The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Slam Dunk 2025 – South

Brendan Fisher 4 min read

Another year, another Slam Dunk, and another brilliant time had in Hatfield. Many beers were drunk, good food was eaten, some sun was enjoyed, and many great bands were seen. Putting it simply, this is up there as one of our favourite Slam Dunk’s to date, which makes writing the good, the bad, and the ugly a bit of a challenge, but here we are.

So, what did we love, what did we hate, and what did we turn our noses up to? It’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Slam Dunk 2025 – South!

 

The Good

Let’s start with the obvious… the lineup and the bands we saw. Now, before even stepping foot on the festival grounds, we believed this to be one of the strongest Slam Dunk lineups for us to date. Multiple must see bands across multiple stages, many first-time watches, and many returning favourites. From Defects kicking off the day in riotous fashion, to Knuckle Puck delivering pure catchiness, to Graphic Nature causing carnage, Less Than Jake getting everyone singing along, and Electric Callboy overshadowing the headline act, it was a day of brilliance, and we didn’t see a bad set from a band overall.

Tied into this is the sound on most of the stages, which we found to be good overall. Especially when further back on the outdoor stages where you expect to lose detail. Slam Dunk hasn’t always been the best for this, so it definitely felt like an improvement.

Continuing with the positives, the bars and the staff were on form. We didn’t really struggle with queues and everyone we got served by was lovely and quick (for the most part). Even the price for beer was ‘festival’ reasonable. We do have something to add here in the bad, but we will get there in a bit. For now, and compared to the year when the card machines stopped working, this was joyful.

It was good to see the weather hold up nicely too, even if that’s something Slam Dunk can’t control, and we found it was very easy getting in, out, and around the festival, mostly. Yes, it was busy, but it was sold out and compared to THAT year (2023), the new layout seems to be working for the festival.

The Bad

What the hell happened at the Key Club stage!? The stage seemed to be delayed by anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour, which made it impossible to plan, resulting in numerous bands being missed. It did seem like they were trying to get it back on track, but it meant that changeover times were on a whim and there were no real set times anymore. That the app wasn’t being updated, or there was no clear information about what was going on, made it worse. It was a shame to see the tent empty for bands that otherwise should’ve pulled crowds, because they were now competing with headliners that they shouldn’t have been.

How do you run out of your own branded IPA by 17:30? That is dumb and made worse when the only alternative as a non-cider drinker is Amstel. Cool if you like it, if you don’t, you’re screwed. Get better beer or at least bring enough of it.

Not opening the gates on time… again. Every single year. It’s not a big deal, but it’s an issue every year, and once again, the gates were late opening by nearly 15 minutes.

Another consistent issue is the lack of cubicles, resulting in long queues for those wishing to use one. Slam Dunk really need to put more blocks around the site, they also need to consider making some blocks ‘female only’, which would help queues, especially as there are plenty of urinals for men to use.

The signal. Once again, non-existent. If you plan to meet up with people, you best find a better way to communicate with them because your phone is going to be the equivalent of a brick. How can we be so close to London and have bugger all signal all day? It’s crazy and not network dependant either!

The Ugly

Getting sunburnt by a sneaky sun hiding behind the clouds. Curse you, British weather!

Our insistence that we ‘got the moves’ during Electric Callboy and the video proof that says otherwise.

The food selections were pretty uninspired, a lot of the same places, and festival prices have reached eye-watering amounts. Nothing we had was bad though, but when you compare the selection on offer here to the likes of Bloodstock, Slam Dunk lags way behind.

Spirits at the bar were too expensive, and the Monster and vodka mixer was a hilarious rip-off (not even a full can) but so are soft drinks. A coke for a kid cost £3.90 for a half cup of it. That’s plain robbery and made worse when food stalls were selling bottles a cheaper price.

Finally, this is something we’ve only heard about and seen in a few videos online, so it’s not our experience. However, the reports and footage of security refusing to catch crowd surfers and just letting them fall to the floor is shocking. Those people need to be pulled up for this and the security partner taken to task over it.




Authors

  • Owner/Editor/Writer/YouTuber - Heavy Metal and reading, two things I have always loved so they are the two areas you will find most of my reviews. Post apocalyptic is my jam and I always have a book on the go and have for decades now. From a metal perspective, age has softened my inadequacies and I now operate with an open mind, loving many bands from many sub genres but having a particular iration for the UK underground scene. In my other time, when not focused on Dad duties and work, I try to the craft beer movement by drinking as much of it as I can and you will also find me out on the streets, walking. I love walking, I love exploring new places and snapping nature photos as I go.

  • Owner//Editor/Writer/Interviewer/YouTuber - you name it, I do it. I love gaming, horror movies, and all forms of heavy metal and rock. I'm also a Discworld super-fan and love talking all things Terry Pratchett. Do you wanna party? It's party time!

  • Writer/YouTuber - I am a graphic designer, vocalist and writer of any hardcore release I can get my mits on for GBHBL. Find me two-stepping at any show under 100 capacity.