Scouting For Girls – a pop staple of the noughties still going strong today – why? because their music just carries through the years so seamlessly and if you haven’t seen them live, then honestly, you’re missing out.
2025 saw the 15th anniversary of their second studio album (and honestly, a firm favourite of mine) “Everybody Wants To Be On TV” – and so naturally, having sold out their “The Place We Used To Meet” tour (both parts!) – they had to celebrate in the best way they know how – with another tour!
The “Everybody Still Wants To Be On TV” tour – kicked off in February 2026 after an incredibly busy 2025 for the band and it landed back at Sheffield City Hall on a Sunny Thursday, to a sold out crowd.
Supports on the tour included The Dunwells from Leeds, Northampton’s Billy Lockett and The Souls from Switzerland.
As it the tour is to support 15 years of “Everybody Wants To Be On TV” – naturally, they played the majority of the album on the setlist, which was quite literally music to my ears (if you haven’t listened to it in full – then please do!!) – there is not a bad song on the album so we knew we were in for a good time.
Of course, I hope for some other fan favourites – including “Elvis Ain’t Dead”, “She’s So Lovely” and for me, if “I Wish I Was James Bond” and “Michaela Strachan” made it on there I’d be elated (On the last tour at the Sheffield Octagon they did both so, I can hope right?).
Anyway, onto the music – and up first was The Souls, all the way from Switzerland!
The Souls frontman – Jay Messerli on stage at Sheffield City Hall in March 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Now I’d actually never heard of these guys before the tour – and honestly, not what I would expect for Scouting For Girls support – as they’re very alt-rock-esque.
That said, they’re very good entertainers and bounced off each other brilliantly – and were the perfect warm-up for what was to come!
I wasn’t sure what songs they played (I’ll be spending this next weekend getting to know them more!) but they were fantastic, they used the stage well – the frontman has vocals that could travel well through the hall and it was overall a brilliant performance.
Plus they seemed very down-to-earth too – always a plus in my book – I’ll look out for them in future for sure!
CHECK OUT WHAT THE SOULS ARE UP TO HERE
Billy Lockett took to the stage for the second and final support slot and honestly?
Northampton’s Billy Lockett on stage at Sheffield City Hall – March 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
He blew me away – I was so impressed!
Not only has Billy got a fantastic voice (and multiple instrument ability at that – HE CAN PLAY THE HARMONICA?!0) he has got a fantastic sense of humour – really knows how to work a crowd and tell a story – which really drew me in!
For his second track – Billy said “This song is about an ex-girlfriend” and a heckler in the crowd shouted “SHE WAS A B*TCH* – Billy took it in his stride, laughed and said “Do you know her? Either way, this song is called… b*tch.” – which got the crowd laughing.
Billy really has a knack for storytelling and he opened up very deeply about his struggles, including losing his dad, which you could see him getting emotional at points – but he did it so candidly and anyone who can not only speak about it so honestly but channel it into ways that his audience understands – it was incredibly moving and very very impressive.
Billy, consider yourself having a new fan! I was absolutely blown away and clearly were the crowd as there was a standing ovation for him at the end of his set.
FIND ALL THINGS BILLY LOCKETT HERE
Now onto the main event itself…
Scouting For Girls on stage at Sheffield City Hall in March 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
The props on stage were fantastic – a huge retro like TV – which not only had some videos on in the background – but also had a camera man filming the crowd and appearing on stage too throughout the set – for the title of the album and tour – it was a very nice touch!
The band burst onto the stage, greeting the crowd and going straight into “Famous” which was the perfect opener – frontman Roy Stride is brilliant at picking the most perfect moments to get the crowd involved – whether that getting them to sing-a-long, be a bit silly or just simply jump up and down.
Other hits from “Everybody Wants To Be On TV” with the likes of “This Ain’t A Love Song” and “On The Radio” also appearing – always welcome additions!
“Gotta Keep Smiling” saw Roy get the crowd involved and even one fan to sing it back – who got shy and said it quietly to Roy (but at least she did actually know the words!) it then turned into a cover of “Come On Eileen” – I was a big fan of that! The lads did it fantastic justice.
Now I have a few highlights from the set – firstly, “1 + 1” – another song rarely included live but a belter, that was fantastic, plus a personal favourite “Silly Song/Don’t Want To Leave You” – they were both bloody lovely to hear live.
“Posh Girls” was apparently the most requested song for the tour and it’s easy to see why – the lyrics are easy enough to pick up as it is but there it’s so easy to get involved by three simple words… “Boys at School” – and the Oval Hall of Sheffield City Hall was electric during that song – it was fantastic.
They played their newest song (and title of their next album) “These Are The Good Days” and it is brilliant – I was hooked right away – it had a bit of their debut album sound to it and just made you feel nostalgic, and it’s just a really good song to listen to – I think that will honestly do really well!
I did get my wish of “I Wish I Was James Bond” being included and obviously the classics of “Elvis Ain’t Dead” and “She’s So Lovely” (Naturally!) – and of course they did actually play “Michaela Strachen” (or half of it at least…) in the encore – but they did tease of something big coming for 2027 – as that marks 20 years of Scouting For Girls – I’m already intrigued!
Greg Churchouse and Connor McDonald of Scouting For Girls on stage at Sheffield City Hall – March 2026 –
Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again – Scouting For Girls are the masters of stage presence and crowd interaction – they never fail – I think mainly because you can just tell they’re enjoying it so much and they bounce off each other’s energy – but they all get involved, from Greg Churchouse on Bass Guitar offering some dry humour and wit inbetween songs, to Pete Ellard on drums ramping up the energy for those big finishes, Connor McDonald has been their touring guitarist as of recent and I was SO impressed by him – he is sublime and makes it look so natural and easy! – Easily one of the best guitarists I’ve seen in some time.
Scouting For Girls frontman Roy Stride on stage at Sheffield City Hall – March 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
And of course frontman Roy Stride – how this man still has so much energy bouncing around after nearly 20 years is beyond me, but he still does it and he does it with a massive smile on his face and you can tell it means the world to him and the band with how much they interacts with their fans – he is a brilliant frontman and should be studied (he even ran up to both levels of balconies at one point – not sure how – but he did!).
They also did not hide how much they loved Sheffield and the fans, especially those who turned out to see them, whether it their first, second or tenth time – even going as far to see who was at some of their previous gigs in Sheffield – which was a nice classy touch.
To conclude – it was a fantastic gig – one I will remember for some time – as I do with most Scouting For Girls gigs I’ve been to – I left Sheffield City Hall feeling good, as I think all of the crowd did that night – if you haven’t seen them live yet or for a while – get it done, you won’t regret it!
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