ROXY’S Mad Friday: 10 of the best photos celebrating 80s and 90s retro night returning to Sheffield

With 1,500 tickets sold in 2022, Sheffield’s biggest Christmas party is back for a truly mad one in December 2023!

ROXY’S Mad Friday is set to take place on Friday, December 8th, writes Neil Anderson.

Think top ‘80s and ‘90s bangers, top DJs, santa hats, real snow and more!

Organisers are confident the event will go ahead despite the 02 Academy being shut at the moment. 

Queues formed well before opening last year with ‘80s and ‘90s fancy dress being the order of the evening for hundreds of the city’s revellers eager to pay homage to the venue that attracted tens of thousands of people every week.

Even Sheffield’s Lady Mayoress, Councillor Jackie Satur, got in on the action. The former Roxy-goer was guest of honour and helped proceedings go with a swing.

The Roxy venue – which actually started life as the Top Rank and is now the 02 Academy - dominated the city’s nightscene for two decades until shutting its doors for the last time in the late 1990s.

It was regularly marketed as ‘Barry Noble’s Roxy’ – the name of the venue’s owner regularly preceded the titles of the venues the Geordie had in his leisure empire that arguably reached its peak in the late 1980s.

The ‘Is That Alright Fyuzs’ catchphrase of Barry Noble became synonymous with nightlife of the era. His Roxy ads were everywhere it seemed – from TV to in print.

The Roxy even became famous nationally as the South Yorkshire base for the ‘Hitman & Her’ TV series – the dance music show fronted by Pete Waterman and Michaela Strachan.

There’s no doubt the Roxy had quite a legacy. Even Kylie Minogue performed in the early days alongside hit artists like the London Boys.

• Tickets for the Roxy are £10 (plus booking fee) each from: https://www.gigantic.com/roxy-s-mad-friday-tickets/sheffield-o2-academy-sheffield/2023-12-08-21-00