Right, let’s get this out of the way – the weather was shit on Sunday! Sheffield suffered a biblical downpour and my jean shorts and windbreaker did little to nothing to stave off the cold and wet (everything waterproof I owned was already covered in mud after the first two days). Along with a decent swathe of punters, I ditched, unable to bounce my extra onboard weight, during Reverend, but was the weekend a washout overall?
Well, no, not exactly. The weather on the first two days, while treacherous underfoot, was clement enough, and the line-up threw up enough thrills and spills as to make Sunday’s losing battle worth the endless mud yomps for most people.
The crowd for Paul Heaton. Photo credit: Lindsay Melbourne
Bloc Party stole the show for me on Friday night, and the early afternoon Zutons party, that followed an hour and half delay to doors opening on Sunday, was a welcome bright spot as the heavens opened.
But, more so than any other year, the line-up felt pretty safe to me. I’m thinking the likes of Blossoms, Courteeners, and Red Rum Club, who have all been stalwarts of the festival and while loyalty is to be commended, you know what you’re getting with each of these acts.
Bloc Party. Photo credit: CFARUOLO
While there were slightly more leftfield acts to be found – High School on Saturday were a surprise and there was plenty of up-and-coming Sheffield-based loveliness over at The Library stage, thanks to Pattern and Push and BBC Music Introducing – I think it’s probably time to accept that I’m not the target audience for Tramlines anymore.
And that’s fine – chin stroking, Nathan Barley-esque levels of pretention is not for everyone! I’m also sober, so beer jacket supported japes are out of the question! So yeah, I’m not their key demographic now, which probably make my opinions a little unfair.
Harri Larkin. Photo credit: CFARUOLO
So, if it’s not for me, what about the people it is for? If the office is anything to go by, their diverse snapshot of the festival makes for a far sunnier outlook. Kate Nash’s bitter lemon barbs and awesome outfit, The Mary Wallopers’ riotous Irish folk fun, Everly Pregnant Brothers throwing breadcakes into the crowd – it all went down a storm. Throw in Sugababes, McFly, Katy B… it’s unashamedly a pop festival now and rain and mud weren’t going to dampen people’s good time!
Tramlines never fails to bring everyone together for one massive weekend of bumping into everyone you’ve ever met. That side of things is great. I spoke to so many people over the weekend and the majority consensus was that they were enjoying the weekend away from their respective grinds. I didn’t ask the mud man who was skidding about by the main stage, but I’m fairly confident, at least in the moment, they were loving life! Faith over at Annie Jude’s in ‘Little Hillsborough’ was living her best life. All in all, the outlook was positive, and I think my line-up misgivings were probably compounded and influenced by the bad weather. Again, probably unfairly.
Kate Nash. Photo credit: Lindsay Melbourne
The ‘it’s not what it was’ argument is, quite frankly, boring now, because it was never going to be when it moved, was it? And The Fringe, which I dipped into after drying off on Sunday, does retain that original DIY spirit. Venues across the city are still packed out.
One issue that rumbles on, and I personally think needs revisiting, is the policy of not letting people in and out. This year’s Sunday weather made the folly of this even more evident. While families were given the opportunity to organise dispensation to leave with kids and return alone before 7.30pm, I’m not sure that was common knowledge. And I do understand the organiser’s argument that police incidents of antisocial behaviour have dropped in recent years, but I still think the option to dip in and out might have been worth revising, at least this time around.
The crowd for Sugababes. Photo credit: Lindsay Melbourne
So yes, the new regime gets things wrong at times, but it’s impossible to deny how much good and positivity Tramlines brings to the city. However, I think the important question, that has largely gone unanswered in all of this, is how is Steve Bracknall gonna get the lads at the Royal Oak up to speed on that field? RIP Royal Oak’s pre-season training!
Super early bird tickets are on sale for Tramlines 2024 (Friday 26th – Sunday 28th July) costing £89.50. Only an extremely limited number of tickets are available at this price from Monday 24th July at 6pm from www.tramlines.org.uk.
