The U.K.’s summer of live music kicked off in earnest this week with quite a lot of enormous tour debuts all through main cities, notably in London. Over on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday (June 5), Beyoncé introduced her Cowboy Carter tour to those shores for the primary time, and a day later, Robbie Williams was only a stone’s throw away at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. The pageant circuit additionally obtained off to a robust begin with Massive Attack in Victoria Park’s LIDO, and Charli XCX set to grace the identical venue subsequent weekend.
No gig was larger than Sam Fender’s record-setting present on the London Stadium on Friday (June 6) evening with a whopping 82,500 tickets bought for his largest-ever present (1,000 greater than The Weeknd on the venue in 2023). The occasion arrived throughout a banner yr for the North Shields-born rocker. His third album, People Watching, is the best-selling British album of 2025 to date, and the fastest-selling LP by a British solo act since Harry Types in 2022. Over the course of the summer time, he’ll play extra enormous exhibits in his hometown Newcastle, and headline out of doors exhibits in Manchester and throughout Europe.
Packed to the brim with followers of all ages (however a big contingent carrying the homestrip of his beloved Newcastle United Soccer Membership), it was a second to rejoice simply how far he’d come since his 2017 arrival, a hard-won British success story once they really feel worryingly scant.
These are the very best moments from Fender’s headline present at London Stadium.
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Deserving Deep Cuts
Fender was undeterred by what individuals need him to play, staying true to the songs he feels the set deserves. To drop in two lesser-known B-sides — “Howdon Aldi Loss of life Queue” and “Tyrants” — from his second and third albums, respectively, is hubristic however justified. The previous was a wry take a look at the daftness of COVID-era Britain, whereas the latter “ought to have been on” Folks Watching he instructed the gang, a reminder of the stark high quality of that document that this may very well be left off, or a cheeky warning to label execs that he is aware of greatest.
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Group-Up With Olivia Dean
When Fender final toured the U.K. in December 2024, he gave followers the primary style of Folks Watching months forward of launch. Six months later, he’s nonetheless rolling out tracks from the LP and switching up the setlist with “Rein Me In” incomes a reside debut within the greatest of settings. Even higher, the efficiency of this music was elevated by rising British star Olivia Dean who performed on the invoice earlier within the day. Her wealthy vocals sidled as much as Fender’s, creating a luxurious second in an in any other case rowdy present.
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Uncooked Energy of “Seventeen Going Below”
Rock anthems within the twenty first century have been arduous to return by, however 2021’s “Seventeen Going Below” is a uncommon exception and has embedded itself into British tradition. The music displays on Fender’s upbringing in a macho setting, but in addition attempting to assist his mom as she suffered on the merciless arms of the Division of Work and Pensions (DWP) who withheld important advantages. It’s pure Springsteen, but in addition a narrative distinctly his personal.
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Honoring Custom
Folks Watching ends with Fender’s most tender music, “Keep in mind My Identify,” a homage to his late grandparents and the simplicity of their love and life collectively. The observe contains a brass band from the North East, a nod to town’s mining neighborhood, and through its tour debut The Easington Colliery Brass Band joined Fender on stage for a stunning second of understated grandeur and custom. There was nary a dry eye in the home.
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Utilizing His Voice for Change
Earlier than enjoying his closing observe “Hypersonic Missiles,” which references the “children in Gaza” being “bombed,” Fender spoke on to the gang, saying, “It breaks my coronary heart that it’s extra related now than it was then,” when he launched the music in 2019. He referred to as for a “free Palestine” and referred to as for a cease to the “ethnic genocide,” encouraging followers to donate to and interact with the work of Medical doctors With out Borders who will be a part of him all through his summer time tour.