2026 is the year of album celebrations, from 20 year anniversaries from the likes of Arctic Monkeys, The Fratellis, The Kooks and many more UK indie staples, Milburn are amongst those who are bringing their debut release back into the light with a special hometown show in Sheffield at this year’s Rock N Roll Circus. Ahead of their anniversary slot, Joe Carnall Jnr embarks on a run of acoustic shows across the UK, celebrating ‘Well Well Well‘ as it hits the two decade mark. A packed out Gorilla Beer Hall in Mexborough played host to the opening night of the tour.

Opening the show was Oxford based Danny Mellin, whose short set was enough to please the Mecca Riveria early on in the evening. The sun was shining and the upbeat acoustic tracks were flowing just in time for Ed Cosens who was up next. Known for his time in fellow Sheffield band Reverend and the Makers, Cosens also served as a collaborator during Joe Carnall Jr’s annual Christmas show, which sold out the Octagon Centre during the event’s 15th anniversary in 2025. Despite it being another short set, it served as the perfect warm-up ahead of the main act. Elegant tracks such as ‘The River‘ gave Ed‘s set a much more mellow approach, but that wasn’t the last we saw of him.

As the clock struck 9pm, Joe Carnall Jnr made his way onto the stage. A roaring Mexborough crowd welcoming the Milburn frontman, ready for a trip down memory lane. Ed Cosens appeared once again, with Adam Crofts (Reverend and the Makers) joining too. As ‘Caravan of Love‘ introduced the show, the Gorilla audience were singing along with Joe’s encouragement to cheer louder. Opening with ‘17‘ to ease everyone into the set, the energy lifted up as soon as ‘Well Well Well‘ followed. People were bouncing around at the front, beers were raised high and arms were linked, it really felt like a Milburn show at this point.

Once ‘Cheshire Cat Smile‘ concluded a trio of throwbacks, Joe then treated those in attendance to ‘Mr Misfit‘ from his Good Cop Bad Cop project. After testing the crowd with the intro to ‘Send in the Boys‘, fans began singing the lyrics while Joe voiced that he wouldn’t be able to perform it solo, with ‘Brewster‘ picking up the positive energy continuing into ‘Silk and Leather‘ (Good Cop Bad Cop) and ‘Juliet Knows‘ (Reverend and the Makers) before a string of Milburn classics to round off the night. Those being ‘Storm In A Tea Cup‘ and ‘What About Next‘ with ‘Time Crisis‘ nestled in before the final three.

The additions from both Cosens and Crofts gave each song a bit of extra zest, rather than the typical solo acoustic performance, it was as close to the true Milburn sound that anybody could get for potentially some time. Joe then asked the crowd “shall we roll out the barrel?”. A roar from the audience as their wishes were granted, ‘Roll Out the Barrel‘ was sung the loudest of all the material performed on the night, before concluding the first show of tour with ‘What You Could’ve Won’.

Mexborough were out in full force on a hot Spring bank holiday weekend, setting the ‘Well Well Well‘ ’20th anniversary tour off with the best start Joe Carnall Jnr could ask for.