Exclusive:“Maybe it's time to just call it”: Milburn's Joe Carnall Jr talks potential endings and future plans
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“What we have done is made a lasting impression on this city.”
An upcoming run of shows including this weekend’s Rock n Roll Circus performance could spell the end for Sheffield indie-rockers Milburn, their frontman has suggested.
Much-loved city musician Joe Carnall Jnr has hinted that the string of shows celebrating the 20th anniversary of debut album ‘Well Well Well’ could bring down the curtain on the band’s activities.
Speaking to The Star about his new stage show ‘How Could I Forget?’, Joe said on the band’s future: “Moving forward I can’t see much happening.
“My energy has got to be in this show now and I really want to pursue it. There’s a lot of potential there. It’s resonating with people and people are engaged with it, it’s connecting.
“The other lads are working on different projects and what not.”
That said, the door will never be truly bolted shut on the four-piece gracing stages again, as was the case back in 2008 before a highly celebrated U-turn was performed and new music was released in the form of 2017’s album, ‘Time’.
“Never say never,” Joe added. “We did that once before and we looked a bit stupid when we came back ten years later.
“I would never say never, but at the minute you’ve got to be careful, you want to come back with something relevant and fresh.
“Playing the old stuff is great for the 20th anniversary, it’s right. As artists and musicians, you always want to be moving forward. Don’t you?”
‘Well Well Well’ will be played in full at Sheffield’s Don Valley Bowl on Thursday (August 27) evening before shows in Leeds, Manchester and London to mark two decades of the hit album’s existence.
Joe added: “We’ve had an incredible time of it, and we’ve done some amazing things. What we have done is made a lasting impression on this city.
“If someone had told us at 14 that we were going to do that, we would have been dead proud. Maybe it is time to just call it, and that’s just that.”
Joe‘s debut musical, ‘How Could I Forget?’, will begin its Yorkshire tour at The Playhouse at The Crucible, Sheffield, on October 9-10, 2026.
Tickets for this are already sold out, however there are still tickets (at the time of writing this) available for October 21, 2026 in the Barnsley Civic.
You can also book tickets for the remaining seats for shows at Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds and Hull Truck Theatre.
For further information on performance dates, ticket availability and more go to: https://www.hcifmusical.co.uk/