from the 90's), then you should know that Title Fight and Touche' Amore' respectively are two of the most defined and refreshing acts in the modern American hardcore scene. While it's not uncommon for bands to release split-records with each other, as well as covering each others songs, it's hard to find two bands who manage to adopt such songs into their own unique and versatile interpretations.

TF's cover of Face Ghost has a lot more emphasis on melody and bendy guitar sections for which the band are known for, and could easily be mistaken for a B Side on Floral Green to an unknown listener.

Touche' Amore's version of Crescent Shaped Depression, as you would expect, is a lot harsher, faster, and even includes a nice little drum fill at the beginning.  However because the melody is so upbeat, the emotion and message of the song becomes far more apparent, so in this circumstance I actually prefer TA's version of the song compared to the original. Overall, this split-record shows how interlinked the hardcore scene has become, and any fears of the scene dying any-time soon can be put to rest.

9/10

Ashwin Bhandari