The Sheffield Scenester

Many people queued outside the Leadmill, eager to see what was possibly the first event of their Tramlines weekend. As it got nearer to the start time, there was quite a crowd gathering and when we were let in, everybody was in the mood for some Tramlines pleasure. As ‘Boy on a Dolphin’ had pulled out, the first act on tonight was ‘Skeletons and the Empty Pockets.’ They entered the stage with real confidence and it showed that they were going to give a very exciting performance, just by the brilliance of the first track. The band seemed very energetic by the way they were jumping around the stage. It was so hot in the venue that the band was sweating even after their first song. They appeared to be really enjoying themselves and when the first few chords of “Folks are Home” were played, the crowd were well up for it as it was so catchy, yet had an emotional touch, making it sound just brilliant on the night. Plus, it is my favourite track of theirs so I knew they were going to do it justice. The crashing cymbals and pounding drum beats make for a fantastic sound along with the slicing guitar riffs which added to the passion of this band’s music. They ended their set with a real crowd pleaser, “Oh Brother,” which practically everybody in the room knew all the words to. They definitely did set the bar high.

After the Skeletons’ set, I was lucky enough to join the Arch Nazards in a sort of makeshift photo shoot at the front of the Leadmill, which I have to say was one of my Tramlines highlights as it was so funny...(I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures). Anyway, this band was the one I was most looking forward to seeing and they were definitely the most impressive. The thing I like most about the Arch Nazards is that they are completely different from anything I’ve heard before and their uniqueness breaks the mould, making them a whole lot more than just another indie band. They started their set with one of the newer tracks, “Walk a Mile in my Feet” which sounded just brilliant live. Frontman, Adrian Flanagan seemed to be working the audience really well and we were thoroughly entertained. Their next track was “Volcano of Awesome Force” which many of the fans were dancing and mouthing the words to at the front. It was just a brilliant atmosphere. I loved the psychedelic array of sounds in the performance, which definitely made it unique. When the band performed their last single “Thee Sting,” the audience couldn’t fail to move to the beat and because the chorus was so catchy, many crowd members felt the need to sing along, getting them in the mood for a brilliant Tramlines weekend. They also did a cover of Olivia Newton John’s “Let’s Get Physical” which was a definite crowd pleaser and practicality the whole room sang along. And just for the record I think Adrian does it better. Ha ha! The Arch Nazards are one of my favourite bands around at the moment and I’m quite miffed that they are not going to do any more gigs in Sheffield for a while, but tonight was well worth it!

The band that practically everyone was waiting to see was up next: the Dutch prog rock geniuses that were Focus. There was a minor glitch with Thijs Van Leer’s organ, but that didn’t put anybody down and a huge crowd gathered to watch the iconic band. Thijs entered the stage to huge applause and the rest of the band followed suit. When they played their first track, it was easy to see that everyone in the room was having a brilliant time by the way they were jumping around and dancing. It was hard to ignore the comedy element Focus brought to the show. This band could easily have been playing one of the larger tents at Glastonbury because it certainly felt like that while watching them. When they played “Sylvia,” which is one of their most popular tracks the crowd were tapping their feet and waving their arms in the air. It was such a breath-taking atmosphere. But the most special moment of the set was when they performed the absolutely bonkers tune “Hocus Pocus.” This track was recently used on the Nike 2010 World Cup commercial, Write the Future, and was the song that most of the audience knew and loved. Giving a good dose of yodelling and a smidgen of goggly eyes, proving to be an amazing performance. Some people in the audience even tried to yodel...The band left the stage to a momentous applause and then came back on to do an encore! This gig was an absolutely brilliant start to an awesome Tramlines weekend and I would definitely recommend all of these bands...

Words by Shirley Bell