OPINION: Let's support Sheffield's music venues as soon as it's safe to

With headliners including The Streets, Royal Blood and Richard Ashcroft, it looks set to be a great weekend. And after an incredibly difficult year, and an even worse winter, having something in the diary to look forward to is important.

Starting off as a free festival, and going on to win 'Best Metropolitan Festival,' Tramlines is now one of the biggest annual events in Sheffield and attracts big names, year in, year out.

It’s great to hear it’ll be going ahead this year. While the city’s music lovers should get behind Tramlines, it’s also important to support Sheffield’s independent music venues and understand that if we don’t use them, we will lose them.

We are lucky to live in a city that has such a rich musical heritage. Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Slow Club, The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, Def Leppard, Heaven 17, Richard Hawley and Bring Me The Horizon are just a few of the incredible acts that hail from the Steel City.

If those acts did not have small venues in Sheffield, and beyond, to play their first gigs in, they may not have achieved the success that made them household names. And so, the loss of independent venues would not just be a loss to people and musicians living in Sheffield today, it could also potentially stop future generations from finding their way into the music industry.

Yellow Arch, The Greystones, The Leadmill, Delicious Clam, Abbeydale Picture House, West Street Live, Bungalows and Bears, The Washington, Record Junkee and Plot 22 are among the independent music venues that make Sheffield so special.

Over the past year, acts including Billy Bragg and the Arctic Monkeys have helped to raise money for The Leadmill through playing online gigs and auctioning guitars, respectively.

In October, the iconic venue secured Government funding to help them keep going but they, and so many others, still need our support.

The best way to help your local venues is to buy tickets to the gigs of your choice as soon as you’re in a position to, understanding, of course, that the date may get pushed back due to Covid-19 restrictions.