![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1000017416.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Do you remember the first time?: Pulp at Tramlines.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHamish Yewdall.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you seeing Pulp at Tramlines?\u201d That’s been the question on every Sheffielder\u2019s lips since November. Tickets have been hard to come by, so those who were lucky have been jumping around the city\u2019s living rooms for joy.<\/p>\n
As I walk through Hillsborough with my mates I get that excited tingly stomach feeling. You know something special is about to happen here tonight.<\/p>\n
@bbc6music<\/a> <\/p>\n
Happy National Poetry day! \u270d\ufe0f Throwing it back to when John Cooper Clarke joined us on Breakfast to share his marvellous poem all about Sheffield. Listen to our Way With Words season on @BBC Sounds #bbc6music<\/a> #johncooperclarke<\/a> #nationalpoetrymonth<\/a> #nationalpoetryday<\/a> #poetry<\/a> #poetrytok<\/a> <\/p>\n
\u266c original sound – BBC Radio 6 Music<\/a> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t\t\tDr John Cooper Clarke<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSheffield, it’s got to be<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\tJohn Cooper Clarke<\/p>\n
For their big homecoming Pulp invited a number of friends to join them, and we get to the festival early to catch John Cooper Clarke. The punk-poet is back in Sheffield, and he’s brought with him a bag stuffed full of poetry. As he delves into this treasure trove he entertains the crowd with stories and jokes. We hang on his every word \u2013 laughing, joining in on reprises, cheering throughout his \u2018Sheffield\u2019 ode<\/a>. An icon and an absolute master of his craft.<\/p>\n
Baxter Dury<\/p>\n
\nSheffield, I can’t communicate how much I love you, so everybody scream<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\tBaxter Dury<\/p>\n
The sun begins to tickle the back of my neck. I’m loaded up on loaded fries, and it\u2019s almost uncomfortably warm \u2013 not that the heat seems to be any concern to Baxter. The cockney geezer struts the stage, pulling open his shirt, grinning at the crowd. Then he lunges in a way that I’m surprised his suit trousers allow. Maybe he gets them made specially. <\/p>\n
His set is slowly turning up the temperature \u2013 and not just Dury\u2019s moves. The band start out cool and chilled but get funkier and funkier, while Baxter delivers his surreal spoken songs. The set ends on \u2018Baxter (these are my friends)\u2019, the tune Dury produced with Fred Again. By this point the music has gone from funk to house. \u201cLet’s dance again shall we,\u201d croons Baxter \u2013 as if the crowd needed any invitation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tLisa O’Neil<\/p>\n
Fred Again to folk is a hard pivot, but I’m here for it. l wasn’t sure how a folk act like Lisa O’Neil would land at a festival like Tramlines, but I forgot the power folk music has to tell stories that people resonate with. Lisa O\u2019Neil is a powerful storyteller: songs about opposing fascism and deindustrialisation get huge cheers in the crowd, particularly \u2018Rock the Machine\u2019. The song was written about the decline of work in Dublin harbour, but O\u2019Neill says it\u2019s also about what happened to Sheffield in the seventies and eighties, as well as what\u2019s happening now with AI.<\/p>\n
Hot Chip<\/p>\n
Bass and beats reverberate around the T\u2019other Stage tent, and we\u2019re in full rave mode. Everyone is dancing… then we hear \u201claid back\u2026 laid back\u201d being faded into the mix. The entire tent leans its head back in unison to sing, \u201cOver and over, like a monkey with a miniature cymbal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tFat White Family<\/p>\n
I’m dripping in sweat, the entire stage is washed in blood red lighting, psych rock riffs out, and Lias is screaming down the microphone. In other words, the Fat Whites are in full force. For a band that set out to create inaccessible music, they\u2019ve ended up with a lot of banging tunes. They sound fantastic in this sweaty tent on a Friday night.<\/p>\n
Pulp<\/p>\n
\nWe are Pulp. I won’t remember all your names so can I call you Tramlines, or Sheffield?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\tJarvis Cocker<\/p>\n
Jarvis Cocker always delights in taking the crowd on a journey. Tonight we\u2019re visiting a place we all know well: Sheffield. Together we\u2019re walking the steel streets, with Jarvis pointing out the places where Pulp grew up.<\/p>\n
Jarvis takes us on a trip to The Limit, a nightclub he used to frequent. He says at midnight the music would change and people would ask strange questions (cue \u2018Sorted for E\u2019s & Wizz\u2019).<\/p>\n
The cheers haven’t faded when the intro to \u2018Disco 2000\u2019 kicks in. This is a riff that should be up there with rock\u2019s great guitar riffs: \u2018You Really Got Me\u2019, or \u2018Smoke On the Water\u2019. Because you know the song instantly from the first bars, and your emotive response is pure wildness.<\/p>\n
Pulp are joined on stage by Richard Hawley. Together they play a song for the first time ever live, \u2018Last Day of the Miners\u2019 Strike\u2019. The song is about the impact of pit closures on communities in Sheffield, but it\u2019s also about socialism and the north rising again. Accompanied by posters and photos from the miners\u2019 strike, it’s a poignant and powerful moment, especially with the news breaking earlier in the week of an inquiry into Orgreave<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nif anyone can help, we still need that blue plaque out the front taking down<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cAt this point in the gig we ask the audience when our first gig was,\u201d says Jarvis. \u201cOur first time in Sheffield was…?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Leadmill.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. And if anyone can help, we still need that blue plaque out the front taking down.\u201c\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
This leads perfectly to \u2018Do You Remember the First Time?\u2019 \u2013 another classic that gets the entire crowd singing along.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
It wasn’t just the classics: a lot of songs off the new album More feature in the set, and the band open with lead single \u2018Spike Island\u2019. New single \u2018Tina\u2019 tells the story of a Sheffield girl Jarvis had a crush on (\u201cShe may even be here tonight\u201d) while \u2018Got to Have Love\u2019 seems perfect for a festival, with its house music-style and positive message.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
But needless to say there was one song that was bigger and louder than the rest. There are many great songs from Sheffield or about Sheffield, but \u2018Common People\u2019 must be the city’s anthem. The thousands of us common people in Hillsborough Park sing it from our chests with pride.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Did this gig live up to the hype? Yes, absolutely. Pulp celebrated Sheffield perfectly, from its landmarks to the city’s politics. And most importantly, it celebrated the city\u2019s people. As Dr John Cooper Clarke put it, \u201cSheffield it’s got to be.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t