Sheffield’s newest addition to the festival season calendar comes in the shape of Outlines, created by the makers of the hugely successful Tramlines Festival, Outlines is another city centre offering that will be taking place in a number of indoor venues on Saturday February 27th 2016.
Showcasing a blend of established and emerging talents, influential post-punk band Gang of Four, electronica artist Shura and psychedelic pop band Pumarosa are among the latest acts to be added to the bill for the first edition, alongside a headline set from UK hip-hop stalwart Roots Manuva and a number of exciting new artists including the likes of Georgia, Loyle Carner, NZCA Lines, PINS, Oscar and Kagoule.
Outlines is a venture looking to build upon the city’s solid reputation for high quality, low fuss music events following the success of the critically acclaimed Tramlines Festival which attracts over 150,000 visitors to the steel city each year and has hosted shows from artists including alt-j, The xx, AlunaGeorge, Public Enemy, Lianne La Havas, Neneh Cherry, Basement Jaxx, Buzzcocks, Gold Panda, The Gaslamp Killer, Evian Christ and The Selecter among many others.
Tramlines continues to demonstrate its growing appeal, and as it grows each year, Outlines offers another chance to showcase the diversity in sound that has brought so many people from across the country to Sheffield, and 2016 shows no signs of slowing this momentum down. Performance spaces will place the city’s much-loved venues centre stage with the o2 Academy, Plug, Queens Social Club and The Harley the favoured backdrops – whilst the more unusual areas like the city’s roller rink will also be brought to the fore as Outlines aims to encourage a mix and blend.
Widely acclaimed for their ground-breaking debut album Entertainment! and incendiary live performances, Leeds’ Gang of Four have been hugely influential. Since they formed in 1977, the band have created a legacy which can still be heard today, having left their mark on R.E.M. and the Minutemen; Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana and Massive Attack; Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and LCD Soundsystem, and many more. Outlines’ Head of Programming Kate Hewett says: “In Gang of Four, we’re delighted to have added a group of genuine musical masters to the bill. Alongside headliner Roots Manuva, we’re bringing two of the most vital British artists of all time to Outlines”.
Released in October 2015, Bleeds is Manuva’s latest studio offering and this sixth album possesses all the hallmarks that lead people to look to Roots Manuva as a shining light in the soundscape of British Hip Hop. From the patois to the cockney rhyming slang, the Dub influences and conscious lyricism, all the elements are present and correct and what’s more, Outlines audiences will have the chance to get up close and sample a live performance. You know, before it gets ‘cool’.
Elsewhere on the bill, Outlines has released details of its official after-parties, which are available now as a top-up for festival ticket-holders through the festival’s website, and aim to strike the right notes as an encore for the main events. Local Garage/Hip-Hop/Grime crew Unit 3 will head up The Harley, while Sheffield club promoters Banana Hill will host a takeover at Queens Social Club featuring a global selection of electronica.
Outlines organisers continue to forge a voice and place for The Steel City in an increasingly crowded Festival landscape, aiming to shout about the range and variety of artists and culture produced by it’s continually evolving underground scene. Open to all minds and ages with music at its heart and a message of inclusivity. Advance weekend tickets for Outlines, priced at £25 plus booking fee, are now available here.
Words by Akua Ofei
