What a blast the first day of Tramlines was. Despite the pouring rain, crowds still gathered around their favourite artists and it was nice to see a range of ages enjoying the festival.
Sheffield four-piece Cora Pearl opened the main stage and gave a fantastic set that brought together University of Sheffield students and indie rock lovers respectively with hits such as: ‘Hope Machine’ and ‘Shangri-La’.
A buzzing and rich atmosphere came from the smaller stages too, the self-proclaimed ‘new age indie band’ The Bedroom High Club rocked the Leadmill Stage, with their gritty vocals and roaring guitars.
We were able to catch up with Sheffield-based The Rosadocs after their set on the Library Stage. When asked what the band’s first Tramlines was like, Frontman Keelan Granely said: “Brilliant, obviously we’re playing very early so when people came to see us it was like ‘wow!’”
The crowd at the Main stage became a hub of excitement for Circa Waves, everyone sang along to their hit song ‘T-Shirt Weather’ and it was really nice to see, despite the weather being more like raincoat weather. Manic Street Preachers swelled a different kind of crowd and atmosphere, with old and young generations gathering, but it was just as invigorating. Garnished with their Welsh flag, the crowd belted ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ and ‘If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next’ with James Dean Bradfield, and you could see his amazement and happiness towards such an engaged crowd.
Two Door Cinema Club closed the main stage. The differences between their beloved indie album Tourist History, and more electronica False Alarm are concrete, but the band were able to segue between each song with ease. They were a superb end to a great day and we can’t wait to see what the rest of Tramlines Festival holds.
