How to breathe life into what might otherwise slip into the chaos of an industrial wasteland. You don’t need to look too hard to see the surrounding derelict warehouses and crumbling ruins of once prosperous industries but take a stroll down Burton Road in the Kelham Island/Neepsend area of Sheffield and you see what can be done to turn small areas into a thriving hub of bars, a food hall, a brewery and independent venues. This was the place for Sheffield’s annual multi-venue showcase of superb indie / alternative music. Helped along by the glorious weather, the availability of quality drinks at decent prices and food stalls within a few minutes stroll there was a real buzz in the area starting long before the first bands walked on stage.
Spread across six venues ranging in size from the main Peddler Warehouse with a capacity of 800 to stages tucked away at the back of the local social club where 100 punters would make it feel rammed Get Together brought a choice of over 40 bands throughout the day. From those every self respecting music lover will know to those only a few will have heard of but who, after the day, will be on the ‘must see’ lists of many new fans. I say this about a lot of one day, multi-venue festivals – for me it isn’t about the headliners (although they’re the ones that will often bring the crowds). It’s about those bands you’ve not heard of but who suddenly become one of your favourites. And those you’ve seen before that you know are going to play a blistering set in a small, sweaty, independent venue.
Get Together 2025 brought some big names to the festival. English Teacher headlining the mainstage. HotWax headlining in Yellow Arch and Adult DVD closing out the BBC Introducing Stage.
Huge credit to the people of Sheffield (and those who’d obviously travelled much further) – venues were packed from the moment the opening bands started.
There’s really little point giving a detailed review of every band seen. Your favourites might not be mine but for this reviewer the absolute standouts of the day were:
Makeshift Art Bar – opening the Yellow Arch stage Makeshift Art Bar delivered a superb set of noisy, discordent, grungy post-punk. Scratchy guitars, yelled vocals, driving bass rhythms. Listen hard and you might catch glimpses of PiL’s more obscure work and the atmosphere of early Joy Division but Makeshift Art Bar’s noise sits perfectly in a 21st century post-industrial landscape. It’s raw and it’s unrelenting.
Fuzz Lightyear hammered out an ear splitting, bouncing, gut punching set of wild garage rock on the BBC Introducing Stage that would give Idles a run for their money.
There’s a stage in Heist Brewery and Taproom where the bands set up surrounded by barrels of beer. Behind them is a huge steel vat. And it’s here that Honk bring something completely different. Imagine the best sleazy, up beat, honky-tonk country rock n roll with no small amount of punky attitude and you wouldn’t be far off the mark. Possibly more suited to a dark, dingy, back street bar in the early hours of the morning than somewhere flooded with daylight in the middle of the afternoon but Heist is packed with people swaying around, joining in with the lyrics. Testament to just how good Honk are at doing what they do.
The Moonlandingz bring us to the main stage in Peddler for a fantastic set of glorious, cheeky, infectious, irreverant fun. It’s all here – dance, electronica, glam, unhinged theatrics. Bands such as Sparks and the visual extravagance of The Cramps spring to mind. After over a seven year absence it’s little wonder this home crowd welcome The Moonlandingz with open arms bouncing and singing along throughout their 60 minute set that is over far too quickly.
Things are a little calmer for the rather wonderful, dreamy, catchy, paired back indie pop of Freak Slug (Manchester based creative Xenya Genovese and band). There are guitars, bass and drums but they form the background to, rather than dominate, Genovese’s expressive, hypnotic voice.
GANS, playing their second set of the day, are incredible in Neepsend Social Club. Incredible noise, incredible atmosphere. They waste precisely zero seconds before hitting you with that deep, brutal, onslaught of bass and drums, looped electronics and howling vocals. It’s raw and feral but with a hypnotic, swaying, underlying bouncy beat courtesy of Euan Woodman on drums. The place erupts, the front is carnage as the moshpit develops and we’re only a few songs in before Woodman is crowdsurfing around the room. Gans pack a serious punch. Frantic, energetic, jaw droppingly good. Incredible that just two people can create the sound they do. Brilliant. My band of the day.
Headliners English Teacher close the main stage with their uniquely individual sound. Swirling guitars, spoken word, joyful singing, quiet emotional moments, moments of soaring noise. Sounds that jump around all over the place in a way that’s completely captivating rather than irritating. Peddler is rammed for this glorious main stage finale but sadly I need to make my exit after 30 minutes in order to dash down the road and catch the final twenty five minutes of Adult DVD on the BBC Introducing Stage. A band who never disappoint with their superior blend of electro-funk, dance beats, odd beeps and quirky lyrics. The venue is packed and I watch Adult DVD, a band who get better and better every time I see them, over a sea of bobbing heads and waving arms.
There were others. Every band seen was worth the time spent watching them. But when a one day festival has so many quality bands to choose from you have to make some difficult decisions. A big shout out to BC Camplight, Katy J Pearson, Your Mate’s Ex, My First Time and Cosmorat all of whom it would have been great to spend more time with.
Get Together Festival – brilliantly organised, brilliant bands, great venues. And amazing value. All this for a ticket price of just over £40 means there really isn’t anything not to like.
Photos/words: Steve White
Gallery below. Click on any image to open slide show.
