REVIEW: Tramlines throws a birthday bash to remember

From humble beginnings on Sheffield’s Devonshire Green, to a stint on Ponderosa Park, to now a 30,000 capacity Hillsborough Park, it finally feels like the festival has figured it out.

But Sheffield’s biggest party faced its most difficult year yet after losing its beloved director Sarah Nulty, who died aged 36 after a short illness just weeks before the festival.

But hats off to the crew as they certainly did her proud — no ball was dropped, no slip-up made (or none that we could see anyway) and her original aim for Tramlines; “I just wanted to throw my friends a massive party”, was definitely still achieved and then some.

Tributes came over the weekend form local heroes Milburn and Reverend and The Makers, as well as Craig David as he closed proceedings.

A touching video tribute to Sarah was played out prior to the RnB singer’s set which made me hold my best pal just that little bit tighter and savour the festival magic just that bit more.

The Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Magid Magid, (who was seen bouncing around the festival all weekend covered in glitter) has announced he will be giving Sarah a posthumous civic award for her contribution to the city.

Despite its increase in size, the festival still managed to retain its inclusive, chilled out, carnival atmosphere

The most noticeable difference I could see was the shift in age range. Back in’t day Tramlines had a more underground, 20-something vibe. This year, there were more families and groups of teenagers enjoying festivities, which I’d put down to the big mainstream headliners they pulled in.

Welsh soft-rockers Stereophonics did it for the mums and dads, and I have to admit, I enjoyed their two-hour set far more than I expected. They’re one of those bands who you don’t realise you know every single one of their radio-friendly chart hits until you’re watching them.

Lead singer Kelly Jones made us feel nostalgic when he reminisced about the band’s Leadmill gigs in the early days. And much like his jacket, his voice hasn’t changed in the decade since I last saw them play — their 2001 rousing rocky ballad Mr Writer was a standout along with Bartender and The Thief.

As a Mancunian, I was obviously very excited for Noel Gallagher’s headline set on Saturday, but I was left feeling like he phoned it in. He was a little lacklustre and didn’t bring his usual banter, apart from to declare the best thing about Yorkshire was the tea.

It wasn’t until five songs in he gave the crowd an Oasis hit in the form of Little By Little and closed with The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love.

Sunday’s headliner Craig David was brimming with fun and enthusiasm in his one-man TS5 set where he combines DJ’ing, singing and rapping.

As well as his own hits he blasted out RnB classics such as Whitney Houston’s It’s Not Right But It’s OK.

Sunday also saw Bolton-on Dearne four-piece The Sherlocks take to the main stage. The indie-rockers pulled in a big crowd of excited teenagers, but there were also a lot of BBC 6 Music types humming away to Chasing Shadows at the back of the crowd.

Another band maturing nicely into main stage life was Stockport synthpop studs Blossoms. Singer Tom Ogden seems more at home interacting with fans and captivated everyone with his acoustic solo.

But, as ever, my Tramlines highlight was the face-ache I had from smiling so much for three days — God help me if I ever make it into the comedy tent next year.

Early bird tickets are now on sale from £65, visit https://bit.ly/2LIwjQP.