Slam Dunk continues to grow year on year and it will take a lot to top this

Slam Dunk Festival 2015

Saturday 23rd to Monday 25th May 2015
Leeds, Hatfield, Wolverhampton, England
£39 or £44 with aftershow (South sold out)

Daily capacity: 15,000

Ten years ago a young Fall Out Boy headlined the very first Slam Dunk Festival. With just one stage and seven bands the event took over Millennium Square in Leeds. Ten years later and the event now encapsulates three days in three locations with seven stages playing host to well over fifty bands. Slam Dunk has grown and grown and now sits with rock fans as the traditional start to the festival season.

With this being the ten year anniversary, the organisers have laid on a celebratory line-up and even returned the Leeds event back to its origins of Millennium Square, having occupied Cities University every year since the festivals inauguration. In line with the commemoration of ten years of Slam Dunk we see the return of not one, not two but three past main stage headliners in the shape of Reel Big Fish, Taking Back Sunday, and returning heroes You Me At Six.

Slam Dunk has made the Spring Bank Holiday it's home with the Leeds event kicking things off on the Saturday, Hatfield sandwiched in between on the Sunday and finishing the weekend off on the Monday with the Midlands event emanating from Wolverhampton. I'm here at the Hatfield event which has made the University of Hertfordshire its home for the last six years to witness the festivities first hand.

Ska music has certainly played its part in building Slam Dunk's party reputation and it's fitting that I start my day out on the 'Desperados Stage' for cult like Americans Survay Says who are making their first visit to the UK. There is a decent early crowd formed in the University's great Forum venue who it appears are in on the secret and the band entice some early afternoon skanking from the Slam Dunk crowd.

This year's line-up is one of the strongest ever at Slam Dunk, as you would probably expect for an anniversary party, but this creates copious amounts of those dreaded clashes for the punters. Decisions therefore have to be made and with mine decided early I settle down on the main stage for the next few hours. The downside of this decision however comes in that the main stage is situated outside at Hatfield, and the skies are currently a very dodgy looking grey.

With the rain holding off for now PVRIS take to the stage. PVRIS fronted by Lynn Gunn are already receiving huge acclaim and appear to be a band we shall all be hearing a lot more from in the coming months and years. Performances like today's evidence just why they are so hotly tipped at the moment with the likes of 'St. Patrick' and 'My House' seemingly made for a larger arena. A potentially cool moment at the end of the set falls flat when You Me At Six's Josh Franceschi joins in on 'My House' only for his mic to fail leaving him silent. Still expect bigger things from this great new band.

At this point the heaven's open and the rain coats come out, thankfully though the rain stops just prior to We Are The Ocean taking to the main stage. This is a band that seems to have been around forever, and seem to have been on the cusp of bigger things for years. They have just released their fourth studio album, 'Ark', which they preview today. It's a decent set from a band who at last may have found their identity following the 2012 departure of singer Dan Brown. Singer/guitarist Liam Cromby has stepped up to the plate and as they end with the brilliant Queens Of The Stone Age-esque 'Good For You' and old favourite 'The Waiting Room' they show they are ready to follow their early promise.

Next up on stage come Neck Deep. The Welsh group have been building a solid reputation from their live shows which has seen them placed in this respectable position on the main stage. Personally I've never completely gotten the hype and have been stuck in two minds as to whether I am a fan or not. Today doesn't help me much either as poor sound quality makes it hard to judge their performance. They draw a large crowd which bodes well for them but I can't help but feel they were a little lost on the large outdoor stage.

Still sticking on the main stage and next up is a busy band. Having performed at Leeds yesterday Lower Than Atlantis then found time to perform Radio One's Big Weekend in Norwich earlier today before rushing here to Hatfield. There is no sign of wear and tear however as the band power through a set of fan favourites including 'Emily', 'English Kids In America' and 'Here We Go' off their self titled recent album which has seen the band hit the next level.

It's me that's rushing next however as I dash to the 'Monster Energy Stage' for Japanese metalcore band Crossfaith. In the three years I've been attending Slam Dunk, this is the third different setting for this stage, which focuses on the heavier side of rock, and it's probably the best. Tucked in from the main street of the festival and fully open air it's a great place to witness Crossfaith destroy all in front of them. The likes of 'Eclipse' and The Prodigy cover 'Omen' see bodies flying and helps signify the diverse line-ups that now comprise Slam Dunk Festival.

That diversity continues next on the same stage as the festival packed with young bands suffers from a bout of nostalgia with Americans Finch. Rising to prominence in 2002 upon the release of their debut album 'What It Is To Burn', Finch have since been an on again, off again band but are definitely on again right now. So much so that they released 'Back To Oblivion' in 2014 their first album since 2005 and tracks such as 'Anywhere But Here' sit well with classics like 'Letters To You' and 'What It Is To Burn'. Finch provide a great little highlight of a set in amongst a festival of highlights.

It's back to the main stage next to finish out the festival and it's a double header of previous headliners. First up are American's Taking Back Sunday, who headlined as recently as 2012, but return as sub-headliners to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of the festival. Frontman Adam Lazzara leads the group through a well received career spanning set including the likes of 'Liar (It Takes One To Know One)', 'Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)' and set closer 'MakeDamnSure'.

This edition of Slam Dunk has really been crafted around one band, You Me At Six. Having graduated to the ranks of Arena fillers, the booking of You Me At Six could be considered something of a coup for Slam Dunk but it appears it was written in the stars. The connection between the band and Slam Dunk started almost ten years ago and it's fitting not just that You Me At Six headline this anniversary edition but that they revisit that time period in their set list.

Having spent the past year or so promoting their fourth album 'Cavalier Youth', which hit the number one spot in the UK, tonight sees the return of some older favourites to the set list. In particular debut album 'Take Off Your Colours' is featured prominently amongst the set with seven songs compared to the zero that featured in their recent arena tour's set list. It was great to hear the likes of 'Kiss And Tell' and 'Save It For The Bedroom' and they still sound as fresh today as when they were released.

There is still room of course for all their mega hits such as 'Lived A Lie', 'Fresh Start Fever' and 'Room To Breathe' from 'Cavalier Youth' and 'Bite My Tongue' and 'Loverboy' from predecessor 'Sinners Never Sleep'. 'Hold Me Down' is also represented well with the likes of 'Stay With Me' and 'Underdog'.

All in all seventeen songs make up a near dream set list for You Me At Six fans, but it almost wasn't to be as just five songs in disaster strikes. Singer Franceschi does well to realise an issue has arose within the crowd and this leads to a twenty plus minute delay whilst medical attention is administered. Praise should be heaped on the band, the crowd and the festival staff for the way this was dealt with, but also to whoever allowed the band to proceed and break curfew to ensure their fans didn't miss out.

Slam Dunk Festival continues to grow year on year and it will take a lot to top this year's event, but from experience they will likely do it. The 2015 edition manages to both relive past glories but also look to the future of the festival. Indeed the likes of PVRIS will no doubt be back and in more prominent positions, and with You Me At Six set to enter the studio for album number five further success will surely follow in the form of headline slots at larger festivals.