Live review: Lightning Seeds, Shed Seven and Paul Heaton with Rianne Downey get Bramall Lane jumping

A five hour extravaganza of music saw the football stadium packed to the rafters with revellers singing and dancing to the legends Lightning Seeds, Shed Seven and headliner Paul Heaton with Rianne Downey.

It was a day of mixed weather, one when we certainly didn’t need to chase any rainbows, but the occasional downpour didn’t dampen spirits.

After issues at the gate, which seemed to be happening to a number of people whose e-tickets would not work, we were unfortunately too late to catch Ian Broudie et al, which was disappointing as we had never seen these live before.

This situation wasn’t helped with the thousands of people scrabbling to get in, to the loo and to the bar. Capacity was at the max.

That said, Shed Seven and Paul Heaton are in my top three favourite artists so I wasn’t disappointed for long.

The Sheds leading man Rick Witter had his usual fantastic stage presence with unmistakable voice and moves.

They performed hit after hit, my faves being Disco Down and of course Chasing Rainbows.

They have never, ever, given a bad performance in all the times I have been lucky enough to review them.

And now for the headliner. We’ve followed Paul Heaton, a Blades fan, from the very beginning, a number of decades let’s just say! Pure genius, that is all.

Mixing the set list up with tunes from the early days of The Housemartins, through to The Beautiful South and now his solo career, there was something for everyone.

Songs from the latest album The Mighty Several including Fish ‘N’ Chip Supper, Small Boats and Just Another Family went down well but the oldies got the greatest reception – Me and The Farmer, Ole Red Eyes and of course Happy Hour had everyone up and dancing.

A massive mention must go to Rianne Downey who had a fabulous stage presence and whose vocals sit perfectly next to Paul’s. One to watch out for as she launches her album and tour.

All in all a fabulous day.