After a very wet, windy and sunny bank holiday weekend, the last day had finally come, and it had come round quickly.
Today was a good day for me particularly, there wasn’t an act I saw that I didn’t enjoy generally and I started the day off in the Big Top and a stage upgrade from last year for one of Sheffield’s most loved and entertaining bands in the form of the Everly Pregnant Brothers…
If there is one thing you can expect from an Everly Pregnant Brothers set, it’s full of dry humour, wit, sarcasm and plenty of Hendo’s (Hendersons’ Relish for the none South Yorkshire folk), and in this case, a carton full of it that was “nicked from catering” – which if I’m honest I don’t entirely believe that they don’t just carry it round with them.
Everly Pregnant Brothers on the Big Top Stage of Rock N Roll Circus Sheffield 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
They started off the set with said song “Hendo’s” and it started off the set beautifully and some questionable karaoke from the crowd but it made it all the more brilliant.
Other highlights of course were their top hit “Chip Pan” of course, “Stuck In The Lidl With You” and “You’re Yorkshire” – alongside jokes about Seafood Diets (not the type you think, or do, depending how good your humour is) – like any and all Everly Pregnant Brothers set, it was brilliantly hilarious from start to finish and if you’re yet to see them, what are you playing at?!
SEE WHAT EVERLY PREGNANT BROTHERS ARE UP TO HERE
Next up it was to the second stage for a young Mancunian band fast gaining popularity in the form of M60…
M60 Frontman Matthew Morton performing at Rock N Roll Circus 2026 in Sheffield – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
I’ve seen M60 a few times at this point and it’s fair to say that they get better everytime I see them, their growth since I saw them first back in 2023 is astounding and they’ve gained a mass of fans since then, their performance was certainly worthy of the Big Top stage for sure, but the timings on this occasion just didn’t work out for them.
Their song “Honey” was a brilliant track and heard some of the crowd singing along, the band were all smiles, it felt quite a short set to be honest, but it was still early in the day, I’d like to see them back next year at least on the main stage, thank you and goodbye xo
SEE WHAT’S NEXT FOR M60 HERE
Next up it was back in the Big Top for Embrace…
The McNamara Brothers of Embrace on the Main Stage at Rock N Roll Circus 2026 in Sheffield – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
It felt like a short set from Embrace, but that said, they have some beefy songs in their catalogue, I first saw the band at Rock N Roll Circus Sheffield last year and they blew me away then, so my expectations were high.
They exceeded them, it felt different this time, frontman Danny McNamara seemed a bit more confident and settled this time round and was interacting with the audience a bit more, which was nice to see, so whilst I’m not usually a fan of repeating bigger bands back to back, this one was certainly an exception.
The musicianship was on point, the interaction was perfect and everyone just sounded like they were having a great time, from the band to the crowd to even the security guards I spotted singing along.
Highlight for me, and probably (admittedly) a bit biased was “Gravity” – it’s one of my favourite songs of all time and it just sent shivers down my spine in the best way possible, it was stunning.
CHECK OUT MORE FROM EMBRACE HERE
We carried on the nostalgia from the 00’s with the Fratelli’s…
The Fratellis frontman Jon Fratelli on the Big Top Main Stage of Rock N Roll Circus Sheffield 2026 –
Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
They kicked off the set with their hit “Henrietta”, which was a nice surprise, I was expecting this later on in the set, the start generally was electric, I also really enjoyed the cover of “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie”, that was unexpected, but a brilliant addition to the set.
“Whistle For The Choir” was a nice highlight midway through, but it was clear that most were there for their big hit and probably and their most popular, “Chelsea Dagger” and if I’m being honest, after a big set and build-up, it fell a bit flat, I’m not sure if it was the crowd, but it just didn’t go off like I expected it to (and I know it can go off!) so I was a little disappointed with the finale, but the set itself was brilliant generally.
SEE WHAT THE FRATELLIS ARE UP TO HERE
Back over to the second stage now for penultimate act of the night and the festival, with VILLANELLE…
VILLANELLE Frontman Gene Gallagher performing at Rock N Roll Circus 2026 in Sheffield – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
I was impressed at how big a crowd the band drew, it had started raining again at this point and this stage is exclusively outdoors, Gene Gallagher came onto the stage with this care-free, nonchalant attitude, but he pulled it off, that said, he has the literal genes to do so.
There wasn’t too much crowd interaction, they did seem more focused on the music, which to be honest, I wasn’t mad about, it felt focused and captured their music a bit more deeply in my opinion.
I’ll admit that I don’t know an awful lot of the VILLANELLE back catalogue, so I couldn’t really tell you a particular highlight of the set, but it was a good one and has swayed me enough to explore a bit more of their music, so I’ll keep an eye out for them in future.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VILLANELLE HERE
And the headliner and the set to see out my festival season as well as Rock N Roll Circus 2026 in Sheffield, in the form of Richard Ashcroft…
Richard Ashcroft closing out Rock N Roll Circus 2026 in Sheffield – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
I’m genuinely surprised that this didn’t sell out, Richard Ashcroft is a legend of the game and known across a few generations at this point, both as a solo artist and with The Verve.
It was actually a very Verve-heavy set – which I was surprised at, but there was a healthy injection of his solo material in there too, he did dedicate “Music Is Love” to the late Dolly Parton, which was a classy touch.
There were some die-hard fans in the crowd singing along to every word and one thing I loved this time, this was probably my 5th time seeing Ashcroft, whilst the music was always brilliant, Ashcroft himsel seemed a bit static, but on this occasion, he really used the stage to his advantage, having a little boogie and generally enjoying himself.
He is certainly a man of few words and let’s the music do the talking, but you know what, it works for him and I’m fine with that.
It was the perfect end to the day and the festival, the sound of thousands of people singing “Bittersweet Symphony” certainly does give you that warm and fuzzy feeling.
FIND ALL THINGS RICHARD ASHCROFT HERE
And with that, Rock N Roll Circus 2026 in Sheffield and festival season (for me personally at least), was done!
It was a very wet weekend, but at no point did that dampen the spirits, the line-up was brilliant, the staff were bloody lovely and it just had a good feel about it, I certainly hope that this time next year, we’ll be back at Don Valley Bowl soaking it all up again!
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