More about: Sam Fender

With every sound check, the crowd screams in anticipation. Since the release of his first single ‘Play God’ in 2017, Sam Fender has gathered quite the loyal fan base. From tonight’s performance, it’s easy to see why.

Fender casually slinks onto the stage as the intro to ‘Will We Talk’ begins, picking up his guitar and launching into the first verse. His band is energetic, bouncing along to the rhythm. Second song of the night ‘Millennial’ inspires a mosh pit. Singing: ‘I’m a millennial, I’m young and dumb,’ he highlights the negative portrayal of young people in the media.

Fender has a real skill when it comes to connecting with his crowd, talking to the audience as if in the midst of a casual conversation. After a heart-wrenching performance of ‘Greasy Spoon’, he tells us he just found out that his debut album Hypersonic Missiles has gone gold. Throughout the evening he seems genuinely surprised by his own success - clearly humbled by it, he calls the night “fucking mental”, though he will play the even larger Alexandra Palace next year. Jumping into ‘The Borders’ - Fender's favourite - a chorus sing his powerful lyrics back to him.

His songs are littered with political references; his riffs crackle and spit; his voice has a way of circling the room and holding the audience in its grip. Not one to shy away from current issues, Fender commands attention and urges the audience to “Vote Labour” throughout.

‘Dead Boys’ - his track highlighting the issue of male suicide - is performed with careful consideration and accompanying visuals. Its themes are crucial, and Fender reveals it got him “through a bad time”...he hopes it will do the same for others.

The visuals throughout the evening are brilliant. A cartoon Boris reimagined as a bat, complete with leathery wings and his usual slapped look accompanies ‘Spice’. There are illustrations of Fender and his band in a dive bar; clips from his music videos. Pyrotechnics are used during the later tracks. It feels like an arena show.

‘Play God’ and ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ are played with cinematic finesse. Even after the latter finishes, the crowd continues to wail the melody, inspiring claps to beckon Fender and his band back to the stage. The crowd roars as he makes his re-entry.

‘White Privilege’, ‘Saturday’, ‘Poundshop Kardashians’ and ‘That Sound’ are on the encore menu for tonight. ‘Saturday’ is an anthem for a generation of young people who are “overtired, overworked, underpaid, under pressure”. He lets the audience take control of the chorus, bouncing his shoulders along to their voices as if the roles are reversed and it's us performing for him instead.

Fender has a real, unvarnished quality to his songwriting that makes his music all the more accessible and popular. The lyrics are raw, impassioned, and unmistakable. Fender can only continue to prove his worth as a Bruce Springsteen for the millennial age.

More about: Sam Fender