Photo Credit: Alicia Woods
Sheffield’s Hillsborough Park hosted the return of the annual Tramlines festival. The line-up featured a number of rising stars and established artists from the UK’s thriving indie rock scene in addition to arena names at the top of the bill for a summer extravaganza.
Merseyside legend MILES KANE kicked things off on the opening day, and it was only appropriate that the Birkenhead man made his mark on the main stage, as the Sheffield favourite that he has become over the years. Sustaining the momentum of his ‘One Man Band‘ era, MILES opened with lead single ‘Troubled Son‘ to an already packed crowd that was roasting in the sun. Positive energy was already permeating the park, and it only got better when ‘Inhaler‘ started. ‘Blame It on the Summertime‘ made a rare appearance on the set list, taking the weather into consideration it was very fitting, and to keep the energy flowing, fan favourites ‘Baggio‘ and ‘Rearrange‘ quickly followed. MILES concluded his set in the traditional way with crowd pleasers ‘Come Closer‘ and ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’ before bowing out of his phenomenal performance.
Since their last visit to the steel city over two years ago, CORELLA have been on an incredible journey. After completing two sold-out UK tours in 2023 and the release of their debut album back in May, the Manchester quartet’s future appears to be very bright. Including a number of songs from throughout the years, such as the early hit ‘Puppets‘, the crowd-pleasing ‘Lady Messiah‘ was what really got the party going, as everyone in the tent joined in on the chorus and even went so far as to perform a solo acapella while the band smiled gleefully. As usual, ‘Barcelona Girl‘ closed out their slot with a bang, having the place bouncing from front to back and frontman Joel Smith leaping over the barrier into the crowd to capture that special, intimate feeling that they still thrive off despite their shows now reaching bigger rooms.
Punk rock duo SOFT PLAY played perhaps one of the most anticipated sets of the whole weekend. Since their return in 2022, they have already secured arena tour support slots and numerous festival appearances, with their exceptional live energetic and full throttle performances doing the talking. The bar was set immediately after ‘Punk’s Dead‘ kicked off the set with an intense performance that had a packed T’Other stage tent yelling the opening lyrics back to them. Then came the fast-paced, heavy new single ‘Isaac Is Typing…‘ and a run of ‘Heavy Jelly‘ anthems, all of which proved huge hits, demonstrating that their new album is already a firm favourite across the board. Their two hardest tracks off the new album, ‘Mirror Muscles‘ and ‘John Wick‘, were equally favourably appreciated by the mostly indie rock audience. Admirers of their earlier work gave it their all, just like the pair did during ‘The Hunter‘ to conclude the bands powerful finale.
Just one month after their last appearance in Sheffield, THE MYSTERINES graced The Leadmill stage, with a tent that spilt out into the sweltering weather. Despite their brand-new album ‘Afraid of Tomorrows‘ has only been available for a few weeks; several of their singles are already mainstays in their set list, and what better way to start their performance than with ‘Sink Ya Teeth‘ and ‘The Last Dance’. Lia Metcalfe’s strong vocals truly capture the band’s darker attitude, and she loves having more freedom on stage for these new tunes. ‘Dangerous‘, which shows off the band’s full potential with the front woman taking on the guitar to give it that extra punch. The front section was bouncing along to ‘All These Things‘, and a large portion of people were head banging to the grunge influenced ‘Hung Up‘, the Liverpool band closed out their return to the steel city with ‘Stray‘ for what Lia called the Tramlines crowd their best festival audience yet.
Headliner PAOLO NUTINI drew a crowded pitch as the first day was drawing to an end, with both new and returning fans anxiously waiting for a plethora of hits from his almost two decade-long career. With 2022’s ‘Last Night in the Bittersweet‘, the Scottish-born musician achieved his third UK #1 album. As the audience warmed up for a variety of throwbacks, he began his performance with a pair from the record, ‘Afterneath‘, which was followed by ‘Lose It’. The crowd was singing along to an acoustic version of ‘Last Request‘, even though it was a more subdued version. Shortly after, the mood returned with a more subdued version of ‘New Shoes’. Naturally, ‘Pencil Full of Led‘ and ‘Candy‘ had the greatest response of the evening. PAOLO finished the set with ‘Shine A Light‘ and a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You‘ to encourage the Sheffield audience to sing along one more time before retiring as Friday’s main act.
The weather continued to persist positively going into day 2, and now it was officially the weekend, the grounds were even more packed for the Saturday line-up.
Following the release of their third album, ‘Millennials’, and their first full-length independent record, Scotland’s THE SNUTS have had a very busy year. A busy festival schedule kicked off at Tramlines and served as the ideal opportunity to show off some of the feel-good summery melodies from the new record. In order to get the fans excited for the amazing line-up that awaited them, ‘Glasgow‘ kicked off their main stage performance with a trio of new songs set to follow, including the sunny belter ‘Dreams‘ and ‘Millionaires‘. Fan favourites ‘The Rodeo’ and ‘Burn the Empire’ had the place off their feet as the front secion were more involved despite the glistening sun that shined off Jack Cochrane’s sunglasses. The band then concluded their late afternoon slot with ‘Gloria‘ For one last sing along.
Even though TOM GRENNAN is more of a pop artist according to the charts, his passion for indie rock music is evident in a lot of his songs and he has openly said this, so this was a perfect fit for the 2024 line-up. A young fan who put up a placard asking him to sing the Gillette jingle that GRENNAN recorded for the TV commercial, and finally he gave in and sang it, to a huge roar from the Sheffield crowd. His new album’s feel-good hits ‘How Does It Feel‘ and ‘Crown Your Love‘ inspired the gigantic audience to join in on the songs, as TOM made use of the whole stage so everyone caught a glimpse of the Bedford man up close. The summer smash ‘By Your Side‘ and ‘What I’m Looking For‘ kept the energy high throughout the whole performance. ‘Little Bit of Love‘ began more slowly than usual as his set was coming to a finish, but it just increased the anticipation for this beloved anthem of his as he ended one of the weekend’s top performances.
Photo Credit: Alicia Woods
The news of PEACE‘s unexpected reformation only served to heighten the anticipation for their upcoming return to the stage. Having completed a UK tour, the band was ready to take on a number of festivals, which they duly accomplished with their performance at Tramlines. With ‘Lovesick‘ as the opening song, spectators gave it their all for their much-needed comeback to the live circuit. The band performed a number of songs from all their releases, dating back to their EP ‘Delicious‘, and the buzz from the audience persisted throughout as each member of the band fed off of the passion of the crowd.
The main stage field quickly filled up as JAMIE T was ready to launch into his headline show as the stages throughout the site were coming to an close. As he and his band made their entrance, they opened with ‘Limits Lie‘ which immediately had the crowd off their feet. After delivering a speech about how his career began at an early age, he kicked back off with the crowd-pleasing hit ‘Stick n Stones‘, which naturally had everyone singing along, as his performance was nearing its conclusion, ‘Zombie‘ finally made its appearance on to the set, which featured a number of flares being let off into the sky and people sat on top of each other’s shoulders. This rare appearance was definitely one not to be missed.
Special guests MAXIMO PARK were the ideal prelude to the final day. Throughout the set, the band gave a ray of fan favourites, and in true Paul Smith style, he didn’t waste any time in jumping around the stage. Major standouts from the set list were ‘Going Missing‘ and ‘Apply Some Pressure‘, which had old school fans getting involved in these indie classics. After delivering a stellar early performance, it sets the band up perfectly as they head into the autumn, ready to unveil their new album and upcoming UK tour.
Chart-topping artist EXAMPLE knows how to keep the party alive with energy on stage and a variety of covers and mash-ups in addition to showcasing a wealth of his own songs, ‘Kickstarts‘ and ‘Change the Way You Kiss Me‘ really had the place bouncing from the front to the back in the packed park. He then debuted his brand new song ‘Skyscanner‘ as he invited Beyond Chicago to join him on stage and see out his afternoon slot.
The audience erupted in ecstasy as Wigan-based indie rock group THE LILACS emerged from the wings, with a full field awaiting their appearance on The Library stage. Launching their set with ‘Sally,’ it was lift off. To the bands’ amusement, their devoted fanbase quickly began the “Up the Lilacs” chants whilst frontman Ollie dedicated their next song, ‘Grace‘ to somebody in the audience who shared the same name. Ironically, she also donned the band’s bucket hat to make the song even more fitting. The young band were by far the most popular act on The Library stage all weekend, as they finished off with ‘Vicarage Road‘ to get the crowd going one last time.
Legendary indie rock band THE PIGEON DETECTIVES made the short trip to deliver their must-high-energy show that they continue to deliver no matter where they go, all whilst consistently drawing in large crowds. Each person in tent stared in awe as vocalist Matt Bowman continued to swing his microphone around and toss it into the air, catching it perfectly while smash tunes like ‘Going Out‘ and ‘Emergency‘ had the whole tent jumping. ‘Take Her Back‘ maintained the enjoyment as the entire band utilised the stage to dance around each song. With his legs extended wide, the frontman executed a flawless acrobatic leap from the drum kit, landing gracefully to a thunderous roar.
To cap off an incredible weekend, SNOW PATROL were the final band to perform with a main stage headline performance. As they being their promotion for the release of their new album, the set was filled with a host of their greatest hits with a duo of new tracks thrown in to the mix. ‘You’re All I Have‘, opened the show and set the tone for a performance full of anthems spanning their more than two decades as a band. ‘Take Back the City‘ and the notorious ‘Run‘ followed next, whilst their latest single ‘The Beginning‘ has quickly become a firm favourite across their fanbase. It’s fair to predict that this album will be warmly welcomed in September. Huge cheers greeted the first guitar tone of ‘Chocolate‘, and the same was heard when ‘Open Your Eyes‘ had most of the audience singing along. Yet to be released single ‘All’ featured on the set, with the iconic ‘Chasing Cars‘ ending their show in style. SNOW PATROL returned for a short encore that closed with ‘Just Say Yes‘, capping off a well-earned headline performance in Sheffield.
And with that, another year of Tramlines has come to an end. This year marks one of Sheffield’s largest gatherings yet, with a tremendous line-up that spanned across many stages and three new headliners to keep the steel city festival on the map.
Tramlines returns to Hillsborough Park in Sheffield on 25th – 27th July 2025. Early bird tickets are on sale now. Purchase HERE.
Taped Magazine 