It’s hard to believe that the greatest video in both internet and heavy metal history has already turned 10. Back in 2013, a little-known Texas metalcore band called Live Without uploaded a clip called “The Denny’s Grand Slam” to YouTube. And now they are forever etched into our genre’s history because of it.
The legendary footage, viewable in its full glory below, shows the four-piece bringing some particularly rowdy metalcore to a disused branch of Denny’s. It’s been stripped of all its chairs and tables by the looks of it, leaving space for the crowd in attendance to go rabid – which they do instantly. For the entire four-minute clip, Live Without rage like they’re headlining Download Festival, and their audience does all the animated hardcore dancing any band of their niche would ever hope to see.
The most iconic part comes nearly halfway through, when the singer known only as Kris roars the best mosh call ever: “What’s up! What’s up! What the fuck is up, Denny’s?!” It’s a battle cry that’s launched a thousand memes in the cult metal underground, and remains one of the coolest things ever said by a human.
Offering some context on the amazing video, Live Without wrote this in its YouTube description: “Me and the drummer talked to the owners [of the Denny’s branch] right before they were closing this location and they were gonna have the lease through the end of the month.
“They said they were shutting down for business the next day and we asked if we could have a small show there. We would charge min 1$ and they could keep all proceeds. The owners were very cool and thought it was a great idea. I brought the fans from work and borrowed the PA from a friend. We hit up any friends bands that could make it in the next 24 hrs and promoted it the best we could.”
Happily, Live Without are still a band. They released their Mannequin EP back in March 2020 and, earlier this year, released a line of merch to commemorate a decade of “The Denny’s Grand Slam”. Said merch is now completely sold out, showing just how beloved this moment remains even after all this time. On YouTube comment declares, “This is American culture at it absolute finest” – and we agree wholeheartedly.
