Float Along 2024: Announcement show reveals a star-studded lineup
W. H. Lung and Nightbus provide the perfect curtain-raiser as Shame, Antony Szmierek, Snapped Ankles, Scaler and Fat Dog are confirmed for September's one-day festival in Sheffield.
Moody Manchester post-punkers Nightbus.
Steve Hunting.Audience participation is, and always has been, a key rock'n’roll ingredient.
However that's not always been the case with festival line-up announcements – until now. Thanks to Float Along 2024 organiser Mark Dunn's endless supply of creativity, this announcement show was always going to be about two things – the music and the people. And boy did he pull that off with bells on.
The two-band aperitif began with the gothic soundscape and chiming guitars of Nightbus, a band that perfectly suited the claustrophobic vibe of Sidney & Matilda’s Gallery Stage. An enthusiastic crowd lapped up the seven song set-list as Olive Rees, Zac Melrose and Jake Cottier moved through the gears.
From opener 'Way Past Three' via the onomatopoeic 'Spooky' to current single ‘Average Boy’ and closer 'Mirrors', the Manchester trio's heady mix of off-kilter electronics and melancholic Joy Division faded glamour evidence a band experienced beyond their years. A bright future awaits.
The announcement mural, before the full lineup was revealed.
Steve Hunting.There's something about a tight, small venue that suits certain bands, and W.H. Lung (named after a Chinese supermarket, fact fans) are one of them. It probably explains why this is their third Float Along appearance in as many years. Their modern dance electronica, all knitted together by the enigmatic frontman colossus that is Joe Evans, takes the audience engagement up several notches, never more so than during 'Second Death Of My Face', 'Showstopper' and a blistering cover of The Units 'High Pressure Days'.
And so to the Gallery ante-room, where ticket holders and attendees alike had engaged in the designing of the (frankly brilliant) artwork which helped create a unique array of designs to identify the festival going forward, revealing the first wave of acts for Float Along 2024 in September. Fans of Snapped Ankles, Fat Dog and Scaler will be richly rewarded, while the mouth-watering prospect of sets by heavyweights Shame and Antony Szmierek will surely attract many a Sheffield indie connoisseur. With a line-up as strong as this, prepare yourself for 100% satisfaction.
