SLAM DUNK 2026: TWENTY YEARS OF SUMMER’S PREMIER PUNK FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL REVIEW | SLAM DUNK NORTH|24th May 2026 by Craig Harston

What a scorcher! Slam Dunk Festival returned this past weekend to celebrate it’s 20th anniversary on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far! Cold beer, ice cream and plenty of water were the order of the day for those in attendance who braved the 27° heat to catch their favourite pop punk, emo, ska and hardcore bands!

The Slam Dunk organisers put together an eclectic line up to mark the two decades celebrations, with plenty of new and returning bands. Three stages in particular had a very quick turn around, the ‘Scott’s Key Club Stage‘ and the double stages at ‘Main Stage East‘ and the ‘Monster Energy Stage‘. Even then, the roster was simply that epic it was impossible for everyone to catch literally every band that they wanted to see, having to employ some tactical visits to various stages utilising the always great Slam Dunk app to plan out their days.

As ever, the amount of food vendors and facilities were sufficient enough to ensure a minimum of queuing, though due to the heat many chose to forgo alcohol as the day wore on, opting for soft drinks and water instead, meaning many vendors ran out of soft drinks later in the day – though thankfully there were free water points located all around the site.

During the hottest part of the day, the rock band called A understood the assignment, hitting the Main Stage West with a batch of their summery pop rock songs. Jason Perry, dressed like he was about to go hunting velociraptors on Jurassic Park, belted out a range of songs from across A‘s career, from their first album ‘How Ace Are Buildings‘ (‘No. 1‘, ‘Foghorn‘) through to their first album in over twenty years, ‘Prang‘, which had literally only released two days earlier (‘Hello Sunshine‘, ‘Shit Summer‘, ‘Techno Viking‘). 2002’s ‘Hi-Fi Serious‘ of course got a lot of love, with fan favourites ‘Starbucks‘ and ‘Something’s Going On‘ going down a storm before A were joined on stage by The Blackout‘s Sean Smith for a blistering performance of ‘Nothing‘.

It wouldn’t be a Slam Dunk celebration without ‘house band’ Zebrahead, who hit the same stage next, keeping the party going with their brand of rap-ska-punk. Blasting through classics like ‘Hello Tomorrow‘, ‘Rescue Me‘ and ‘Falling Apart‘, they even made time for brand new song ‘Smoke Signals From My Couch‘ (with members of Goldfinger/Reel Big Fish‘s horn section joining them on stage). Trying in vain to keep circle pits going (it was way too hot!), they had more success with crowd surfing on inflatables (two rafts and a watermelon slice) for penultimate song ‘All My Friends Are Nobody‘s‘ before finishing incredibly strong with the absolute anthem that is, erm, ‘Anthem‘!

Summer and ska punk go hand in hand, so it was apt that SoCal band Goldfinger hit the stage next – albeit making the mistake of wearing their signature suits in the blazing heat! Playing a perfect mix of their punk and ska songs, it was a raucous set of original songs (‘Spokesman’, ‘Counting The Day’s, ‘Here In Your Bedroom’, ‘Get What I Need’, ‘Freaking Out A Bit’, ‘Superman’) and a handful of covers (The Cure‘s ”Just Like Heaven and a surprise performance of NOFX classic ‘Linoleum‘). Closing out their set with a belting performance of their cover of Nena‘s ‘99 Red Balloons‘, Goldfinger were one of the easy highlights of the day!

Over on the Key Club Stage, Punk Rock Factory delivered an energetic show, getting the crammed tent singing along to every word of their punked up covers. From ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca‘, ‘The Bare Necessities‘, ‘Animaniacs‘, ‘ThunderCats‘, ‘Under The Sea‘ and Zebrahead‘s Adrian Estrella joining them onstage for ‘Life Is A Highway‘, it was a pretty fun set with plenty of back and forth with the crowd and finishing with the always great ‘How Far I’ll Go‘.

Minutes later on the same stage, Chicago’s Allister brought some old school pop punk energy throughout their set, playing mostly songs from their sophomore album, 2002’s ‘Last Stop Suburbia‘, but a smattering of later songs, too. Not being a band who broke out much beyond the early 2000’s, they played a great show that certainly pleased their ride or die fans, including ‘Radio Player‘, ‘A Lotta Nerve‘, ‘5 Years, ‘Scratch‘ and, of course, the pop punk classic ‘Somewhere On Fullerton‘.

Heading towards the end of the day, Motion City Soundtrack played a blinder of a show up on the Monster Energy Stage. Since returning in 2025 with their first album in a decade (seventh album ‘The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World‘), the emo pop punk band have repeatedly shown that they’ve still got it! With the way the crowd was singing along to every word, the whole set felt like a big love in. The older songs (‘Capital H’, ‘A Lifeless Ordinary’, ‘Make Out Kids’, ‘My Favourite Accident‘, ‘Her Words Destroyed My Planet‘) went down a treat next to the newer ones, including a powerful rendition of ‘Your Days Are Numbered‘. With front man Justin Pierre throwing some awesome shapes throughout, by the time MCS finished with “a song about the future” everyone knew who the fuck they were!

Closing out the Monster Energy Stage were 2010’s pop punk legends State Champs. You’d think with it being so late in the day many of those in attendance would be flagging by this point but there was still plenty of crowd surfing and circle pits going on throughout State Champs loud and energetic set – including one guy who felt the need to try standing on shoulders instead of crowd surfing! State Champs did not disappoint, playing all of their fan favourites like ‘Light Blue‘, ‘Clueless‘, All You Are Is History‘, ‘Outta My Head‘ and ‘Secrets‘, though more from their debut (and best) album would have been welcome. Thankfully, ‘Elevated‘ got a great reception towards the end of their performance!

Making their long awaiting return to Slam Dunk after eight years, pop punk veterans Good Charlotte closed out the day on the Main Stage West with a healthy dose of nostalgia. Celebrating thirty years as a band, Joel, Benji and company took things all the way back to their 2000 self-titled debut (‘The Motivation Proclamation’, ‘Little Things‘), fit in plenty from their still excellent sophomore album ‘The Young And The Hopeless‘ (including ‘Riot Girl‘, ‘Hold On‘, ‘Girls & Boys‘ and ‘Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous‘) and choice cuts from their other albums from over the years (‘The River‘, ‘The Chronicles Of Life And Death‘, ‘Predictable‘, ‘Last Night‘, ‘Misery‘) as well as a couple of tracks from their most recent album, last year’s ‘Motel Du Cap‘ (‘Bodies‘, ‘Rejects‘). Good Charlotte kept the momentum throughout their lengthy set as the sun (finally) went down, with plenty of mosh pits, singalongs and pyro from start to finish, before finishing on a high with ‘The Anthem‘.