THEIR latest tour has been a revelation in the north and now The Sherlocks are back in Southampton tonight.

Emboldened by sold out gigs in Sheffield, Liverpool and Leeds, the South Yorkshire band will play The Engine Rooms.

They are no strangers to the local music scene having sold out The Joiners, the Talking Heads and The 1865. They even joined fans for the Champions League final at The Bedford Arms in 2018 after wowing the main stage at Common People.

Now, frontman Kiaran Crook, his brother and drummer Brandon, lead guitarist Josh Davidson and his brother and bassist Andy are touring their latest Top 20 album Under Your Sky before headlining the BBC stage at SXSW festival in America this month.

“Expect beautiful chaos in Southampton,” warned Brandon. “Playing live is what we are about. We are buzzing for this.”

This summer will mark the 10th anniversary of The Sherlocks. “We were never going to be a band which blows up overnight and that suits us,” said Brandon.

“Move too quickly and you risk disappearing as soon as you arrive. We look to acts like Snow Patrol who took a decade to hit the big time, while Kings of Leon sold more copies of their fourth album than the previous three combined."

“We have 18 potential songs for our next album,” said Kiaran, 25. “We are going back to a rockier sound.”

The band reached the Top 20 again in October behind superstars such as Elton John and Lewis Capaldi.

“We can’t compete with the big streaming artists. It was our fans downloading and buying our music that got us there,” said Brandon.

“Now is a good time for bands, but it can also be hard. You have to keep fighting on."

Expect one of the first live plays of Wake Up, recorded with Manic Street Preachers producer Dave Eringa.

Tickets from engineroomssouthampton.com

Words: Richard Derbyshire

Picture: Andrew Cotterill