Tramlines 2011 Day 1

What better way to kick off Tramlines than sitting on a comfy sofa with a nice pint, planning what to see and where to go? Actually, we already knew pretty much what we were planning to do for the first day, so it was just an excuse to drink some beer and chill out for a while.

First venue on the bill was Tiger Works on West Street - a low rent bar with sticky floors, sticky tables and ideas way above its station. As we arrived a band was already playing - I tweeted that the vocalist had a vocal style somewhere between Siouxie and Grace Slick, but lacking the range of either. Interesting rather than electrifying, and I didn't catch the name. Sorry.

Anyhoo, we'd already seen The Velcro Teddybears chatting up the flyer girls outside and enjoying a pre-gig smoke, and it wasn't too long before they kicked off yet another cracking set. Songs of love and loss, regrets, staying in bed too long, thinking things through and then realising that life is pretty good after all is said and done. They closed with a perfect cover of Ooh La La by the Small Faces that had the crowd singing along. Superb - they deserve a much bigger stage than this, and judging by their commitment it won't be long before they get there.

The next venue was The Washington, which has turned into an excellent music pub since the last time I was in there for a lunchtime sandwich. We just caught the end of Volcano before settling down with a pint of Moonshine to watch Scrim who produced a blistering set of rock numbers, including a cover of Foxy Lady. Another name to watch out for I think.

Home after that, and the less said about the vagaries of Sheffield public transport the better.