Saturday at Tramlines is also ridiculously busy! There are plenty of acts on at the many venues all over the city centre and it is always the day that regardless of the line up sells out/sells the most of the day tickets first. With such a relaxed atmosphere at the festival, a lot of people don’t even really come for the music specifically, the come for the atmosphere, the people they will meet here and the music is just something they will catch as and when.
For me though, Saturday had a good line and though I didn’t catch all the bands I wanted to see as I felt way too ill to see PINS and Deap Vally, I caught three very good bands over the course of the day that I’m going to review for you here.
Then Thickens – Sheffield City Hall – 13:15
Great rock riffs and a classic sound, that was heavy in places with pounding drums, crashing cymbals and strong bass lines, was complimented wonderfully by the blues tone running throughout especially through the vocals. Then Thickens were a really good act who came across well live and they were a great start to the Saturday for me.
Talons – Sheffield City Hall – 14:00
Talons set was full of cinematic soundscapes, a rock opera would be the only way to describe their sound. Classical sounds from violins and huge dramatic build ups were juxtaposed against heavy rock/metal with pounding drums and heavy chugging riffs. The songs may all have been instrumental but they were completely amazing and the band had the whole room captivated from the off.
Funeral For A Friend at Corporation – 18:00
There were the band I was most excited about on the Saturday for nostalgia reasons more than anything and they delivered perfectly with a great set full of all the favourites. It was a set that would please casual FFAF listeners with plenty of their single but there was also an emphasis on the early, hardcore stuff which was greatly appreciated from the older crowd at Corp. For me, this was a show that proved the band are still as relevant now as they were 10 years ago as they powered through hits such as the almost ballad ‘Roses For The Dead’, ‘Monsters’, ‘All The Rage’, the classic band anthem ‘Juneau’, the favourite of every old school emo kid ‘Streetcar’ and set closer, the wonderful ‘Escape Artists Never Die’.
Funeral have been one of my favourite bands for years now and they have never ever let me down when I’ve seen them live and they didn’t again tonight. They were a great booking for Tramlines and a welcome addition to the acts I caught over the course of the weekend.
Check out my review of Friday at Tramlines!
Mixtape Couture 