Joe Carnall Live Review by Rob Johnson
Christmas is all about routine. 7 or 8 years ago, my wife and I attended former Milburn frontman Joe Carnall’s annual Christmas gig in Sheffield. On a whim, we booked a last-minute table at Mama’s & Leonies, an iconic Italian restaurant in Sheffield that has been around for decades, and then we went to the Joe Carnall gig and had an amazing night. We have now repeated this ritual every year since (pregnancy and Covid aside). The point is this – in a world that has never felt more disconnected and frightening, the cathartic power of ritual and routine built around both family and music is priceless. Let’s dive in…
These gigs always begin with a singalong to The Housemartins’ cover of ‘Caravan of Love’, but the DJ also spins Chris Rea’s ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ this year as a tribute to the recently departed singer-songwriter. It’s a nice touch. It’s freezing outside, but the atmosphere inside the Sheffield Octagon is suitably warm.
Joe Carnall kicks things off with a solo rendition of Milburn classic ’17’ just to check that the crowd is in good voice. They must have been practising their carol singing as the crowd sounds great. These gigs are always advertised as ‘Joe Carnall and Friends’, and these friends are introduced song by song with members or former members of The Book Club (Patrick Conwill) Reverend and the Makers (Ed Cosens), The Crookes (Adam Crofts), The Subways (Charlotte Cooper), Arctic Monkeys (Andy Nicholson), The Pigeon Detectives (Matt Bowman), as well as cellist Lucy Revis, and many others. At one point, in what is perhaps the most 2007 moment of all time, I am watching a supergroup of Bowman, Cosens, Carnall, Cooper and Crofts tear through a cover of The Pigeon Detectives’ ‘I Found Out’. This turn of events would’ve broken MySpace back in the day, I’ll tell you that much.
Other covers include a spirited rendition of ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ by Stealers Wheel with Cosens on lead vocals, Carnall belting out a high-energy version of ‘Gangsters’ by The Specials (with former Milburn drummer Joe Green smashing the shit out of his drum kit alongside him), and a frankly preposterous cover of Kenny Rogers’ ‘Islands in the Stream’ which sees Carnall sharing vocal duties with celebrated vocalist Lauren Housley. Perhaps the most poignant cover of the night, however, sees Carnall’s all-star band take on ‘Waterfall’ by The Stone Roses in a touching tribute to former Roses bassist Mani following his passing in November.
Of the nine Milburn songs played on the night, a blistering ‘Well Well Well’ and a truly incendiary rendition of ‘What Will You Do (When the Money Goes)?’ are the highlights (the latter is probably the high point of the whole set), with Carnall’s other project, Good Cop Bad Cop, also represented through ‘Time and Crisis’ and ‘Silk and Leather’. As this gig is something of a milestone for Carnall (it being the 15th incarnation of these Christmas shows), it is fitting that he has written a brand new song for the occasion. ‘All My Friends Have Come Back Home (For Christmas)’ is a beautiful, nostalgic ballad about that special time at Christmas when people you haven’t seen all year magically turn up in pubs – pubs with steamed-up windows and mulled wine percolating away behind the bar. It’s a song that captures the essence of Christmas. The unity. The togetherness. And, in turn, that’s what this gig is all about.
The encore consists of a rapturously received acoustic version of the Milburn classic, ‘Roll Out the Barrel’, before Carnall calls everyone back on stage for a cover of the Joe Cocker version of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ that sounds incredible, before traditional set closer ‘What You Could’ve Won’ closes things out. The latter is one of my all-time favourite songs. Every year Joe plays it, and every year I phone my mate Mike and drunkenly sing along to it down the phone to him – a series of events that he accepts with barely deserved good humour. Those rituals… there they are again. Christmas might sometimes seem like hard work. It might sometimes seem like a chore. But when everyone comes together and the music’s playing and the beers flowing, take a second to imagine how much you would miss it if it were gone. That’s the feeling that the annual Christmas tradition of watching Joe Carnall sing Christmas songs and Milburn covers evokes in me.
See you next year, Joe. And a Merry Christmas to everyone.
Comments are closed.