The Sheffield Scenester

The atmosphere was one of excitement at Devonshire Green on this sunny Sunday afternoon. A huge crowd had gathered on the site, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first band. Surprisingly, the queue was only about half the size of yesterdays. Seeing as though I got there about two hours early, I decided to go and check out the Tramlines market. I have to complement Fancie Cupcakes on their lovely array of cakes. Not only were they very pretty, they were delicious too! Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, even the bees and wasps (seriously, about half of the wasps in Sheffield congregated in Devonshire Green, trying to find a flower to sit on to watch the performances).

There weren’t many people in the pit this afternoon; most people had decided to sit on the hilly area at the back, so I was right at the front for the Neat’s performance. Which, I have to say, was very happy about. To be honest, I had not heard of this band before this gig, and from the whole festival, they were the band that most surprised me as being absolutely fantastic! They are not your average guitar band and they have an experimental/punk style that just makes you prick up your ears and listen. I really enjoyed the way frontman Merrick Green was jumping round the stage like a mad man. As soon as the first few bars of “Fruits” were played, I knew I was in love with this band. They just ooze talent and their songs are so catchy. I couldn’t stop dancing and jumping around when they were on. I have to say “Hips” was my favourite track of their set. The song was mega catchy and I am pleased to hear that it will be their next single. The Neat could do no wrong in my eyes and as the set went on, they got better and better. Any band with a crazy lead singer and a unique style gets my vote all the way and this band tick both boxes...if they come to Sheffield again, I’m sure to be in the front row at their gig!

Joe Carnall & the Book Club were up next and after seeing them last night at the Grapes; I knew they were going to be great today. A bigger crowd gathered in the pit now and everyone seemed well up for a good time. The band’s first song of the set was “Justice for the 96” which was a big hit with the audience. Some people in the front row were doing crazy dancing and a lot of us were mouthing the words to the song. This band were really impressive and of the second gig of theirs that I’ve been to in two days, all I can give them is praise. I loved it when they performed “Somewhere near Oxford,” which is my favourite song of theirs as it just sounded brilliant. I left after this band because I wanted to check out the audio visual zone in City Hall’s memorial hall, but I was sure to be back to see the Mystery Jets...

Later on in the evening, I returned to Devonshire Green to catch the Mystery Jets. There was hardly any room to move when I got back down there, as there were so many people. The beach balls (provided by Transport Executive) were bouncing around in the crowd, balloons were flying about...amongst other things...and everybody was having a great time, enjoying the last day of the festival. I thought Blaine Harrison’s vocals sounded amazing and the buzzy guitars and thrashing drums made this exciting indie band sound absolutely brilliant this evening. They performed a number of tracks from their latest album “Serotonin” and a couple of classic tracks which we could all join in with. I really enjoyed the sing along to “Two Doors Down” which got the crowd really excited and anticipating the headline act, Echo and the Bunnymen, for this Sunday evening. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to stay for this band because I had to quickly hot foot it to the Frog and Parrott to see Pink Sharabang, but I’m sure they were great.

Words by Shirley Bell