Inclusive, explosive, and unforgettable… Don Valley at full tilt.
Once a landscape dominated by dark, satanic steel mills and the thunder of industry, Sheffield’s Don Valley has reinvented itself as a stage for something altogether different. Where smoke once rose from grimy chimneys, the air now reverberates with drumbeats, guitars, and the roar of festival crowds. The Rock N Roll Circus has made its home in this reclaimed ground, the grass amphitheatre offering a natural arena where the city’s industrial ghosts mingle with a new kind of fire and energy.
Across the weekend, three stages, one being the Big Top, hosted over 60 bands who filled the valley with noise and colour, the music matched by the carnival of spectacle: tightrope walkers teetering in the sky, jugglers and acrobats defying gravity, a circus school daring the brave to join in. Around the amphitheatre, stalls brimmed with food and drink, and the whole event pulsed with a sense of tremendous organisation, inclusivity, and celebration. Once a symbol of hard graft and steel, the Don Valley Bowl now carries its rhythm in a different way, one that Sheffield has fully claimed as its own.
My second day at the Rock N Roll Circus had another fantastic line up. I didn’t catch every band, and I ducked out before Bryan Adams closed things off. No doubt he delivered, but with cameras banned I called it early. What I did see before though was packed with killer talent, much of it homegrown.
Deco brought upbeat, infectious indie-pop rhythms from London, sharp and easy to move with. Long Island, from Huddersfield, pushed the emotion harder, lyrics that cut through but stayed catchy.
Charlie Floyd, a Geordie with total creative control thanks to his self-production, felt authentic and raw. Sundress, Sheffield’s own, floated dreamy indie-pop across the big top and it hit perfectly.
Then came Newton Faulkner, back with that trademark percussive fingerstyle guitar and introspective folk songwriting. Technically brilliant, emotionally tight. What a talent. Bethany Grace, another Sheffield gem, connected instantly. Indie/alt/pop with real heart, the crowd bought into every word.
The Crookes brought an eclectic mix, nodding to influences from The Smiths through to the Everley Brothers, and with past collabs alongside Richard Hawley and Jon McLure, they’ve got Sheffield’s DNA stamped all over them, they even took their name from a Sheffield suburb. Well worth tracking down.
Closing my night were one of my favourite bands, Femur. Sheffield again, fierce and untamed. Psych, grunge, punk and something darker all rolled into one. Driven by the pounding drums of Danny Cox and led by the brilliantly theatrical and talented Felix Renshaw, picture Jarvis Cocker on steroids. They tore through their set with wild energy, uncompromising and unforgettable. If you’ve not seen them yet you don’t know what you’re missing, they have all the ingredients to go all the way.
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