Ten years after they played their first ever gig in the south in Southampton, Yorkshire rock band The Sherlocks returned with their fourth top ten album and a stunning live show - after calling in at a popular city centre pub.

Before their show at The Engine Rooms, the four-piece visited The Painted Wagon on Guildhall Square, where they had a pre-gig pint with fans at the well-known Saints theme venue.

Later, on stage, songs from their new record Everything Must Make Sense!, which is at number four in this week’s official album chart, showed what band has achieved since those early days at The Joiners.

The Sherlocks with fans Caelan Geary and Jordan Shearman at The Painted Wagon before their Southampton gigThe Sherlocks with fans Caelan Geary and Jordan Shearman at The Painted Wagon before their Southampton gig (Image: Supplied) Frontman Kiaran Crook, his brother and drummer Brandon, lead guitarist Alex Procter and bassist Trent Jackson brought big songs made for the big stages, including recent singles Man on the Loose, with its soaring, infectious chorus, and Bones, a driving, apocalyptic number which is on a different level to anything else they have done before.

And this gig was also an inspiration for up-and-coming bands such as tonight’s support acts, Southampton’s The Manatees and Doncaster’s The Denabys, as The Sherlocks’ latest chart success shows hard work, and some cracking tunes can see an independent band succeed against the forces of major record labels and big media and the dominance of streaming in counting record sales.

Elsewhere in the setlist, the synth-driven melodies of new song Death of Me already make it a favourite of fans, while title track Everything Must Make Sense! has a lively Stereophonics inspired start, and album numbers 28 and Chase The Rain were revelatory when played live.

2023’s big hitter Sirens is still a gritty, epic rock number, and its popularity, along with Don’t Let It Out, showed why the band had their other top four hit with their 2023 album People like Me and You.

The Sherlocks at Engine Rooms Southampton 24 May 2025The Sherlocks at Engine Rooms Southampton 24 May 2025 (Image: Rhona Murphy) But even with competition from newer tunes, there was still time for the ominously urgent Falling, City Lights, and three songs, Live for The Moment, Escapade, and Chasing Shadows, that helped start it all at The Joiners back in 2015.

The Sherlocks at The Engine Rooms Southampton set list:

Everything Must Make Sense!

Escapade

Will You Be There?

Death of Me

World I Understand

28

Man On The Loose

Porto

Falling

Bones

NYC

Here Comes The Rain

Live for the Moment

Sirens

City Lights

Don’t Let It Out

Chasing Shadows