Reviews
Live review: Black Veil Brides and Creeper, London OVO Arena Wembley
Here come the ghouls! Black Veil Brides and Creeper’s double-feature hits Wembley for a thrilling celebration of spooky season…
Slam Dunk also reveal Kids In Glass Houses, Billy Talent, Trash Boat, Malevolence and more for next year’s festivals.
Slam Dunk have just made a huge announcement for next year's festivals – including headliners The Offspring and Enter Shikari.
Taking place on Saturday, May 27 in Hatfield and Sunday, May 28 in Leeds, the punk and alternative weekender is already shaping up to be the biggest ever, with homegrown heroes Enter Shikari topping the bill for the second time in their career – the first being 2017's incredible Take To The Skies anniversary celebration.
"It’s such a great festival, always nails its bills, and has the added bonus that us lads can actually cycle to the southern date, being that Hatfield is a neighbouring town to us," says Shikari vocalist Rou Reynolds.
"In fact, essentially, this will be our biggest 'hometown' show ever, now that the festival has grown even more. I cannot wait. In fact, I will not wait. I demand we play this tomorrow!
"I think playing outdoors is my favourite thing to do in life. Just being able to look up and see the sky, with the expanse of people underneath it, all sharing the same emotions and experience, it’s just such a raw, beautiful, and reifying thing.
"Slam Dunk is a festival I try to attend every year regardless of whether we’re playing it. I love both the sites, and it’s always full of mates and has such a convivial vibe.
"We’re already thinking about stage production ideas, we’re going to do everything we can to make this our biggest show yet.”
As well as The Offspring and Shikari, 20 more bands have been announced for Slam Dunk, including the return of Kids In Glass Houses to celebrate the 15th anniversary of debut album Smart Casual.
“Slam Dunk 2008 fell a day before Smart Casual was released and marked the start of a pretty unforgettable journey for our band," says frontman Aled Phillips. "It feels very fitting that 15 years later to the day we can come back and celebrate a special part of our career at Slam Dunk 2023. We hope to see some familiar and new faces there and can’t wait to get back out onto stage again. It’s been too long.”
But KIGH isn't the only reunion coming to Leeds and Hatfield, Chicago pop-punks The Academy Is... will also be stopping by!
Elsewhere on the bill, Slam Dunk have announced some of our scene's most beloved bands and some of the hottest acts turning heads right now. So get stoked for Bowling For Soup, Billy Talent, Less Than Jake, Creeper, Four Year Strong, Malevolence, Holding Absence, Trash Boat, Zebrahead, Maggie Lindemann, NOAHFINNCE, Real Friends, Grayscale, Charlotte Sands, Destroy Boys, Fit For A King, SeeYouSpaceCowboy and Girlfriends.