Photo Credit: Tom Sunderland

The annual Christmas extravaganza from Milburn and Good Cop Bad Cop frontman JOE CARNALL JNR returns to his hometown of Sheffield for a night filled with songs from his back catalogue, a handful of covers and a few surprises to round off 2025 with a bang.

A last minute announcement for the support slot came from South Yorkshire lads THE ROSADOCS, who have had their biggest year yet as a band. From the release of their debut EP ‘The City’s No Good For Reflection‘, a stacked festival season and countless sold out shows up and down the UK, the lads took a more laid back approach for their final gig of the year in an acoustic format. An already packed Octagon welcomed the youngsters to the stage as they opened with ‘At Your Door‘. The acoustic versions of these songs work so well, and with a warm up show at the lads’ local Industry Tap just a few days before served as a great way to test these songs in a fresh style. There were plenty in attendance who were already familiar with the band, as ‘Bittersweet‘ and ‘No.54‘ had those singing along at the top of their lungs just as if it was them headlining the venue (which they are doing next April). A surprise cover of The Vaccines’ ‘I Always Knew‘ encouraged more people in the room to join in before rounding off with ‘Run Away Instead’ to conclude THE ROSADOCS‘ emphatic year.

Now with the crowd well and truly warmed up ahead of CARNALL‘s return to the stage, ‘Caravan of Love‘ served as the entrance song for the Sheffield native. As the capacity crowd belted out the words as loud as they possibly could, JOE emerged from the side of the stage to a roaring cheer. Relishing the loud reception, it was time to get down to business. Kicking off with Milburn’s ‘17‘, the set the place alight. Keeping up with a series of throwbacks, a track from his days in The Book Club soon followed in the form of ‘What Was Said On the Landing‘ before returning to more Milburn material such as ‘Cheshire Cat Smile‘ and ‘What About Next Time‘.

Returning with further Good Cop Bad Cop tunes such as ‘Time Crisis‘ and ‘Silk and Leather‘, Milburn drummer Joe Green was introduced in time for a cover of ‘Stuck in the Middle With You‘ that picked up the Sheffield voices once again, but this was beaten once ‘Well Well Well‘ came around. Former Arctic Monkeys bassist Andy Nicholson joined the band on stage for a real Sheffield reunion. Pint cups were being thrown across the room and arms raised throughout for the clear fan favourite, while another cover, this time it was The Specials’ ‘Gangsters‘ set up the surprise appearance of The Pigeon Detectives frontman Matt Bowman and The Subways’ bassist Charlotte Cooper for a triumphant duo of songs. Joe and Matt reminisced about their touring days together ahead of ‘I Found Out‘, and in typical Bowman style, he made sure to unleash every ounce of energy he had remaining.

Further covers of ‘Alright‘ by Supergrass, The Stone Roses’ ‘Waterfall‘ and ‘Islands in the Stream‘ by Bee Gee’s kept the crowd entertained, with CARNALL and co completing the set with his own Christmas song ‘All My Friends Are Coming Home‘ and Milburn’s ‘What Will You Do (When The Money Goes)?‘, setting up an encore where anything could still happen. Once Joe made his way back on stage, he asked the brimming audience if “we should roll out that barrel?“. Met with a huge roar, ‘Roll Out the Barrel‘ kicked off the three track finale in spectacular fashion. A very fitting cover of ‘A Little Help From My Friends‘ and Milburn’s ‘What You Could’ve Won‘ concluded the fifteenth edition of Joe Carnall Jnr and Friends. Arguably the best yet.

Photo Credit: Tom Sunderland