Slam Dunk has dropped a surprise second wave for 2027, adding 18 acts just two weeks after its first announcement. Billy Talent, Cobra Starship, Superheaven, Joyce Manor, The Paradox, Amira Elfeky and Forever The Sickest Kids lead the new names. VIP has already sold out, remaining tickets are selling fast, and camping tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am.
The new names join Bowling For Soup, Simple Plan, Killswitch Engage, Beartooth, Sleeping With Sirens, The Used, The Front Bottoms, Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and The Interrupters. The first wave also includes Wage War, The Amity Affliction, ERRA, We The Kings, The Academy Is…, Cute Is What We Aim For, The Maine, Four Year Strong, Trophy Eyes, Knuckle Puck, Hot Milk, Mouth Culture, As December Falls, RedHook, Grade 2, Melrose Avenue, From Ashes To New, Overgrown and Love Rarely. More names are still to come.
Canadian punk heavyweights Billy Talent make a much anticipated return, with a catalogue that includes “Red Flag”, “Fallen Leaves” and “Try Honesty”. They last played the festival in 2023, when they were billed high on the Rock Scene stage at both Hatfield and Leeds, as covered in the Slam Dunk 2023 set times. Organisers say the second appearance will be a celebration of the songs that have soundtracked generations of alternative fans.
Cobra Starship make their first UK appearance in 17 years, and it is exclusive to Slam Dunk. The band behind “Good Girls Go Bad” and “Snakes On A Plane” split in 2015 and reunited in 2024, playing When We Were Young, Riot Fest and Warped Tour. Organisers are billing the set as one of the weekend’s biggest nostalgia moments. Forever The Sickest Kids, another late-2000s pop-punk staple, join from the same era.
Slam Dunk takes place at Leeds Temple Newsam on Saturday 29th May 2027, then Hatfield Park on Sunday 30th May. It’s a reverse from last year when the South event took place on the Saturday. The same bill plays both sites. Tickets that remain are on sale at slamdunkfestival.com.
Camping arrives for the first time in the festival’s history. A limited number of pitches will be available at both sites, including campervan pitches and pre-pitched tents. Both campsites are within walking distance of the arena. They open at 4pm the day before the festival and close at 12pm the day after, so fans can wake up at Slam Dunk. Camping tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am, with further details at slamdunkfestival.com/camping.
First-timers Superheaven bring 90s-inspired grunge and alt-rock. Joyce Manor add emotionally charged songwriting and chaotic live shows. Newcomers The Paradox, formed in 2024, have gone from viral sensation to Warped Tour in less than a year, picking up attention from Travis Barker and Jack White along the way. Amira Elfeky, mixing nu-metal with a gothic edge, brings breakout track “Tonight”.
New ska collective The Family Business Ltd follow the release of their self-titled debut on Hellcat Records. Ben Quad blend Midwest emo with pop-punk, arriving after second album Wisher and a first UK headline tour. Games We Play, signed to Pete Wentz’s DCD2 Records and known for “I Hope You’re Happy”, are joined by Super Sometimes, fresh from debut album Show the World What’s Underneath.
Shoreline add German emo-punk sing-alongs. Car Underwater, featuring members of Photographic Memory, Wisp and Ghostemane, follow EP Dagger Breaks Window. Las Vegas sisters Jyl and Jules Wylde, better known as The Pretty Wild, come off debut album zero.point.genesis. Parisian metalcore band Novelists, masked nu-metallers BLACKGOLD, Berlin post-hardcore band Future Palace (following album Resurgence) and Florida rock band The Haunt complete the wave.
Press quotes included with the announcement call the festival “the ultimate homecoming for the UK’s alternative community” (Livesphere) and “one of the most important festivals in Britain” (UK Festival Guides). Clash said the line-up “strikes the perfect balance between the new and nostalgic”. Record Collector called it “the top alternative festival in the country”.
Image credits: @samcorphotos
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