Tramlines Festival, Sheffield: Day Two – live review

Tramlines Festival – Day Two (see also Day One)
Hillsborough Park, Sheffield
27th July 2024

As the sun continued to shine on Sheffield’s Tramlines Festival, Paul Clarke took in some comedy and a few hot new acts, with Phil Thorns taking photos.

One of the great joys of any festival is you get to see bands you have either missed on their tours, or acts you wouldn’t normally bother with but who then turn out to be surprisingly good. So one moment you might be watching a top class comic actor trying to make his act work in a big tent, and the next heading off to a packed Leadmill stage to watch a local band who’ve just picked up a Mercury nomination. Of course, you see some tripe along the way, and the beauty of any festival is you can always walk away to watch something more interesting.

Tramlines is an urban festival bringing millions into the local economy, so between acts you can browse the wares of local traders, or for junior music lovers there is a funky kid’s area. Last year, Tramlines won the ‘Best Festival For Emerging Talent’ awarded by their peers, so there’s always a good chance you’ll get to see the next big thing in a small tent.

Local legends The Everly Pregnant Brothers continued their tradition of opening day two on the Sarah Nulty stage and, as always, their shtick of adding Yorkshire-themed lyrics to pop hits went down well. Imagine a White Rose Barron Knights, so an iconic number one by local heroes Human League became Don’t Tha Want Me, and a Bob Marley hit morphed into No Woman, No Pie. The highlight of the set is It’s a Breadcake! set to Abba’s Winner Takes It All as the band set out their case for what bread rolls should be called. To make the case for breadcakes – as they’re referred to in Sheffield – they even brought some Lidl rolls that they threw into the crowd, creating the first ever genuine bun fight at a festival, and my nineteen year daughter was laughing out loud at their antics.

Stand up comedians have always been a big feature on T’Other Stage, so we joined comedy oddball Angelos Epithemiou as he caused chaos wandering round the tent asking punters all sorts of weird questions. The hapless former burger van owner is the creation of comic Daniel Skinner, who quickly worked out the best way to work this big space was to get into the audience who loved being abused, and his hilarious attempt to communicate with the dead once again had everyone chuckling.

We were certainly getting in our steps as we ambled back to the main stage for Nieve Ella. We’d seen her at the Lytham festival supporting Courteeners, where she didn’t really click with that audience, but here they were much more responsive to some angsty indiepop. The punchy Car Park is about sex, according to the band, and the very catchy Sugarcoated was as good live as on record. The emotionally honest emo pop of His Sofa opened with ‘fuck this’ as Nieve urged her fans to shout out loud, as parents rushed to stick their children’s ear defenders on.

The Irish music scene is so vibrant at the moment, so the festival bookers had done well to put Dublin’s Sprints on the bill, who really took their chance with a powerful cocktail of punchy tunes and politics. Karla Chubb is a natural frontperson, as the lively four piece launched into the punk pop of Adore Adore Adore from their critically acclaimed debut album, Letter To Self. Chubb urged all the young women in the audience to ‘pick up a guitar and form a band’, before bouncing round the stage to Literary Mind. In the wake of a general election that saw the Steel City go red, they praised our nation for getting rid of the Tories, and proclaimed their support for the transgender community and Palestine, rounding off with Little Fix.

There were plenty of The Snuts t-shirts around the site but their performance on the main stage left me unclear why anyone would choose this Scottish quartet as their main band of choice. A spiderman on his mate’s shoulders seemed to be having a good time, but I wasn’t going to be buying one of their t-shirts.

Sometimes it must be a nightmare being a festival booker, as when they signed up English Teacher they were just a hotly-tipped band, and by the time they were second on the bill in the Leadmill tent they’d just secured a Mercury Prize nomination for their brilliant post punk debut, This Could Be Texas. Not surprisingly, my daughter was one of the younger people in attendance as the Leeds band’s sophisticated sound had attracted plenty of old geezers like me looking for something a bit different…which we got. The World’s Biggest Paving Slab won song title of the weekend, and in Lili Fontaine the band have an exceptional vocalist with real star quality.

The ethereal I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying is a lovely piece of psychedelic rock, and the reflective Broken Biscuits allowed the audience to catch their breath as A55 turned into a long jam that was just on the edge of self-indulgence. The album’s title track is an indie torch song introduced by Fontaine as a ‘love song’, and the half spoken vocals of the throbbing Nearly Daffodils brought the eccentrics of Dry Cleaning to mind. Oddly, I enjoyed it much more than my daughter who wasn’t that impressed, so maybe they are a band for dads tired of indie landfill.

Back on the main stage, Tom Grennan sailed through what appeared to be an audition to be a future headliner with a hugely entertaining set that combined showmanship and a battery of pop soul bangers. From the moment he literally bounded onto stage, Grennan was determined to get the audience in the palm of his hand, which he did with the confidence of a born showman. Since the last time I’d seen Grennan in a much smaller setting he’d gone up a couple of levels as a live act as he constantly exhorted the crowd to join in. His rich voice seemed stronger too as he ripped into How Does It Feel as a really up for it crowd joined in on the chorus, setting the tone for what became an open air house party.

In a crowded field of British soul boys, Grennan showed he had the chops to be the best on a glorious version of KSI’s Not Over Yet. The energy level and arms went up right to the back of the field for Found What I’ve Been Looking For, and the crowd were now bang into the fun during By Your Side which he collaborated on with Calvin Harris. By a massive version of Lionheart (Fearless), the crowd were literally bouncing up and down as his gravelly vocals soared over the packed field. If I were booking future Tramlines, Tom Grennan would now be at the top of the list for future headliners as he has both the moves and songs to pull it off.

Back on the T’Other Stage, Holly Humberstone was another young act making the most of the high profile this festival always offers to rising stars. Last time I saw her was down the bill at Leeds Festival where she was a bit emo, but she’s matured into a confident pop rock artist, especially after a high profile stint supporting Olivia Rodrigo. The title track of her debut record, Paint My Bedroom Black, was both polished and heartfelt, and The Walls Are Way Too Thin, off her second EP, benefitted from her increased confidence as a singer. Humberstone still needed to do a bit of work on her stage presence, but will be a certainty for a main stage slot next time she performs at Tramlines.

On the main stage, Jamie T showed just how hard it is to headline an event with an uneven set, which could be put down to nerves. It didn’t help he was backed by a lacklustre band, and he abandoned a solo set before a decent rendition of 368 showcasing his lyrical ability seemed to bring the crowd round a bit. A late run of Sheila, Sticks ‘N’ Stones and Zombie hinted at what might have been, but if you want to headline a big show like this you have to pace your set, and you definitely have to be focused.

Or you could just watch Tom Grennan and see how it’s done.

Tickets for Tramlines 2025 are now on sale, returning to Hillsborough Park from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 July. 

Tramlines can be found at Facebook | X 

~

Words by Paul Clarke, you can see his author profile here

All photos by Phil Thorns