16th August, 2025
When experiencing live music, the quality of the performance is only one factor of many in determining whether a gig is ‘good’ or not. Sam Fender is currently in the midst of a world tour promoting his third album, People Watching, and Wythenshawe Park fails somewhat to provide the canvas for a great artist to provide his best work…
‘Angel in Lothian’ is a beloved fan favourite, and yet despite being given a rare airing as a set opener, it doesn’t receive the crowd reaction that it deserves. We’re stood in a pretty central position, but the stage feels further away than normal. There seems to be both a metaphorical and literal distance between the stage and the crowd that Fender and his band struggle to overcome. Dropping ‘Spice’ so early in the set is another risk that doesn’t really pay off, despite the fact that it sounds great. The crowd around us don’t seem ready for such a fast, brutal track.
Fender is not one of the biggest acts in the UK for no reason, however, and he rallies with ‘Will We Talk?’ and ‘Getting Started’, two tracks that finally win the crowd over, before a genuinely stunning rendition of ‘Arm’s Length’ proves to be an unlikely set highlight. ‘Dead Boys’ doesn’t quite hit as hard as usual, but ‘People Watching’ inspires the first big singalong of the evening. It’s a moment.
Having seen Fender four times now (and twice on this tour), one criticism I have is that the show doesn’t really change. The lights, pyro and screen show are pretty similar if not identical every time. Obviously, the power of the songs ensures that it’s never close to being dull, but when this tour wraps up, it’s time for the band to come up with something new in terms of live performance.
Having said that, live favourite ‘Howden Aldi Death Queue’ still sounds massive, especially with the extended, punishing outro, before an affecting ‘Spit of You’ and always spectacular ‘Seventeen Going Under’ close out the first part of the set. Before we get into the encore, perhaps you’ll allow me another gripe. One of the main reasons for Fender’s appeal is that he is a true working class artist in a genre in which it has become nigh on impossible to be successful without significant financial backing. Naturally, as he has become more successful, ticket prices have risen with that success. I have no problem with this generally, but if you are charging your mostly working class fanbase vast sums of money, you should probably consider playing more than 15 songs. On this, Fender could take a leaf or two out of his hero, Bruce Springsteen’s, book. Charge the ticket prices if you must, but justify the cost at least. Not playing ‘Rein Me In’ when Olivia Dean is right there as the support act just seems genuinely odd.
Anyway. The show closes out, of course, with ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ and it’s one of only a few moments within the set that Fender and his band achieve that magical connection where everyone is pulling together as one. It’s a stunning set closer that also serves as a frustrating reminder of what could have been.
Maybe it’s an Oasis hangover. Maybe it’s Wythenshawe Park. But too often, this gig feels like an artist going through the motions . In summary, an underwhelming night punctuated by moments of greatness.
Couldn’t agree more. This was my 7th time seeing Sam Fender and it was probably my least favourite. The main reason I went to this gig was to hear ‘Rein Me In’ with Olivia Dean which I thought would be a given seeing as she was there so that was my biggest disappointment. To not play a song which has reached number 6 in the charts when Olivia is there just seems very odd to me. I also read somewhere that the Dying Light (one of my favourites) and Something Heavy were also on the set list but had to be cut due to the curfew. Needs to be better planning here!!
The crowd also wasn’t great. Every Sam Fender gig I’ve been to has been lively and full of atmosphere but unfortunately the crowd felt flat at Wythenshawe. I nipped to the toilet quickly before the set started and was snarled at and shouted at asking where I was going when trying to get back in. I understand it can be annoying people trying to get past but I was one person politely asking to get back to my group it’s like they’ve never been to a gig before!
On the whole very underwhelming as you’ve said. Hopefully the next Sam fender gig can redeem itself!
That’s a very fair assessment. Something just felt ‘off’ about it. As you say though, I’m sure that’ll be the exception rather than the rule in terms of Sam gigs.