Sam Fender Kicks Off Sold-Out UK Arena Tour with a Raucous Night in Leeds [Photos]

The first time I crossed paths with Newcastle’s Sam Fender was about 500 yards from the First Direct Arena in Leeds, when he performed a small, intimate gig at The Chapel, a venue buried away in the backroom of a Church with the capacity of about two hundred people.

Since then, the Geordie’s career has gone from strength to strength seeing him go rapidly ascend the various levels of venues in the city, performing at the Academy and the Arena before headlining a rammed Leeds Festival a couple of years ago.

Much like this last appearance in this very venue, the place is packed to the rafters for his return where he kicks off the UK leg of his People Watching Tour. With a much different production to our first meeting in Leeds, Fender’s show now sees him dwarfed by huge video screens project all sorts of visuals throughout the performance while he is joined on stage by a full band including backing musicians. It’s a far cry from that night at the Chapel where technical difficulties meant we got a few crap jokes and some awkward silences to fill the gaps.

That being said, the banter has changed as well. Last time we were here, Fender phoned his Geordie celebrity football mate Alan Shearer from the stage while tonight saw him ripping into Liverpool fans as his beloved Newcastle United took the lead against the Premier League leaders.

Speaking of Newcastle Utd, next Summer will see the Geordie favourite performing a run of not-to-be-missed shows in the iconic football home of his heroes. For a hardcore Newcastle United, as Fender is, next Summer could almost be the pinnacle of his career so, if tickets go as fast as these shows did, anyone who is lucky enough to grab one is going to witness a young lad from the streets of Newcastle living out his dreams.

Sam Fender Set List:

1. The Kitchen
2. Getting Started
3. The Borders
4. Wild Long Lie
5. All Is on My Side
6. Nostalgia’s Lie
7. Arm’s Length
8. Will We Talk?
9. People Watching
10. Spice
11. Howdon Aldi Death Queue
12. Get You Down
13. Spit of You
14. The Dying Light
15. Seventeen Going Under
16. Hypersonic Missiles

Sam Fender @ First Direct Arena (Leeds, UK) on December 4th, 2024

14 photos