The Libertines, All Saints, Toots and The Maytals and The Coral to play revamped Tramlines Festival 2017

Indie legends The Libertines, girl band chart-toppers All Saints, ska icons Toots and Maytals and rockers The Coral are amongst the big names announced today to play Sheffield's revamped Tramlines Festival.
The Libertines to headline Sheffield's Tramlines Festival 2017The Libertines to headline Sheffield's Tramlines Festival 2017
The Libertines to headline Sheffield's Tramlines Festival 2017

The line up, described by organisers as the biggest yet, includes a mix of local, regional, national and international stars, plus emerging talent, also including South Yorkshire's own high flyers Alvarez Kings, Lucy Spraggan, Sheffield's Sgt Pepper Project and New York City-based indie rockers We Are Scientists.

Also booked for the three day weekend event - Friday to Sunday, July 21 to 23 - are Metronomy, The Pharcyde, Twin Atlantic, Hot 8 Brass Band, Don Letts, Omar Souleyman, M.O, Cate Le Bon, Nadia Rose, Akala, Blaenavon, Bossy Love, Cabbage, Estrons, Fizzy Blood, Goat Girl, Jalen N'Gonda, John Joseph Brill, Mike Hughes, Spring King, The Age of LUNA, The Magic Gang, The Wharves and Yorkston Thorne Khan.

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This year's ninth Tramlines festival has been revamped and will be an exclusively outdoor event, spanning three of Sheffield’s popular park spaces, with The Main Stage remaining at Ponderosa park, but with a beefed up Devonshire Green stage, back to its glory years, and the ever popular Folk Forest, at Endcliffe Park.

There will also be just one ticketing option - dropping the day, night and weekend alternatives - so one wristband will now get festival-goers into all paid for venues, with an added VIP upgrade option, which gives access to 'posh toilets', private bar areas and to queue jump at the main stage.

Early bird and first release tickets for Tramlines Festival 2017 sold out in record time, but second release weekend tickets are now on sale for £38 plus booking fee. Tickets can be purchased from www.tramlines.org.uk

Free fringe gigs are also planned with most live music venues, including pubs and clubs, also joining in the festival fun. In previous years around 500 acts have played in the city during the weekend.

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The decision to tweak the format of Tramlines 2017 came in response to event organisers listening to feedback from its festival-goers, says Tramlines Festival Director Sarah Nulty.

Tramlines Festival from Friday to Sunday, July 21 to 23, 2017.Tramlines Festival from Friday to Sunday, July 21 to 23, 2017.
Tramlines Festival from Friday to Sunday, July 21 to 23, 2017.

She said: “After each festival, we turn to our audience to find out what they’d like to see at the next event. The overwhelming feedback was that people wanted to see bigger acts on the Tramlines stages.

"By streamlining Tramlines to three outdoor stages, it’s meant we could deliver something really special.

"Sheffield is often hailed as an 'Outdoor City', and has a ton of public parks, and a third of it sits within the glorious Peak District National Park. It is the UK's leading destination for people seeking outdoor adventure, and we are excited to present an exclusively outdoor event for 2017.”

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Since its inception in 2009, Tramlines Festival has carved a name for itself as one of the most genre-busting music festivals around.

Tramlines Festival from Friday to Sunday, July 21 to 23, 2017.Tramlines Festival from Friday to Sunday, July 21 to 23, 2017.
Tramlines Festival from Friday to Sunday, July 21 to 23, 2017.

Previous acts to have graced the Tramlines stages include Public Enemy, Basement Jaxx, The Charlatans, Sister Sledge, The Cribs, Katy B, George Clinton Parliament Funkadelic, alt-J, the xx, Dizzee Rascal, Martha Reeves Roots Manuva, Slaves, Sugarhill Gang, Buzzcocks and The Selecter.

As a former winner of Best Metropolitan Festival at the UK Festival Awards and having been shortlisted for an NME Best Small Festival award, Tramlines continues to set itself apart with its inner-city location, cutting-edge music offering and unbeatable ticket price.

The Main Stage on Ponderosa park will be a melting pot of sounds, from the indie of The Libertines, reggae from Toots and the Maytals, and R&B from one of the biggest girl bands of the 90s, All Saints, who had nine consecutive top-ten hits in the UK, including five number-ones, Never Ever, Under the Bridge/Lady Marmalade, Bootie Call, Pure Shores and Black Coffee.

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Never Ever is the second best-selling girl group single of all-time in the UK, behind the Spice Girls' Wannabe.

Rock fans are catered for with Glaswegian quartet Twin Atlantic, while fans of hip-hop, rap and grime can check out the melodic sounds of The Age of LUNA, rising star Nadia Rose and former Mobo winner Akala.

The much-loved Metronomy serve up electronica, girl group M.O bring 90s-inspired pop, Hot 8 Brass Band bring the sound of New Orleans to Sheffield with a set of infectious jazz and funk, while R&B, soul and reggae are provided by the legendary Don Letts.

Fans of indie, rock and hip-hop will also be heading for Devonshire Green, with sets from New York-based We Are Scientists, Mersey five-piece The Coral, and hip-hop royalty The Pharcyde, who arrive in Sheffield 20 years after the release of the timeless Bizarre Ride II.

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Devonshire Green will also be the place to discover emerging talent with performances from rising scuzz-rock band Cabbage, the dynamic Welsh outfit Estrons, alt-R&B from Bossy Love and indie band Fizzy Blood.

TheFolk Forest, in Endcliffe Park, will again provide a relaxed woodland retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city centre, with performances in world music, alt-pop, folk, jazz and more. Highlight performances are set to include Syrian musician Omar Souleyman, alt-pop artist Cate Le Bon, progressive-pop trio Blaenavon, the experimental Yorkston Thorne Khan, Rough Trade signings Goat Girl and more.

Tramlines is the Sheffield’s longest running inner-city music festival. In 2016, it attracted over 100,000 people as the festival took over the entire city centre across four outdoor stages and 15 venues.

For up-to-the-minute information about Tramlines 2017 visit www.tramlines.org.uk or follow Tramlines on Twitter @tramlines

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