SAM FENDER // OPEN AIR THEATRE, SCARBOROUGH
SAM FENDER KICKS OFF SCARBOROUGH’S OPEN AIR THEATRE 2022 SUMMER SERIES IN GREAT STYLE.
★★★★★ (5/5)
SAM FENDER // OPEN AIR THEATRE, SCARBOROUGH - 27.05.2022
PHOTOCREDIT: JOHN HAYHURST
You can often tell how good a gig is going to be before it starts just from the atmosphere of the crowd, their enthusiasm and a vibe in the air, we got to Scarborough a bit earlier than normal and found we got the second last space in the free parking, usually when I arrive at that time I get to choose my space. It felt like the whole crowd wanted to get in there and get the gig going as soon as possible . The queue to get in was huge and it felt like half of Newcastle had decamped to Yorkshire for the night, there were Newcastle football tops everywhere (with the occasional brave Sunderland fan).
We got into the arena and felt an instant party vibe hit, I’ve rarely seen a crowd so enthusiastic, so happy, so up for it, as before this gig, my sense of anticipation started to rise…..
The support came from Heidi Curtis, a fellow north east singer songwriter. I suspect she wasn’t ready for such a large and enthusiastic audience but she dealt with it well, engaging with the crowd and delivering a good set, mostly of her own material with a cover version of Wicked Game thrown in for good measure but she was always up against it as there was only one man this crowd had come to see.
Come 8.30 he strode confidently out onto the stage, his band and him looking like they belonged there, instantly launching into delivering a blistering set at a full on pace.
What’s really endearing about Sam Fender though is he takes none of his recent success for granted, he clearly isn’t convinced it will last and his level of humility was evident throughout. His engagement with the crowd, going so far as to stop the set to stop a fight in the crowd by making it clear we weren’t there to fight but to dance, was excellent. He comes across as the kind of guy you’d happily go for a beer with while writing and singing some of the best new music in this country right now.
There have been comparisons to Bruce Springsteen in the past, it’s obvious why, his storytelling, both during the gig and in his songs, his clear social conscience and his one man crusade to bring the sax back into music, all mark him out as being very similar but I think it’s unfair to think of him as derivative of the Boss. His focus is more on his own experience, where he’s from and what impacts him. He is very much his own man but he has the capacity to be the closest thing to Bruce that these shores have ever delivered.
His story about his only previous trip to Scarborough as a child and his fathers interaction with a well known, now totally disgraced, locally connected former DJ (you know who I mean!) was very well delivered and lead very nicely into a song he’d written about his father.
I did love the intro to Hypersonic Missiles, this is the song that got us into this mess…. But the truth is this is not a mess, this is a serious contender at the top of his love game.
My overwhelming feeling from this gig was just how incredibly good Sam Fender is, how much his fans truly adore him (one slightly tipsy guy just along from where I was sitting spent, what seems like, the whole gig shouting out how much he loved him!) and how great a show he puts on, including some truly impressive pyrotechnics.
Live he is tremendous, he has developed the ability to control the crowd, to raise them to the heights then back down again over and over, he has some excellent songs which the crowd knew word perfect. I haven’t been able to get ‘if Saturday don’t come soon’ out of my head since having heard the whole crowd sing it back to him for what felt like hours.
I remember leaving a Killers gig years ago and the whole crowd just kept signing as they left, which gave me goosebumps, this crowd outdid that night.
Is Sam Fender ready to headline a major festival after only two albums, you better believe it!
REVIEW BY // IAIN MCCLAY
PHOTOS BY // JOHN HAYHURST
SETLIST:
OPEN AIR THEATRE, SCARBOROUGH
WILL WE TALK?
GETTING STARTED
DEAD BOYS
MANTRA
BETTER OF ME
THE BORDERS
SPICE
HOWDON ALDI DEATH QUEUE
GET YOU DOWN
SPIT OF YOU
PLAY GOD
THE DYING LIGHT
ENCORE:
SATURDAY
SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER
HYPERSONIC MISSILES
TOUR DATES:
28TH MAY 2022
COVENTRY // BBC RADIO 1’S BIG WEEKEND 2022
3RD JUNE 2022
LONDON // EMIRATES STADIUM (SUPPORTING THE KILLERS)
4TH JUNE 2022
LONDON // EMIRATES STADIUM (SUPPORTING THE KILLERS)
14TH JUNE 2022
DUBLIN // MALAHIDE CASTLE (SUPPORTING THE KILLERS)
15TH JUNE 202
DUBLIN // MALAHIDE CASTLE (SUPPORTING THE KILLERS)
6TH JULY 2022
MANCHESTER // CASTLEFIELD BOWL
8TH JULY 2022
GLASGOW // TRNSMT FESTIVAL 2022
15TH JULY 2022
LONDON // FINSBURY PARK
22ND JULY 2022
SHEFFIELD // TRAMLINES FESTIVAL 2022
23RD JULY 2022
OXFORD // TRUCK FESTIVAL 2022
OPEN AIR THEATRE, SCARBOROUGH UPCOMING SHOWS:
29TH MAY 2022
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE
4TH JULY 2022
JANE MACDONALD
11TH JULY 2022
CROWDED HOUSE
25TH JULY 2022
FRANKIE VALI
30TH JULY 2022
MICHAEL BALL & ALFIE BOE
1ST JULY 2022
BRYAN ADAMS
3RD JULY 2022
A-HA
9TH JULY 2022
ELBOW
14TH JULY 2022
THE SCRIPT
16TH JULY 2022
TEARS FOR FEARS
22ND JULY 2022
SIMPLY RED
23RD JULY 2022
WESTLIFE
26TH JULY 2022
SIR TOM JONES
2ND AUGUST 2022
CHRISTINA AGUILERA
11TH JULY 2022
LEWIS CAPALDI
23RD SEPTEMBER 2022
GEORGE EZRA