White Lies – Float Along Festival in Sheffield Live review by Rob Johnson
Float Along is a multi-venue festival that takes place across the city of Sheffield and is now entering its sixth year, with previous headliners including Everything Everything, Shame and The Murder Capital. 2026 boasted a buzzy line-up featuring the likes of Sprints and Man/Woman/Chainsaw but we were there for the main event. White Lies. Playing Sheffield for the first time since 2017. To a packed audience. Yes. Please.
White Lies are now elder statesmen on the British indie music scene, having recently released their seventh album, Night Light, and while tracks such as ‘Juice’ and ‘Nothing on Me’ sound great here, it is the band’s earlier material that generates the best response. The pounding drums of ‘Farewell to the Fairground’, the massive chorus of ‘There Goes Our Love Again’… these are songs and moments that have garnered a huge following because of frontman Harry McVeigh’s ability to connect with an audience. These songs mean something. You can tell from the audience reaction. At one point, during ‘Big TV’, I look around to see rapt faces, some mouthing along to the words, others smiling maniacally or hugging a friend and it is clear that these songs foster a sense of community not often present in most live shows.
‘To Lose My Life’ is always a set highlight and the chorus soars through the Sheffield Octagon like the howling of wolves. McVeigh’s voice has always been the band’s secret weapon and as White Lies enter their 20th year since formation in 2007, he is showing no sign of slowing down. ‘Bigger Than Us’, a song that should be a well known chart hit but works just as well as a cult classic, has yet another huge chorus and this underlines that this is where the band’s strengths truly lie – in the ability to write memorable hooks and epic, singalong choruses.
By the time White Lies close things out with a celebratory run through of early single and calling card ‘Death’, there isn’t a punter in the audience who isn’t utterly absorbed in the performance. McVeigh is a great frontman who clearly still loves playing these songs and that enthusiasm is both contagious and irresistible. The Ealing band might not be winning over many new fans at this stage of their career but they continue to delight the people that have stuck with them from the start. Here’s to another twenty years!
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