Tramlines
Multiple venues, Sheffield
22-24/07/2011

Tramlines festival has two unique selling points: it’s free, and it’s bloody massive. Now in its third year, it takes over every pub, club and patch of grass in Sheffield City Centre. And from such a colossal event, the highlights come thick and fast.

On Friday, Heaven 17 remind a nostalgic audience why synthpop put Sheffield on the musical map in the 1980s. Their set is a little cheesy, but undeniably fun, and bizarre too as ex-Long Blonde Kate Jackson arrives on stage for a salacious cover of David Bowie’s ‘Boys Keep Swinging’. It’s probably not as bizarre as Dutch Uncles’ cover of ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ by Tears for Fears though, which ends their set of pounding polyphonic pop perfection.

Hey Sholay, of whom you can expect great things, open Saturday with a confident set of smart, streamlined psychedelia. That’s before Horses befuddle many with their weird, super-lo-fi blues rock that brilliantly breaks every rule of pop music. They almost make the bubblegum math-rock of Dananananaykroyd look conventional, though it’s the Scottish six-piece who play the most fun set of the festival to an infatuated audience. They pave the way perfectly for Los Campesinos! to turn heartbreak and despair into euphoric, life-affirming indie-rock. Only Tall Ships raise more of a smile later, by inexplicably leading a sing-along of ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams, in the middle of their groundbreaking set of loops, beats and thunderous post-rock.

Sunday is best spent at the main stage, where Dead Sons play a dangerously loud set of demonic desert rock. Later, The Futureheads prove themselves to be one of the best festival bands in Britain, pulling out jerky, anthemic choruses by the dozen and making headliners Ash look amateur in comparison. And all of this for free – South Yorkshire is truly spoilt.

Robert Cooke