REVIEW: Milburn, Wedgewood Rooms

THEY’VE been away for more than seven years, but reunited Sheffield indie rockers Milburn are back with a bang after their long-awaited new tour kicked off in Portsmouth.

Buoyed up by a sold out warm-up show in Barnsley 48 hours earlier, the band played to another full house of more than 400 bouncing fans at The Wedgewood Rooms.

The last few tickets sold out on the day, but most will have been bought weeks ago in anticipation of a gig many feared they may never see after the four piece split on good terms in 2008 after only two albums and seven years together.

“It's been a while” said lead singer and bassist Joe Carnall after they opened with raucous numbers Well Well Well and Send in the Boys.

“We’ve grow up and a lot of us have beards. There are already some nutters down the front, and it's Monday, so fair play to those who are working tomorrow” he added.

But for Milburn supporters it didn’t matter what day of the week it was as Joe, his brother and singer-guitarist Louis, lead guitarist Tom Rowley and drummer Joe Green, plus Ed Cosens joining them on tour from Reverend and the Makers, launched into songs Showroom, Summer time, Lucy Lovemenot and Cheshire Cat Smile.

The crowd chanted the band’s name before they came on and between nearly every song including the fantastic Storm in a Tea Cup and What Will You Do? And they weren’t going to leave without an encore when there was still Louis’ fantastic acoustic Roll Out the Barrel and their third single What You Could have Won to hear.

If it was already like this in the south on the first night then sold out shows in Glasgow, Leeds, Nottingham and the legendary 2,000 plus Ritz in Manchester are bound to take things to an even higher level.

While the set was dominated by tunes from the early days there was also the second live performance ever of new epic double A single Midnight Control and Forming of a Fate which show Milburn are full of ideas for a possible third album.

But some things don’t change and after recent shows by Reverend and the Makers and rising indie stars The Sherlocks, this gig showed again that Sheffield groups are always a big hit at The Wedgewood Rooms.

Earlier in the evening much talked about five-piece post punk Manchester band Cabbage played a lively set to a large early crowd. Like Milburn, expect to hear more from them soon.

RICHARD DERBYSHIRE