Saturday 7th December 2024
After being away for over a year, North Shields legend Sam Fender announced his return back in October with the announcement of a flurry of live shows as well as news of a third album (People Watching – due out in February). As something of a Fender obsessive, this was exciting news…
A quick word on the venue. The Co-op Arena had an inauspicious opening with a number of early shows cancelled but it appears to have overcome those teething problems now. While it is undoubtedly impressive – the sheer size of it is intimidating – it is also lacking in character and fairly soulless, unlike say Leeds Arena which somehow manages to feel both intimate and epic in scale. The fact it’s in the middle of nowhere doesn’t help either. That being said, we had a great view despite being pretty far back and the sound quality is excellent all night.
Fender and his band kick things off with ‘Dead Boys’ (the song’s first appearance on this tour) and it is a testament to their back catalogue that such an epic song can arrive so early into the set without it feeling odd. It’s clear from this opening performance that the boys mean business. If Fender had begun to seem a little burnt out towards the end of the Seventeen Going Under touring cycle, he seems to have dusted the cobwebs off here, delivering a barnstorming performance with a renewed sense of purpose.
‘Getting Started’ follows before ‘Borders’ sees the whole venue explode with everybody shouting back the chorus with pint pots held aloft (or double pint pots in my case… I dread to think how much they set me back). A selection of new songs follows with latest single ‘Wild Long Lie’ building to an unforgettable crescendo and ‘Nostalgia’s Lie’ leaving a particularly strong impression.
The second half of the show serves as a reminder as to why Fender has become one of the biggest touring acts in the country. ‘Will We Talk?’ signals a run of songs that could match any live performer on the circuit with ‘People Watching’ already being greeted like an old favourite, ‘Howden Aldi Death Queue’ as punishing as ever and ‘Get You Down’ inspiring mass singalongs and loads of men hugging each other. I spent much of the show hugging other men. What a time to be alive.
‘Spit of You’ is always an emotional one for me following the passing of my own dad and so it is again here, particularly with the now customary practice of pictures of Fender and his dad being projected on the big screens. Yes, it’s an incredibly powerful song. Yes, I had something in my eye. And no, I don’t want to talk about it thank you very much. ‘The Dying Light’ follows – a song that might be Fender’s best and one that is certainly a live highlight. It’s one of those songs that always feels like a ‘I was there’ moment and it engulfs the cavernous Co-op Arena here. ‘Seventeen Going Under’ marks the end of the first part of the show and it’s suitably massive. BUT I WOULD HIT HIM IN A HEARTBEAT NOW. That’s all that needs to be said, really.
The show concludes with a ridiculously good rendition of ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ that sees everyone singing the ‘Whoa ohhh oh oh oh’ refrain and it seems now there is no doubt that this song will be echoing around arenas for decades to come. Now, there can only be one Bruce Springsteen, of course. Nobody would deny that. But in Sam Fender, the UK has a recording artist with the potential to become the kind of generational talent, once-in-a-lifetime musician who has the power to leave a real imprint on the musical landscape around him. He just keeps getting better.
For my review of his 2023 homecoming show at St. James Park, click here.