Parker Barrow
- Mark Donnelly
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
PARKER BARROW
Georgia Nevada
The Greystones (Sheffield)
22 July 2026
After performances of this calibre, I’m certain they’ll be playing much larger venues on their next visit to these shores.
Support this evening came from the brilliantly named Georgia Nevada. It was my second time seeing the Country, Rock & Blues artist, having previously caught her supporting When Rivers Meet at Birdwell Venue last November. As on that occasion, she performed as a duo with guitarist Edd Robinson, whose easy rapport with Nevada added charm and grit throughout the set. Well over a hundred people had filtered into The Greystones’ music room by the time Nevada stepped onstage for what proved to be an engaging, eight‑song, thirty‑minute performance. After opening with ‘The Bright Side Of The Dark’, she shed her jacket, strapped on an acoustic guitar, and launched into a rockin’ one‑two punch of ‘Pink Cadillac’ and ‘Guilty’, both taken from her latest album ‘BackFire’, released earlier this year. Nevada introduced ‘My Town, Too’ with a wry anecdote about spotting an ex‑boyfriend while playing a hometown festival in Littleport, Cambridge. Robinson couldn’t resist adding the deadpan aside: “And he’s here again tonight!”
The emotional centrepiece of the set was ‘Dear Dad’, a heartfelt tribute to her father
The emotional centrepiece of the set was ‘Dear Dad’, a heartfelt tribute to her father, who sadly passed away just a month ago. Nevada shared that she’d been able to play the song for him before his passing — a moment that clearly resonated with the audience. Momentum returned with ‘Work With Me’, before Nevada surprised many with her closing number: a laudable, full‑throated cover of 4 Non Blondes’ ‘What’s Up?’, which sparked the first real audience participation of the night.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
The Bright Side Of Dark / Pink Cadillac / Guilty / My Town, Too / Cookie Cutter / Dear Dad / Work With Me / What’s Up
As the lights dimmed, Parker Barrow’s six musicians strode onto The Greystones stage to a rousing ovation from the one‑hundred‑and‑fifty‑strong crowd. Their entrance, soundtracked by Robert Johnson’s ‘Come On In My Kitchen’, felt oddly hesitant for a moment; a few exchanged glances suggesting something wasn’t quite right, but any uncertainty evaporated the instant they tore into a rip‑roaring ‘Nothin’ Left To Save’.
Live this band is a different beast entirely, much heavier than on record.
Live this band is a different beast entirely, much heavier than on record. The Greystones is no stranger to loud bands, but this was one of the most thunderous mixes I’ve heard there, and it suited them perfectly. The Free‑like swagger of ‘Blinded’ and the bluesy grit of ‘Novocaine’ kept the momentum surging, all drawn from their excellent new album ‘Hold The Mash’, the follow‑up to 2023’s ‘Jukebox Gypsies’.
This Southern‑rock‑solid unit — Alex Bender and Will Tipton on guitars, Erik Safka on keys, Kyle Priber on bass, and Dylan Turner on drums — are as tight and road‑ready as any touring outfit. Yet the ace in the hole is unquestionably vocalist Magen Kane. Demure, dynamic, and utterly magnetic, she danced around the stage with a young Stevie Nicks’ bohemian spirit and sang with the raw, emotional fire of Janis Joplin. Her effervescent smile never dimmed for a second, bright enough to light the room without stage lamps.
‘Don’t Tell Mama (What Mama Don’t Know)’ delivered pure Southern Rock bliss
‘Don’t Tell Mama (What Mama Don’t Know)’ delivered pure Southern Rock bliss, while ‘Throwin’ Stones’ eased the pace before the band launched into one of my personal highlights, ‘The Healer’. Kane’s Alabama roots shone through in her warm, pronounced Southern accent, adding even more authenticity to the raw, emotional, heartfelt ballad ‘Back To Birmingham’,
A pair of fold‑up chairs signalled a more intimate interlude as Kane and Bender performed ‘Olivia Lane’ and ‘Ruby’s Reckoning’.
My own studio playlist of the evening’s songs clocks in at just over fifty minutes, yet the band’s twelve‑song set stretched to a mighty ninety. Much of that came from a fifteen‑minute, Allman Brothers‑meets‑Skynyrd‑style blowout of ‘Count Your Dollars’, complete with solos from every musician. Kane danced with a tambourine throughout, even joining her husband on drums before the song’s explosive finale.
I was both surprised and delighted when they returned for a well‑earned encore
You’d think they’d be spent after that, but the closing ‘Make It’ was a high‑energy triumph, bolstered by excellent backing vocals from Tipton. The sextet left the stage to huge applause, and given The Greystones’ residential location, I was both surprised and delighted when they returned for a well‑earned encore of ‘Peace, Love, Rock N’ Rollin’’ — a mantra we could all stand to live by.
Despite the name, Parker Barrow aren’t inspired by a garden cart in Yorkshire but by Depression‑era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Fortunately, the only crime associated with this band is that they aren’t already far bigger. Tonight was the fourth of five intimate headline shows surrounding festival appearances at Maid Of Stone and Steelhouse XV. After performances of this calibre, I’m certain they’ll be playing much larger venues on their next visit to these shores. Parker Barrow - a band unmistakably on the rise.
the only crime associated with this band is that they aren’t already far bigger.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
Nothin' Left To Save / Blinded / Novocaine / Don't Tell Mama (What Mama Don't Know) / Throwin' Stones / The Healer / Back To Birmingham / Olivia Lane / Ruby's Reckoning / Count Your Dollars / Make It
Encore: Peace, Love, Rock N' Rollin'
Photo Gallery
Photos by kind permission of: Haluk Gurer
Review: Mark Donnelly
Photos: Haluk Gurer
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