Rain City Drive Let It Pour At Slam Dunk Festival South 2025

Rain City Drive hit the Kerrang! Stage at 3:25 pm, and were met with a very happy crowd as well as what, for them, felt like surprisingly lovely British weather. As vocalist Matt McAndrew noted, they are only ever normally in the UK during the dead of winter, so despite it being a little grey, this was quite a warm change of pace for them here. They settled us in with the track “Lose My Composure” from their latest album “Things Are Different Now” and carried us through this album for the first six songs, which felt like a fitting introduction for new fans who would be wanting to get to hear their current sound, but also a fun overall exhibition of who the band is now for everyone. You could feel their enthusiasm while getting to play these tracks to such a reciprocating sea of fans going crazy at the front of the crowd. A marking moment of this was during the second song, “Over Me”, getting to watch them all dance around the stage in unison while the crowd bustled and tussled to the tempo, singing along, as McAndrew pulled out his phone to capture the moment forever with a big smile shining across his face. 

The next song that really roused a strong crowd reaction was their track “Concrete Closure” with its punchy alliterative chorus line and catchy upbeat hard-rock rhythm. The immense interaction between all of the band members throughout, with them making the most out of the stage size and never leaving a member out, was such an engaging part of the show as an onlooker who was new to the band. It was refreshing to see the drummer of a band being so actively part of the entire performance and not tucked away at the back. Altogether, it was nice to see the entire band smiling and dancing around in some way throughout the whole show and having a genuinely fun time performing. A particular highlight of this was from their rhythm guitarist Felipe Sanchez, who had a huge smile throughout the entire performance, pulling out some really groovy dance moves and making sure to interact with the audience as much as possible. It was like a party on the stage, and you couldn’t help but want to be up there with them. This brought us to one of their biggest songs of the setlist, and one that certainly had me intrigued to listen to them more after the show, which was “Medicate Me”. Now I know I said the last song was catchy, but this one took it to a new level and was an absolute treat to hear live. With McAndrew’s flawless live vocals and the whole band’s stunning instrumental talent, this song really scratched an itch and made it easy for even the most reserved audience members to let loose a little. This portion of the set was a perfect way for the band to display their creative growth and platform the new direction that Rain City Drive is heading in, for so many people.

Of course, they are team players, though, and gave the long-term fans their moment to bask in their favourite tracks. So, after playing the final track, “Frozen” from their latest album, they transitioned into the final portion of the show. We were treated to two tracks from their self-titled 2022 album, “Blood Runs Cold”, followed by “Cutting It Close”, which was complemented by the band’s ability to keep the crowd locked in- encouraging lots of clapping and vocal response between every song of the set. These tracks boasted especially powerful guitar lines and relatable lyrics that set into motion some of the most emotive and passionate responses from their fans yet. They then brought the set to a close with the song that they are probably best recognised for, “Talk To A Friend,” which was a fantastic send-off as almost everyone in the crowd was able to join in singing in this final moment with them.

If you want to catch more of them, they will be in the UK again at Dreamland, Margate on the 5th July and at Gunnersbury Park, London on the 9th August– for more info on these click here. But they also let us know that they have a brand new song coming out in June and will be back on tour here in January 2026, so stay on the look-out for those.