St Albans band Enter Shikari says ‘absolute honour’ to headline Slam Dunk Festival
St Albans band Enter Shikari will headline Slam Dunk Festival 2017, which returns to the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield - Credit: Archant
St Albans rock band Enter Shikari are headlining next year’s Slam Dunk Festival in celebration of the 10th anniversary of their debut album Take To The Skies.
The festival is being held across three sites from Saturday, May 27, to Monday, May 29, the last of which is in The Forum, Hatfield, and will be a homecoming gig for vocalist Rou Reynolds who was a student at the University of Herts.
The quartet, two of whom were at Verulam School and the other two at Sandringham, play an undefinable blend of rock, high-intensity electronics and rallying anthems which has won them cult status and a reputation for modern rebellion.
They have produced four studio albums and played live across the UK and Europe.
The band, which also features Chris Batten, Rory Clewlow and Rob Rolfe, will be performing a special exclusive UK festival set at all three locations of the Slam Dunk Festival - the other two are at the Birmingham NEC and Leeds city centre.
Rou said: ”Slam Dunk is a festival that we’ve been attending from the very start - Slam Dunk South is actually on the campus of my old uni in Hatfield.
“It’s grown into one of the most important festivals in alternative music, and it will be an absolute honour to headline it in 2017.”
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Because the festival is celebrating the band’s debut album, they will get to reminisce and relive tracks which, according to Rou, ‘are still held dear by so many’.
Expressing his appreciation for fans who have shown their support over the years, he said: “We’ll never write another album like TTTS, as Enter Shikari isn’t really a band that looks backwards, so to speak. But as this is a special occasion it’s important for us to recognise the importance of this album to us, and for the family of people who have supported us since those early days.
“On a purely selfish note, I cannot wait to play some of the tracks we haven’t played since 2007, or even ever.”
Festival director Ben Ray added: “I’m happy to welcome Enter Shikari to the Festival for the first time. It’s always great to have another headliner from the UK, which shows how well British rock music is doing.”
Tickets for the Slam Dunk Festival are available from http://slamdunkmusic.com/
