IMAGES AND WORDS BY BILLY SEAGRAVE
As a sold-out crowd of over 8,000 dedicated fans descended on Castlefield Bowl – Sam Fender returns to Manchester. Headlining Sounds of the City. It has been a very fruitful year so far, achieving a second number one album in the UK AND a Brit Award for best alternative/rock act, making tonight’s gig a must see for his ever-growing army of fans.
Fender hails from North Shields and since his 2019 debut album ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ brought him into the charts, that provided the platform for Fender’s meteoric rise, that has grown from strength to strength, picking up rave reviews for his Glastonbury debut performance.
Opening the show and first on was supporting act Heidi Curtis. The 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Newcastle set the pace for the night, debuting her beautiful vocals and indie-rock charm. A highlight of her set was her toned down version of Chris Isaak’s iconic ‘Wicked Game’.
A multi-instrumentalist, Curtis has honed her craft on the local scene, drawing in audiences with her stunning vocals. Wednesday won’t be the first time the Northeast singer has supported Fender, having performed with him for the past couple of years including socially distanced arena shows.
Former Dead Pretties frontman Jacob Slater, under the guise of Wunderhorse. recently emerged last year with the single ‘Teal’ and has shared a handful of singles since. As well as preparing to release his debut album, ‘Cub’, later this year, the singer has also been busy appearing as Sex Pistols Drummer Paul Cook in Danny’s Boyle’s biopic series, Pistol.
Samuel Thomas Fender is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is known for his high tenor voice and strong Geordie accent, layered over music characterised by a roots-oriented rock approach. Fender’s sound relies primarily on his traditional American musical upbringing combined with a classic British rock sensibility. He has been acclaimed by critics and musicians for his song writing proficiency. As the sell out crowd fill the arena expectations for tonight’s performance are high and without doubt Fender will deliver and bring his renowned live performances to bigger venues over the coming years.
Set list
1/ Will we talk
2/ Getting started
3/ Dead Boys
4/ Mantra
5/ Better of me
6/ The Borders
7/ Spice
8/ Howdon Aldi death queue
9/ Spit of you
10/ Playing God
11/ The Dying Light
Encore
12/ Saturday
13/ Seventeen going under
14/ Hypersonic Missile
FOLLOW SAM FENDER
FOLLOW WUNDERHORSE
FOLLOW HEIDI CURTIS
