MILESTONES
Manchester based Milestones proved themselves worthy of being chosen to play Rock Sound’s Breakout stage this Slam Dunk. With their massive melodies and punk spirit, the four piece managed to pull in a wandering crowd and fill out the big top tent by the end of their performance. Having previously played alongside the likes of Mayday Parade, With Confidence, WSTR and Simple Plan, the boys learned how to perform in front of a big audience and delivered a high energy set with bassist Mark Threlfall and guitarist Eden Leviston not standing still once throughout the performance. Their energetic instrumentals in combination with their pop-punk vocals and stage presence are sure to have left Milestones’ name marked on many people’s mind.
ROAM
As Eastbourne’s most exciting pop punk band and arguably one of the most exciting bands we’ve seen come out of the South East of England in the last couple of years, ROAM have built a steady following for themselves over the years. A big part of this following came down to Slam Dunk to support the five piece and help them deliver one of the most energetic performances of the day, with lead vocalist Alex Costello doing backflips and the band bringing out inflatables for the audience to crowd surf on. In between jumping around, ROAM’s vocalist and guitarist Alex Adam found the time to address this generations problems with money and materialism, emphasising that those things shouldn’t be what defines our happiness, before playing ‘The Rich Life Of A Poor Man’ off of their latest album. As always, ROAM delivered a performance strong in both energy and sound, making them one of our favourites to play Slam Dunk this year.
SLEEPING WITH SIRENS
Back for the first time after playing Slam Dunk in 2013 were American Rock band Sleeping With Sirens. The band played a well balanced mix of old and new songs, taking tracks from all five of their studio albums, making sure there was something for both their current and past fans. The set showed the wide variety of genres the band has covered during their career, from recent pop single ‘Legends’ to the bands heavier and most famous song ‘If You Can’t Hang’, all hung together by Kellin Quinn’s unique and easily identifiable voice. The band is best known for Quinn’s wide vocal range and their strong stage presence which they displayed on a high level during their set, with bassist Justin Hill spinning around, guitarist Jack Fowler doing jump kicks and Kellin Quinn throwing his mic in the air, creating a show enjoyable for both fans and festivalgoers alike.
AS IT IS
Returning to Slam Dunk for the third time this year was Brighton-based As It Is. The band has been in the news quite a bit recently for vocalist Patty Walters’ new 2005-style emo look, but with their set they proved their sound to be as much of 2018 pop punk as possible. The band kicked off their set with their recent single ‘The Wounded World’, before playing songs of their previous releases. Halfway through the set, Patty invited a couple on the stage to join them with a special request which turned out to be a wedding proposal (they said yes), easily turning this set into one of the band’s most memorable to date. With their catchy songs and a sound embracing the essence of pop punk, As It Is’ set saw a crowd of all ages dancing and singing along to the band’s music.
GOOD CHARLOTTE
One of the headliners at 2018’s Slam Dunk was American Rock band Good Charlotte. The band made their set quite an emotional one, with frontman Joel Madden making many speeches about the rough times the band has been through, but how their fans and certain bands have helped them through it and inspired them to come out with a new album ‘Generation Rx’ later this year. This support from fans was really felt throughout the set with festivalgoers singing along everywhere in the crowd, including at bars way back from the stage. With most of the songs played being Good Charlotte classics such as ‘The Anthem’, ‘Hold On’, ‘Little Things’, ‘I Just Wanna Live’ and ‘Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous’, this set easily had the most crowd involvement and Good Charlotte were very deserving of their headlining slot.
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