Tramlines 2010

After being rather annoyed a being away for Tramlines 2009, a special effort was made to ensure at least one visit to Sheffield's largest music festival this year. After all, with 50 venues to go at over 3 days, it must be possible to find at least one gig to go to? Well, we did. Several, in fact, although as is the nature of such things, it still didn't feel like quite enough.

Friday

Although originally only intending to go on the Saturday and Sunday, my Tramlines adventure started a day early. 23inertia was out at a hen do, so I met up with a few friends and ex-colleagues for an after work pint. One thing led to another, and we ended up in the Leadmill to watch Focus, a somewhat unusual rock band dating back 31 years.

I'd never even heard of Focus before the night, I'll admit. The gig started a little late, and the room was packed. As a conservative estimate, I'd say 200 people turned out to watch these veterans of psychedelia wow us with their grooves. And wow us they did.

Though plainly instrumental rock, the whole mix is brought to life by the inclusion of some rather non-standard parts. Thijs van Leer, founder and lead, provided much of the entertainment in the form of flute and yodelling. Yes, yodelling.

I'm told that they're most recent hit was a rerelease of Hocus Pocus for use in the Nike world cup adverts. Not being a football fan, or even particularly a TV watcher, I missed that one. Shame, as it's really rather good.

The set went on for around an hour, plus encore, and I was entranced throughout. The musicians were tight, the riffs were strong, the yodelling was irritatingly catchy. If anyone were to be introduced to this band, a gig like this would be the only way to do it.

Saturday

The Sex Cow is watching you

After a very long lie in to recover from the beer and the mind-bending music, it was time to embark on Saturday's adventure. Although technically we did attend Tramlines, we were primarily at a stag do (to complement Friday's hen do) to take place within the main arena on Devonshire Green. With our stag suitably attired as a sort of gothic S&M ladybird, we joined the queue.

The queue for the main arena was the length and breadth of Division Street. It was friendly enough, though, with the various queueing parties chatting amongst themselves and with each other. It took about an hour to get in, but the inflatable farm animals provided enough entertainment for our bit of the queue that it flew by.

Much ridiculous behaviour obviously took place, including the theft of an inflatable sex pig by a middle aged woman, and so we only managed to stand and watch a single band that day. Much of the remaining time was spent hiding in the Forum and getting beer from the express bar. A genius notion; pre-pulled pints are lined up. You pays your money, you takes your beer, job done.

The Hoosiers

We ventured out of Forum (affectionately dubbed "the kitchen") to see The Hoosiers who, in spite of popular opinion, I have liked since their debut album, The Trick To Life. They played a brilliant set. Mostly new tracks off their forthcoming album, although one or two crowd pleasers (Worried About Ray and Goodbye Mr A) kept the masses happy.

I have to say that I enjoyed the new material very much. It's a deviation from the quirky "odd pop" stylings of older material, and possibly leaning toward more mainstream pop, but they pulled it off well. Lively songs that I look forward to hearing properly in the not too distant future.

Headliner for the night was Tinchy Stryder. I will hold my hands up and say that I really don't "get" that sort of music, so I barely took notice. The crowd seemed to like it though. Not entirely sure that taking a toddler to a music festival then getting drunk in charge of a minor is a great idea, though.

We took our leave early as the rest of the party went off to do "stag" related things. Yes. Those sort of things.

Sunday

Sunday was the big day for us. The day we could go out and see the bands we wanted, without other commitments. And so it was, although tragically too late to catch Feelix's acoustic set in Lounge. A shame, as we saw them the week before and they were brilliant.

Grammatics

To business, then, and to the Exposed New Music stage on Barkers Pool, grabbing a bit from the Devonshire Chippy on the way. We primarily went to see Grammatics, first known to us as the support for Bloc Party last year. The Tramlines sets are short, so it was straight down to business, playing well known tracks like Shadow Committee amongst unreleased new material.

While the short set did mean that between song banter had to be kept to a minimum, the band performed very well indeed. They looked like they were enjoying it as much as we were. They played a good set in the time allowed, and even came back to play arguably their best song, Relentless Fours.

Sadly, on returning home and looking up Grammatics on MySpace, we discovered that the band are splitting up at the end of August. A farewell EP will be released containing whatever they have already completed from their now cancelled upcoming album. We will definitely have to get a copy of that.

The sound at the Exposed stage was surprisingly good. Even stood a way back out of courtesy (we are both quite tall) we could see and hear perfectly. Well done on the sound engineers who set up the outdoor arenas.

Rolo Tomassi

After a quick coffee at Haha Bar, and with the absent World Music stage not tickling our ear drums, we headed back to watch Rolo Tomassi at the Exposed stage.

I'm not sure what I expected a Sheffield based mathcore band to sound like, but whatever it was, it wasn't that. They seem to have a big following and the crowd was certainly jumping, but it wasn't really our cup of tea. A little too much screaming for my taste. I tend to prefer the deep growls of death metal with the occasional foray into black metal. But I certainly didn't expect sounds like that from such a diminutive lass!

Echo & The Bunnymen

Nearly time for Echo & The Bunnymen, so off we pottered back to the main arena. These are artists with a lot of experience, and it shows. They appeared completely laid back, drinking and smoking on stage and just getting on with the task at hand. Again, between song banter was kept to a minimum, which is reasonable for the time frame allowed but maybe made the performance feel a little impersonal. Fantastic music, though, and it was a great way to introduce 23inertia to this classic band.

The crowd loved it. None more so than an older guy dressed as an extra from Last Of The Summer Wine who was running about and dancing with anyone and everyone who'd let him. And at the end of the day, isn't that what festivals are all about?

Dance!

Sadly this is where our Tramlines ended. I had wanted to see 65DaysOfStatic, but we were both exhausted after a long weekend. In the end, it turned out that electrical problems meant the 65dos gig was cancelled anyway. But at least we left Tramlines on a high note.

We'll definitely be out next year, and will make sure that weekend is free so we can make the absolute most of the weekend. Tramlines is a great event, and proves even more that Sheffield is a great music city. Long may it continue!

News, Tours and Other Random Gubbins

It's a hectic old life, isn't it? Loads of stuff going on and very little time to write about it. So here's a little snippet of what you can look forward to in the very near future:

Sheffield's own Tramlines festival has been and gone. I'll be writing something interesting about that once the pounding headache subsides.

Grammatics are splitting up!? But they are releasing a "farewell" EP with the unfinished album material, so we'll have to look out for that.

Avenged Sevenfold's new album, Nightmare, has landed on our doormat and is being played repeatedly by 23inertia.

Doozr has been rewiring his brain with Focus.

Arcade Fire's latest album, The Suburbs, is out on Monday!

Midnattsol have announced that recording and mastering of their third album is complete. Not long till we get a fresh taste of Nordic folk metal.

Within Temptation have announced a tour in the new year to support the new album. Our tickets are already bought and paid for.

Aside from that, we have loads of gigs lined up, including Opinicus, Lacuna Coil, The Birthday Massacre, Mostly Autumn, Magic Numbers and Electric Six. Here's to a musically healthy 2010, part 2!

Grammatics

I first heard of Grammatics when I went to Bloc Party's Bloctober tour here in sunny Sheffield. They were the only support for the night, and I honestly had no idea what to expect. In general, I find that support acts either wow me immediately, or they simply fail to strike a chord.  Grammatics are most certainly the former. So much so, in fact, that I bought the album from the merchandise stand during the set.

Although billed as "indie rock", the influences and styles throughout the self-titled debut album are as diverse as you could possibly imagine.  Citing a list of influences as long as your arm, the band manage to pull off a multitude of styles, even within a single song. Lead singer Owen Brinley heads up the band on guitar, with Rory O'Hara on bass and James Field on drums. Unusually for indie rock, the band also includes Emilia Ergin on cello.

The band have been moderately successful on the gigging circuit for a couple of years now, and released 3 singles and an EP prior to recording the full length album. Many of these tracks made it onto the album, along with a host of new material. The album is highly rated by almost all reviewers, having a Metacritic score of 73, comprising 5 scores of 80 and one of 40.

The album opens with an ethereal intro to Shadow Committee, a song that in itself makes good use of the band's repertoire. Jazz-rock guitar, cello interludes and a combination of guitar noodling, strong drums and a complex bassline. Swinging up a gear into D.I.L.E.M.M.A, the band opt for an almost dance style, incorporating electronic effects and synths into the mix. Also new in this track are female backing vocals from Ergin. Building up from gentle beginnings, the track builds up into a heavier, bass-driven song.

The album continues in this vein throughout, mixing styles and switching the mood of songs make each one a unique listening experience. From the conventional rock of Murderer, the prog stylings of The Vague Archive, the heavy rock anthemics of Broken Wing or the astoundingly diverse Relentless Fours, there is little in the way of filler here.

The latter tracks settle down a little, each having a more conventional down-tempo feel, and the album becomes a lot more mellow, with Cruel Tricks of the Light being the most relaxed song on the album. This is all blown apart again by Swan Song, an apt name for a final track if ever there was one. Starting out forlorn and introspective, it soon picks up a pace and becomes a jolly romp through indie rock territory. More twists and turns in style occur throughout, including darker, grittier moments, culminating with a post-rock/jazz finish.

Some reviews have said that, while the album is technically competent, it is more an exercise in what the musicians can do. I would disagree with this viewpoint. The music is immersive, and no two tracks sound alike. You can get lost in the album, and after a few listens, find yourself anticipating the next break, impatient for more. I have found myself drifting into the music while writing this review, only to suddenly realise that entire tracks have gone by and I've written nothing. This is music to listen to on headphones when you just want to shut out the world.

A new single, Double Negative, has been released to coincide with their current UK tour with Bloc Party. I look forward to hearing it properly, and purchasing the album it is eventually released as part of.

Grammatics home page
Grammatics at MySpace