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Festival spotlight: Tramlines 2016
Tramlines Festival recently unveiled the first wave of acts for their 2016 Summer Festival, including Friday headliner, Dizzee Rascal at a special press launch event, so we sent Roisin Deady down to get the scoop:
Now in its eighth year, the award-winning inner-city music festival Tramlines will take place across multiple venues and outdoor stages in Sheffield from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 July.
In the intimate surroundings of The Old Blue Last on Tuesday evening (Feb 2) – Tramlines officially launched their line-up, with special performances from K.O.G, Coco and FYI Chris. The selection of artists firmly represents the diverse nature of Tramlines, spanning across an eclectic range of styles from Grime and Electronic to Hip Hop and Indie Rock.
Sheffield group, K.O.G. kicked off proceedings with their funky, sun-drenched vibes and feel good reggae-rhythms. Four out of the nine band members took to the stage and delivered a confident set, leaving many of us yearning for those long Summer days. Up next, was Grime MC Coco. Hailing from Sheffield, the rising MC owned the stage, performing tracks such as ‘Big N Serious’ and ‘Big Bou Yah’, with the latter produced by fellow Tramlines artist and Sheffield’s own, Toddla T. South London house duo, FYI Chris, closed out the evening with their infectious house style; a perfect end to an exciting evening of music.
Last year’s Tramlines Festival saw over 100,000 festival-goers attend the weekend, enjoying performances from the likes of Basement Jaxx, The Charlatans, Slaves and more. Having previously been awarded the Best City Festival at the Festival Baby Awards, as well as being shortlisted for the Best Metropolitan Festival at the UK Festival Awards, it’s no wonder Tramlines Festival is continually on the rise. Known for highlighting the finest emerging UK and International talent, this year’s line-up is no exception. Joining Dizzee Rascal include, Mercury Prize winners Young Fathers, Field Music, Little Simz, Hinds, Goldie, Dawn Penn, LEVELZ, Norman Jay MBE, Mumdance, Paranoid London Live, C Duncan, Randall, All We Are, and Amy Becker, while Toddla T is set to curate a night at o2 Academy. Expect further acts and headliners to be announced shortly.
Tickets for Tramlines Festival 2016 are on sale now. For more information, visit www.tramlines.org.uk or follow Tramlines on Twitter @tramlines