WORDS AND IMAGES DESH KAPUR
Sunday was day three of Tramlines Festival 2024 and again the sun shone, and the people came out in their thousands to sample the musical fare being served up.
Maxïmo Park kicked my day off on the main stage and what a way to start, they put on a powerful performance of some of their greatest hits and tracks of their new record. The band have been playing music for over 20 years and the set showed what a tight polished band they are. From Paul Smith’s extravagant dance moves, distinctive vocals and clever lyricism and wordsmithery they brought a dynamic energy to the stage, that started the day off with a bang,
Londoners Folly Group were next in the Leadmill tent, bringing their twist on psych rock wrapped up in a fusion of dance beats and melody. The percussion element of the band was brilliant but but it’s the guitars that hold it all together, elongated chords create such atmospherics and the bass adds the groove, it was all impressive indeed.
Staying at the Leadmill stage for a band I was very interested to see, 86 Tv’s who are somewhat of a modern-day supergroup comprised of former members of The Maccabees, Felix and Hugo White, and their brother Will – with the addition of Jamie Morrison, who’s known for drumming with the Noisettes and Stereophonics. My excitement was justified, I thought they were fantastic, the lead vocals are constantly changing for each song, and Felix and Hugo switch between lead and rhythm guitar parts. And it works wonderfully. They are like a well-oiled machine they blast through a high-octane set of indie bangers.
Then I headed to the main stage, for Elliot Gleave, better known as name Example, the British singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer, who rose to fame with his electronic dance and hip hop tracks and as he said on more that one occasion he was here to bring the party and that’s exactly what he did, with hits such as ‘We’ll Be Coming Back’ and ‘Kickstarts’ getting the crowd jumping and singing along in the afternoon sun.
After a quick rest bite for a beer it was back to the Leadmill stage for Willie J Healy, dressed in a shorts t-shirt and a cowboy hat, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but what I got was modern fairly middle-of-the-road indie rock, Healey is incredibly charismatic, he’s confident, and loves a bit of banter with the crowd. His tunes are full of melody with an underlying funk, I enjoyed it, but……..
The last 3 bands of the evening were 3 bands I had been looking forward to seeing from the first time the 2024 lineup was released and I was so relieved when they didn’t clash, The Human League, Magic Gang and Snow Patrol. And the first up were Sheffield’s own, 80’s synth pop legends The Human League and the main stage, actually the whole of the show grounds turned as one to watch. With the 3 original members Philip Oakey, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall all dressed in black and the addition of percussionist, synth guitarist and keyboardist, all in tailored black suits and no smiles, all the hits were rolled out, from Mirror Man, Tell Me When, (Keep Feeling) Fascination. Love Action produced some of the biggest sing-alongs I have ever heard, but it was the big one “Don’t you Want Me”, that had the whole of the festival singing and dancing along, what a moment. Thousands and thousands of people singing as one with the band was something else. And it will long live in my memory
Then it was a happy sad walk back to the Leadmill for a band I first saw many years ago, in a small venue in Manchester I thought they were brilliant then, but I have never understood why they never kicked on to massive things. But as I said happy and sad, as tonight was going to be their last show ever, The band and the crowd were having too much fun, and with their mixture of American College Rock and Brit Pop, who could blame them? Music that was the love child of Weezer and Blur brought up on a diet of Beck and Sonic Youth, just couldn’t fail and it was awesome! The band rocked, the crowd rocked and I with everyone else were left wanting more! A truly memorable set, If you’re going to leave, leave on a high note and that’s exactly what Magic Gang did.
My last performance of the day was Snow Patrol who have a musical career that spans over 30 years having their halcyon days in the naughties. Snow Patrol strode onto the main stage, with the air of a band who are very used to playing to over 20,000 cheering fans. Tonight, Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, Paul Wilson, Jonny Quinn and Johnn McDaid brought their ‘A game’ to Tramlines, and the crowd loved every minute. The charismatic Lightbody strolls the stage with a beaming big Irish smile, seeming so happy to be on the Tramlines main stage, doing what he loves doing best, delivering a set of songs that are soulfully powerful and fragile at the same time. Yes, this man knows his way around an Indie rock ballad and they are all getting an airing tonight the crowd are lost in the emotion of it all, and all they can do is sing along. Snow Patrol played tracks from their new records but there is no shortage of classics, as the band took the audience through fan favourites, including “Open Your Eyes”, along with the heartfelt and brilliant “Chasing Cars” and the track which put the band on the map, “Run”. And they sit beautifully alongside each other. Going by tonight’s performance, I’d have to say that Snow Patrol are right on top of their game
So another Tramlines comes to an end, and i for one had a great time, i some some great bands, i discovered some exciting new bands, i met some great people, shared the pit with some brilliant people, Congratulations and thank you goes out to the Sliding Doors team for the spot on organisation, and all their hard work, AND THE SUN SHONE !!!
Following a sun drenched 2024 edition of Tramlines Festival, Sheffield’s biggest party, Super Early Bird tickets for the 2025 edition will go on sale on Friday 2nd August at 12pm. Priced at £89.50 + booking fee, these are the best value tickets revellers can lay their hands on for Tramlines 2025 when it returns to Hillsborough Park from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 July. Historically, Early Bird tickets sell out within minutes, so to be in with the best chance of securing one, the advice is to sign up for priority access at www.tramlines.org.uk before 2nd August.
FOLLOW SNOW PATROL
FOLLOW THE HUMAN LEAGUE
FOLLOW WILLIE J HEALEY
FOLLOW EXAMPLE
FOLLOW 86 TV’S
FOLLOW FOLLY GROUP
FOLLOW MAXIMO PARK
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
