With the promise of good weather and good music, crowds poured into Hillsborough Park for Sheffield’s biggest music festival: Tramlines.
Darling contributor, Issy Weeks-Hankins, was
just one of over forty thousands people attending the weekend.
Day 1
With my hand sanitiser, suncream, and a water bottle packed tightly in my bum bag, I was raring to head to my first music festival in over three years!
Bedroom High Club were the perfect act to start with as they performed their latest single ‘HARDTALK’ with such an amazing and contagious energy that had me dancing from the get-go.
Besides the five various stages, Hillsborough Park was lined with all sorts of stalls. One of which included a L’Oréal Paris and Stand Up partnership as part of their “Never Your Fault” campaign dedicated to changing the mindset on harassment in public places. Here, individuals were encouraged to complete a five minute training course on how to safely deal with harassment in public with the incentive of a free product afterwards.
Wandering around it seems the signature festival accessory, a bucket hat, has been pushed to the wayside in favour of cowboy boots across an array of colours.
Harriet Rose brought a focused performance to the Leadmill stage delivering her unique Americana sound.
Miles Kane, co-frontman of the Last Shadow Puppets alongside long-time collaborator Alex Turner, was a much-anticipated highlight for me. With his denim poncho and shaved semi-bleached hair, he performed with a lovable cockiness which is expected at your typical indie festival.
After a quick hotdog (and pint) break under the helter-skelter, it was back to the music.
Sophie Ellis-Bexter enjoyed her Saltburn reinfused fame as she headlined on the Sarah Nulty stage - proving once again she’s the ultimate performer with her high kicks, bedazzled leotard, and luminous cape.
As Ellis-Bexter sang the last lines to ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ I squeezed through the crowd to the Library stage to watch Sheffield’s own Pippa Crossland, an act I discovered thanks to TikTok. Her Lana Del-Ray-esque lyrics and bubbly personality did not disappoint.
Following on, Bombay Bicycle Club were just as dynamic as during their performance at Glastonbury last month.
With her bandmates/best mates having just graduated from Leeds Conservatoire mere hours before their performance, Hannah Rowe had an infectious energy and their music was incredibly soulful. *quickly follows on Spotify*.
To end a glorious first day under the sun I couldn’t think of anyone better than Friday night headliner Paolo Nutini.
While some had questioned whether he was headline material after such a long hiatus, I was excited to see him live nonetheless. Unfortunately this quickly dwindled as his performance became a tad dry. It took me a while to recognise his fan-favourite hits, such as ‘Candy’ and ‘Pencil Full of Lead’ as they had been diminished to ballads rather than the trumpet-filled upbeat party we all have come to love.
17,000 steps and three pints later, I finished day one with a meal deal while watching the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in bed.
Day 2
We walked into another bright sunny day with the delightful sounds of The Leadmill Studio Orchestra, a Sheffield Music Hub project working to connect young people with music.
After listening to tunes from Northern rising stars Keyz.Tenten and Buzz Northway, we took
the time to explore Little Hillsborough: a small group of stalls from the local area. Luke Horton, a Sheffield artist known for his unique style and popular Sheffield Wednesday mural, was selling his range of instantly recognisable Sheffield euphemistic posters, bucket hats, and pack-a-macs (although they weren’t as necessary as usual thanks to the good weather).
Despite being hungover from his time at Truck Festival the night before, something he admitted halfway through the set, Harvey Jay Dodgson gave it his all on the guitar.
Nieve Ella was one act I was particularly looking forward to seeing due to her song ‘Sugaroated’ holding a strong position in my Spotify favourites. You could still catch me singling and clapping along but I was more mesmerised by her outfit.
Sprints woke everyone up with their garage punk sound and lead singer, Karla Chubb, throwing their red hair around. With a full-on setlist, their show remained heartfelt as they dedicated their heart-pumping and foot-stomping performance to the people who have lost their lives to the genocide in Palestine and transgender youths.
Performing to a packed out tent, a highlight from English Teacher was their ‘Broken Biscuits’ rendition from their latest album, ‘This Could Be Texas’. Lead singer, Lily Fontaine, also earned a big cheer after admitting most of her Spotify is mostly from Sheffield.
I was devastated to learn Tom Grennan and Annie Mac were on at the same time at opposite sides of the festival ground. Committed to seeing both, I spent my first thirty minutes with Mac at the T’Other Stage as she engineered a set that kept people jumping with a beer in one hand and a vape in the other (very brat summer-coded if you ask me). Dragging myself from the party, I was thankful I made time to fit in both as Grennan was a key highlight of the weekend. His energy was at 110% from the moment he came on the stage to the moment he left – a must-have for the success of a festival performance. His curly helmet of hair and crochet button up fit into his ‘cool guy’ vibe as he skipped from each side of the stage amping up the crowd. The 2021 ‘Little Bit of Love’ hit has become a radio staple but it fun watching him before it live. I look forward to him possibly gaining headliner status in the future.
The one act that I knew all the lyrics of was Holly Humberstone. The Grantham-born Brits 2022 rising star winner brought in a crowd filled with a mix of ages and genders as she did some on-stage soul-searching throughout her performance, especially during ‘Paint My Bedroom Black’ which is a personal favourite of mine.
Despite Jamie T being Saturday’s much-anticipated headline act, after a hiatus from the spotlight his performance did not seem to meet the crowd’s expectations as he saved his most popular songs, like ‘Sheila’, ‘Zombie’, and ‘Sticks n Stones’ until the last twenty minutes of his set, leaving people looking at their phone throughout. The only interesting bit of the show was when he launched an unnecessary attack on the city of Sheffield, commenting, “Stop talking about how cultural Sheffield is, it’s f*cking boring…I don’t need anyone questioning me.”
To which a Phil Mitchell lookalike standing in front of me shouted: “Well, you're from Wimbledon you posh twat”.
A funny end to day two…bring on the final party!
Day 3
Once again, Tramlines was blessed with the golden sunshine on its final day. After the downpours that took over last year, I felt very grateful to avoid the flood.
My Sunday morning was spent exploring acts that were new on my radar.
Discovering Flowerovlove and her youthful and positive vibe was a highlight of my Tramline weekend and her latest single, ‘Boys’, has already been added to my Spotify playlist. She played into the community feel of the festival inviting a lucky few on stage with her and throwing out free merch into the crowds.
Maximo Park was also a favourite, using their music to raise awareness of socio-political issues.
But Tramlines doesn’t just welcome musical acts to its stages but holds a place for comedy, too. My favourite of the weekend was the Double Dollys, who are exactly what they say on the tin: two Dolly Parton impersonators. With the worst Tennessee accent I have ever heard, they were such good fun to watch on a Sunday afternoon.
Irish band New Dad from Galway delivered a laid-back but entertaining performance, breaking after two songs to get the score of the Galway v Armagh All-Ireland Football Final. Unfortunately for New Dad, Armagh lifted the Sam Maguire Cup later that evening.
Despite having seen Example perform three times now, he never gets boring or fails to disappoint. Kicking off in the late afternoon, his signature time slot, he knew exactly how to ramp up a crowd. Pumping energy from the front right to the back of the crowd with noughties hits ‘Changed the Way You Kissed Me’ and ‘Kickstarts’, as he took his shirt off and chucked his sweaty towel into the crowd all I could think was: this guy won the Great Celebrity Bake Off.
In their home city, The Human League were a performance I was grateful to catch. Although Philip Oakey often sang out of tune and out of sync with the crowd’s energy who just wanted to have a good dance, fellow members, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, performed as if they were at different gigs.
Catherall stuck to her one spot most of the night as she was scared to move an inch whilst Sulley waltzed around the stage as if she was a Steve Knicks impersonator.
As for the headliner, hearing Snow Patrol’s most famous song, ‘Chasing Cars’, was a cute and reminiscent end to the weekend, encouraging us to look back on all the amazing acts Tramlines were able to highlight, old and new.
As the super early bird tickets have already gone on sale for Tramlines 2025, get in there quick.
Edited by Emily Duff