REVIEW: Divorce at Crookes Social Club
Taking the long walk up to Crookes Social Club (and even by Sheffield standards it is up, a lofty 200 metres above the valleys below) has become a customary route for Sheffield gig goers for good reason. As a venue, it straddles both its working men’s club legacy and forward-thinking, modern-day Sheffield admirably.
Bingo nights, snooker tournaments and cover bands sit seamlessly on the schedule alongside - sometimes on the same night as - eclectic lineups of the best touring alternative music. BODEGA, Getdown Services, Richard Dawson and Dream Wife have all played in recent times; a portrait of Gruff Rhys taken in its snooker room was a recent Portrait of Britain winner.
It’s not just this that makes it an especially fitting space for Divorce to make their Steel City return following a prior appearance at Get Together Festival 2025. The alt-country Nottingham quartet also marry (excuse the pun) the old-fashioned and the modern: their debut album Drive to Goldenhammer’s heady blend of retro, folky romance, grunge and post-punk was deservedly acclaimed as one of 2025’s most exciting releases. It’s earned them a capacity crowd - some Divorce converts who’ve made a fair trip, some just curious local residents up for an evening out - who are first treated to the alt-folk stylings of Curiosity Shop.
Our Nottingham-based headliners, Divorce (Photo: Charlie Sweeney)
Despite having no official releases, the Scottish five-piece have a growing reputation on the folk scene, their social media replete with acoustic performances in a series of idyllic locations. They take the stage unassumingly amidst the chatter of a busy Concert Room, but the audience soon tunes into the beautifully voiced a capella intro of set opener ‘Crows’. Once it has fully settled into its lilting 6/8 rhythm, multi-part harmonies backed by guitars, accordion, double bass and drums, any lingering conversations die away.
Rightly so, as this is the kind of music that would have found a place in the hearts of audiences throughout the Club’s history. The sweetly fingerpicked guitar and observational lyrical melancholy of ‘Wandering Arrow’ recall Simon & Garfunkel, while ‘Shirt Pocket’’s rolling, jazzy groove feels timeless. Curiosity Shop are clearly enjoying themselves, radiating an endearing excitement despite the focus demanded by their intricate arrangements.
‘Tallulah’ and ‘About A House’ are bittersweet combinations of gorgeous melodies with wistful lyrical themes (“where will you be/when you last think of me?”), before ‘Rambling’ ups the energy with some fleet riffing and walking bass, full-power harmonies depicting themes of changing seasons. Beautiful closer ‘Dreaming’ has a brief but wonderful moment of audience participation, guitarist and singer Ruairidh Wallace leading the crowd in a singalong finish. It’s a sweet way to close a set that has surely won them a good contingent of Sheffield fans. Make sure to join them at Get Together 2026.
Divorce open with one of my favourites from Drive to Goldenhammer: the haunting, atmospheric ‘Karen’. The dual guitars of Felix Mackenzie-Barrow and Adam Peter-Smith weave an uneasy web beneath vocalist/bassist Tiger Cohen-Towell’s raging tribute to Karen Carpenter. There are goosebumps all around when Kasper Sandstrom’s drums crash in, and as on Goldenhammer, it segues into ‘Jet Show’, which showcases Divorce’s standout element: the dual-lead vocals of childhood friends Mackenzie-Barrow and Cohen-Towell are an irresistible force. The former’s low, Americana-inspired drawl dovetails with the latter’s raw, emotive delivery, making every lyric feel both grounded and hopelessly romantic. Felt that those feelings before, know the warning signs, can’t help falling for it anyway.
They also bring contrasting stage presences. Where Mackenzie-Barrow holds his place, working through an impressive collection of guitars (I’m very jealous of the pink number), Cohen-Towell is all-action. ‘Scratch Your Metal’ features them leading a crowd invasion - only four songs in - and credit here must go to the stage tech who manages to conduct a mid-song reattaching of in-ear monitors that came loose in the melee. The duo pronounce Crookes Social Club to be “the best venue we’ve ever seen in the world” with just a hint of tongue-in-cheek: it’s a testament to how much fun we’re all having that it doesn’t sound that far-fetched.
A Goldenhammer-heavy set has some space for older tracks and new ones alike; ‘Eat My Words’ from the former category, ‘Bone Museum’ from the latter, both getting great receptions. Intense as the songs can be, they’re not always dance-friendly, so when the sleazy St Vincent stomp of ‘Where Do You Go’ and the martial beat of ‘All My Freaks’ give fans at the front the chance to do a bit of headbanging and leaping, it’s taken with aplomb. “You’re extremely nice”, says an appreciative Mackenzie-Barrow. “Those ones aren’t easy to jump along to!”
Photo: Charlie Sweeney
Yann McAuley from Curiosity Shop joins them on-stage for another new one, ‘Christmas’. While appropriately titled for the season, the band warn that it is Christmas in name only, not in spirit. Understandable; it’s languid and melancholy, with plaintive vocals complementing McAuley’s accordion part. It’s a strong sign for upcoming releases. Some introductory chat for the next song leads to some ironic boos for a baby Derbyshire cow - it makes sense in context, promise - before lo-fi drum machine leads us into set highlight ‘Antarctica’. “I was made to love you/but the living made me weak” is a standout line amidst a song full of them: the second verse concerning the aforementioned calf is an astonishing piece of lyrical storytelling.
The anthemic ‘Lord’ closes the set, but the band are called back almost immediately for an encore. Riotous murder-ballad ‘Checking Out’ was my introduction to Divorce, and despite it being more or less on repeat since, it never really gets old, packed full of the kind of hooks and wit some bands would kill to fit in across a whole album. The romantic ‘Hangman’ gets the honour of closing things out. As MacKenzie-Barrow breaks into his higher registers for the ending “I wanna lift you up” refrain, it’s hard not to feel swept up in it all. And sweeping you along is the best way to describe what Divorce do; it’s rare to see this kind of country and folk-tinged rock delivered so emotively without being at all cloying. Credit to the vocal delivery, but also to the edge and darkness added by multi-instrumentalist Peter-Smith and drummer Sandstrom in the backline.
Divorce depart, for good this time, to a huge round of applause and cheers. Crookes Social Club was clearly a great fit for them: based on tonight’s evidence, you’d do well to catch them before their arena-ready epics grace much bigger venues.
Words: Dave Cuthbertson
Photos: Charlie Sweeney
