After a busy day at Tramlines Festival on day one, the alarm was soon going off for day two, it didn’t take long for the adrenaline and excitement to kick in, for me personally, this was the best day of the line-up (although all weekend was pretty solid to be fair) and I couldn’t wait to see what the Saturday had in store.
Naturally, I got there early to catch an annual Tramlines staple in the form of the Everly Pregnant Brothers, if you’re yet to know, get to know…
Pete McKee and Richard Bailey of The Everly Pregnant Brothers on the Sarah Nulty Main Stage at Tramlines 2026 –
Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Now the Brothers have clearly had a busy year, with a string of live performances, plus the success of their EP last year, and you can tell they’re popular, as they brought in an incredibly strong crowd early doors (as always!) – they stormed onto the stage which were met with cheers – and cracked on with fan favourite “Chip Pan” and the crowd immediately sung along and got involved, it was the perfect start to my Saturday.
Alongside the banter, dry sarcasm and mannerisms (which are always to be expected) – they also paid a very lovely and heartfelt tribute to Glenn Ashley, one of the photographers that has been in the pit for Tramlines since the festival began, it was a very classy touch.
Alongside that highlight was of course “Stuck In The Lidl With You”, “Hendo’s” and “You’re Yorkshire” and of course, I have to agree, as with the Brothers song, IT’S A BREADCAKE.
SEE WHAT THE BROTHERS ARE UP TO HERE
Next up was a South Yorkshire musician that is making waves in the local music scene and beyond, it’s Freddie Halkon…
Freddie Halkon on the Sarah Nulty Main Stage at Tramlines 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Freddie Halkon has been turning more and more heads in the last year or so, he impressed South Yorkshire band The Reytons, and evidently the Tramlines team, as he was catapulted onto the Sarah Nulty Main Stage after being on the Leadmill stage last year.
Freddie looked relaxed but also buzzing, you could tell this meant a lot to him, he seamlessly played his fan-favourites as well as playing some new ones, I do believe Tramlines saw the live debut of his track “Chinese Takeaway” which seemed to get a really good response from the crowd.
Of course Freddie ended on his biggest hit (to date anyway) “Girl In The Smoking Area” and it was amazing to see thousands of people singing it back and dancing around the field to it, a set I don’t think Freddie and the crowd will forget anytime soon.
CHECK OUT ALL THINGS FREDDIE HALKON HERE
After running to some interviews and having a drink break, it was time for an 80’s legend in the form of Rick Astley…
Rick Astley on the Sarah Nulty Main Stage at Tramlines 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Rick had one of the biggest turn outs of the day for Tramlines, if not the weekend and what a show he put on!
He strolled onto the stage in this dusty pink suit, beaming from ear to ear, starting the set with fan favourite “Together, Forever”, which just felt like one big party and set the mood.
But, who knew Rick could play the drums?! He jumped on and then a fabulous vocalist from his band took to the lead singer position to give an incredible cover of RAYE’s “Where The Hell Is My Husband” and wow, I genuinely thought he’d brought out RAYE at first, but also, he is multi-talented.
Alongside that, the main highlight of course was “Never Going To Give You Up” – the crowd lapped it up and took the biggest rickrolling that Sheffield had ever seen and Rick took it all in his stride, his stage presence is incredible and you can just tell he loved every second of it, well worth seeing him live if you get the opportunity.
FIND EVERYTHING RICK ASTLEY HERE
Next up, was the small chunk I caught of Lucy Spraggan’s set on T’Other Stage…
Lucy Spraggan performing on T’Other Stage at Tramlines 2026 – Photo Credit: Just Jay Photography
You’ll likely remember Lucy Spraggan from appearing on the X-Factor in 2012, where she performed her hit “Last Night” – wowing the judges and captured the hearts of the UK with her dry humour and witty lyrics based on relatable scenarios that we’ve probably all been caught up in at one point or another.
Since then, she’s done all sorts, collaborated with Robbie Williams, been on SAS who dares wins, and more recently appeared on the Reytons lineup for their Clifton Park gig in 2024.
I only caught a snippet of her set due to clashes, but from the back of T’Other Stage tent, the atmosphere was electric, Lucy was great at talking to the crowd and a good storyteller and there was evidently some loyal fans in there singing along.
I caught the tail-end of “Last Night” (Beer Fear), and she finished with a cracking cover of The Proclaimers “500 Miles” – not what I was expecting, but I’m definitely not mad about it, I’ll be sure to catch more of her next time!
SEE WHAT LUCY SPRAGGAN IS UP TO HERE
Now, after seeing them in Warrington a few months back, I just had to catch Blossoms again, so we were back over to the Sarah Nulty Main Stage…
Josh Dewhurst and Tom Ogden of Blossoms on the Sarah Nulty Main Stage – Tramlines 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Now, since Neighbourhood Weekender, the Stockport five-piece have been pretty busy, having announced their next album “Songs From The Wedding Cake”, alongside releasing their track “Jokes About Divorce” and appearing on a number of festival line-ups, including Tramlines.
The stage was draped in that stunning yellow-orange like colour, big gorilla sitting in the background and the band burst onto cheers and started off the bat with their hit “Gary” – which was a very welcome opener if the crowd’s reaction is anything to go by.
One of the main highlights was that they brought Rick Astley back on from earlier, with them both performing “Jokes About Divorce” – which Rick does feature on, that definitely got a fantastic reception, the other highlights for me personally were that “Meet Me In Love” got it’s live debut, alongside my personal favourite “There’s A Reason Why” – it just banged – the stage setting, the music, the stage presence, lovely – no further notes.
FIND ALL THINGS BLOSSOMS HERE
And now it was time for the Saturday Main Stage headliner, Manchester’s own, The Courteeners…
Courteeners frontman Liam Fray on the Sarah Nulty Main Stage at Tramlines 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
The band came onto the Main Stage to plenty of cheers, chants of “Liam, Liam, Liam!” and general excitement, they begun their set with a track off their latest album “Sweet Surrender” – which is a collaboration with Brooke Combe, sadly no appearance from Brooke, as she was at Tramlines the day after, but even so, the band did it justice.
That was followed by fan favourites “Are You In Love With a Notion?” and “Cavorting” – which in fairness, went absolutely off, it was a cracking start.
Frontman Liam Fray took plenty of opportunities to talk to the crowd, displaying his love for the fans and the city of Sheffield and giving little bits about the tracks in between, one thing I did notice was that the set did seem a bit slowed down, as a loyal Courteeners fan personally, I didn’t mind it, but I did feel it was at the expense of a couple of songs that were missed off the setlist, there was no cover of Madness’ “It Must Be Love” within the acoustic section, which I was surprised at, but also generally, the absence of “Acrylic” and “Fallowfield Hillbilly” was surprising.
That said, there was “The Rest of the World Has Gone Home” and “The 17th” both making an appearance, so that made up for it a little bit – I did wonder if they were saving more energy and some of their more popular hits for their tour and Wythenshawe Park in Manchester, but for that, we will see.
Overall though, it was a cracking set, the setlist itself definitely had a shake up and Liam’s stage presence was brilliant, I always find that Courteeners bring a brilliant show to Sheffield, regardless of festival or more intimate.
SEE WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE COURTEENERS HERE
So that was day two, over and out, it was a brilliant (and warm) day, but there was plenty to see and do, shame that a few clashes dropped in but, festival lineups can be like that sometimes, it was a great day and the Sunday was looking very promising too.
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