Slam Dunk Festival 2014 line-up latest announcement

The latest Slam Dunk Festival 2014 line-up (Image: Archant)

The UK’s biggest independent touring festival returns to Hatfield on Sunday, May 25 for Slam Dunk South at The Forum Hertfordshire.

Following last month’s initial line-up announcement, We Are The In Crowd, Less Than Jake, Motion City Soundtrack, Hit The Lights, State Champs, A Loss For Words, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, Marmozets and Blitz Kids were all added to the bill today (Wednesday).

Slam Dunk organisers are thrilled to have four bands from the US flying in exclusively just to play the events in Leeds, Hatfield and Wolverhampton over the weekend of May 24-26.

Current Rock Sound cover stars We Are The In Crowd will be returning to Slam Dunk Festival and are set to be one of the favourites of the weekend.

Singer Tay Jardine said: “The biggest reward of playing Slam Dunk’s going to be seeing our old fans and making some new ones. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Already having a strong ska-punk bill, including Goldfinger and Zebrahead, Slam Dunk is proud to go one step further and announce the kings of the scene, Less Than Jake.

They previously joint headlined the festival back in 2011 with Reel Big Fish, but have agreed to make a special guest appearance this May after just completing their most successful sold out UK tour ever, playing to more than 25,000 people in two weeks.

US pop-punk bands Motion City Soundtrack and Hit The Lights both return to Slam Dunk after a year’s absence.

In addition to those exclusives, Blitz Kids will be back for the second year in a row, bringing songs from their recently released and much-acclaimed new album The Good Youth to the festival.

Following on from tours with All Time Low, Lower Than Atlantis and Canterbury, Slam Dunk will see the band cement their place as 2014 ones to watch.

State Champs, meanwhile, will make their UK debut festival appearance at Slam Dunk 2014, having won rave reviews for their album Finer Things.

Joining them will be two bands returning to the festival – Boston’s A Loss For Words and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! from Paris, France.

Lastly, Marmozets will be playing to support their forthcoming debut album.

Vocalist Becca said: “I’m excited about playing Slam Dunk as it’s a little like Christmas – all the fam get together, have a good drink sesh and lots of surprises are bound to happen!’

The All-American Rejects will exclusively headline the three main legs of this year’s Slam Dunk Festival.

Slam Dunk North will take place at Leeds University on Saturday, May 24.

The tour will head south to the University of Hertfordshire the following day, and Slam Dunk Midlands returns to Wolverhampton Civic on Bank Holiday Monday, May 26.

Tickets are priced at £35, and £39 with after-show party across all sites.

For a full list of ticket outlets for all shows, visit the Slam Dunk website at www.slamdunkmusic.com

* Visit here for pictures of last year’s 2013 Slam Dunk Festival.

In addition to the three main 2014 festivals, Slam Dunk promoters have confirmed the festival will be returning to Scotland and Wales in May.

However, instead of the usual Cardiff and Glasgow venues, this year will see Slam Dunk spreading its wings and visit new cities in both countries.

Slam Dunk Scotland will take place on Friday, May 23 at the Edinburgh Liquid Room.

It will visit the Newport Centre for Slam Dunk Wales on Tuesday, May 27.

These dates will be stripped down versions of the main festival, with We Are the In Crowd, Hit the Lights, Neck Deep and Decade all playing. Special guests have still to be announced.

Tickets are priced at only £15 available from the festival’s website.

* For the latest music festival news, visit the Welwyn Hatfield Times’ Festival section.