Gig review: The Rosadocs at The Underground, Barnsley

On Sunday evening, excited revellers packed into the intimate Underground Bar in Barnsley for a festive Christmas show from the hottest local band on the scene – The Rosadocs. Tickets were snapped up in a matter of days, not surprising given the band’s ever-increasing popularity after widespread acclaim over the past twelve months.

Support on the evening came in the form of Tiny Barbara’s Surf Club, a great local band with frontman Shaun Doane (formerly of Everly Pregnant Brothers fame) impressing the crowd with his superb vocals. The crowd showing their appreciation for the band and the iconic Sheffield frontman- a real stalwart of the Sheffield music scene.

The band made their way towards the stage. “We’re The Rosadocs Army,” echoed through the venue from the loyal, vocal fans, most of whom were donning Santa hats, which the band handed out to everyone as a thank you for coming and for supporting them during their incredible journey.

The band opened up with Towards the Sun, which was swiftly followed up with Oak Tree and recent hit At Your Door.

Showing his appreciation, frontman Keelan Graney thanked the crowd for coming, but also for their support over the last couple of years, as he reflected on key gigs which helped put the them on the musical map.

Stand Alone and Say Something soon followed before Hopeless Optimist, the band’s 2022 hit was given an airing.

The band took it back to the early days with 2017 hit House of Commoners and then Time and Place before unleashing a powerful, acoustic version of Cross to Bear – this had the bumper crowd swaying and singing in unison – a great combination of Graney’s exceptional vocals and Myles Henderson’s sublime guitar playing had the crowd mesmerised. The anthemic songs kept coming with Where Your Supposed to Be and Settle Down.

Next was a truly stirring rendition of Too Much in Time- a song that they played for the first time last month at the City Hall. For me, it’s a real coming of age song for the band – a real riff-heavy, contemplative song that truly stirs the soul – I’d go out on a limb and say my favourite song from any band in the last few years.

The ever-popular Runaway Instead saw Graney head into the crowd for his trademark of singing in the crowd, encouraging them to all crouch down and when the chorus kicks in, exploding up in a mosh pit-like scene.

The set took a festive turn when the band performed a cover of Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody before finishing with the classic hits No.54 and Concrete – two surefire songs to get the crowd bouncing.

Former Radio Sheffield presenter and DJ on the night Steve White urged the band to perform Towards the Sun one more time – they swiftly obliged and had revellers at fever pitch one last time before drawing the superb evening to a close.