Saturday
The Sherlocks
Love them or hate them, The Sherlocks are a band who’ve shown that good old fashioned graft can land you a mainstage festival slot. Taking to the stage with drummer Brandon Cook kitted out in a Sheffield Wednesday shirt — good on you, lad — the band played a rollicking setlist showcasing how their musicianship has developed since their 2017 debut, Live for the Moment. Guitarist Alex Procter and bassist Trent Jackson replaced brothers Josh and Andy Davidson in 2020, and they slot well into the lineup alongside frontman Kiaran Crook and his drummer brother. Set highlights included new maturer sounding single ‘Falling’, as well as set closer ‘Chasing Shadows’ from the band’s first release.
Blossoms
Possibly winning the best dressed band of the weekend award, Stockport’s Blossoms took to the stage in the early evening as sub headliners to Royal Blood. Dressed in a spotted chiffon blouse and brown suit, with duck egg blue shoes to boot, Tom Ogden and his fellow bandmates swanned onto stage tucking their long hair behind their ears with nonchalance. Having found success touring with cult Manchester band the Courteeners, audience participation was high off the bat with funky opener ‘Your Girlfriend’. A cover of Richard Hawley’s ‘Tonight the Streets Are Ours’ particularly appealed to Sheffield music lovers, with fans looking around in disbelief as the band delivered a flawless take on the song. Standards were high across the set, which included favourites from the band’s 2016 self-titled release including ‘Honey Sweet’, ‘Getaway’, ‘At Most a Kiss’ and raucous closer ‘Charlemagne’.
Vistas
Despite the fact that their set clashed with Blossoms — a fact the band themselves lamented in their pre-show interview with The Indiependent — Scottish outfit Vistas drew an impressive crowd to the Library stage where they powered through a fantastic array of new and old material, from their lockdown debut Everything Changes In The End, and forthcoming second album What Were You Hoping To Find?, set for release on 20 August. The trio made up of Prentice Robertson, Dylan Rush and Jamie Law are certainly ones to watch as they embark on a UK tour later this year, with two nights at Glasgow’s Barrowlands signalling they are just one of a wide array of Scottish acts making waves at the moment.