The Sheffield Scenester

The queue at Devonshire Green on Saturday had started forming from about 8am and it got longer and longer as the day went on. With so many people gathering, roads had to be closed and everybody in the vicinity had to queue to move, but it was a brilliant atmosphere. Everyone was so excited to be just a couple of hours away from seeing major recording artists take to the stage in their home city.

When the gates opened, everyone flocked onto the site and gathered either in the pit or on the hilly area at the top. I chose to go into the pit because it seemed a lot more atmospheric and actually felt like a proper festival. It was so busy on Devonshire Green. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that busy. The sun was beating down on us, making it absolutely boiling at the front. There were beach balls bouncing around in the crowd (provided by Transport Executive), not to mention the flying bottles of water and beer. Some people even threw food! Many of the people at the front put umbrellas up to shield them from the beer shower…and the sun.

Pretty soon, Hallam FM DJ, Ollie Hayes entered the stage to announce the first act on. Everybody was so excited to be there and Tiffany Page came onstage to a welcoming applause. She has a voice that just grabs your attention which is soulful and seductive. Also her sassy style and confidence just makes her a brilliant performer, as she makes use of the whole stage and entertains the audience with her summery tunes and catchy lyrics. Her latest single, “On Your Head” was a definite hit with the crowd as they were singing along while moving to the beat, generally having a great time and enjoying the festival experience. Her performance was a brilliant start to proceedings on this year’s main stage, whetting the crowds’ appetite for the rest of the afternoon/evening’s acts.

Ollie Hayes came back onstage to tell us that we were going to be live on Hallam FM and we all screamed “hello from Tramlines” which was being broadcasted live on the radio....I wonder if anyone we knew was listening…?! Then he asked us to do a massive Mexican wave, starting from the back of Devonshire green to the front, which was a lot of fun and then the next act was introduced. Eliza Dolittle entered the stage dressed in a really summery outfit, reflecting the sunny weather...ha ha, followed by her musicians, who were wearing identical shirts. She started the set with “Rollerblades,” which some members of the audience were mouthing the words to. It sounded like quite a summery song with a folk/pop feel, which after a couple of listens, you would probably be dancing around to in your bedroom. When she performed her latest single, “Pack Up,” the whole audience were dancing, singing and jumping. It was a definite crowd pleaser as practically everyone knew all the words. It was great to see how much everyone was enjoying being there and the catchy tracks from Eliza Dolittle made it feel like the summer holidays were only just beginning and there was so much more to look forward to.....so we had to strap ourselves in for the ride!

The next act on was X Factor star, Olly Murs. He entered the stage to ear shattering screams from the girls at the front. He seemed to have got lots of fans and when he did his famous dancing, the girls just screamed even more. Olly definitely impressed the audience and his first track “Girls” was so catchy that most of the crowd sang along. It was such a brilliant atmosphere. The sun was shining, the music was good and everybody was having a great time. Olly also got us to clap along with his first track, which nearly everybody did do and the screaming carried on for the rest of his set.

Miracle and the Soul Interpreter were up next and Ollie Hayes even introduced them as one of Michael Jackson’s favourite bands, so they must have been doing something right. There are only two members of this band, Miracle, the singer/songwriter who plays and writes songs on a child-size guitar and the Soul Interpreter, who brings an electro mix to these songs to make them totally different from one another. They seemed really impressive this afternoon and there was one track of theirs, which I can’t remember the name of, that really stood out as being quite striking. Although it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, they did have quite a lot of fans in the audience and I was cheering all the way.

Chatfield were up next and Hallam FM listeners would know that they won a competition to perform at a tribute night at the City Hall for Dave Kilner, and from then on, they have been pretty popular with the Hallam fans. I knew they were going to put on a brilliant performance this afternoon because they are genuinely a really great band. After seeing them at the S1 gig at O2 Academy earlier in the year, I began to really like their style, and their enthusiasm of performing on the main stage with such well loved and famous artists undeniably shone through. There were, again, ear shattering screams from the girls at the front. They seemed to really be enjoying performing in front of so many of their fans and this excitement was shown today on a massive scale. I enjoyed their track “Had to Leave,” because it is really catchy, yet has an emotional feel to it too. Chatfield seem to be one of those indie bands who don’t have to try to hard to have one particular style to their music, it just seems to work whatever they do. They are a very good band and are certainly worth seeing live.

Words by Shirley Bell