Live Review: Sam Fender - M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool 21/03/2022
The Geordie boys were making all the noise in Liverpool on Monday as Sam Fender and his team of merrymen took to rocking the stage at the M&S Bank Arena.
On Monday night I had the absolute privilege of being able to head down to Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under Tour’ for their second night of absolute Geordie pandemonium and what a night it was! The show from start to finish had it all, from new songs to old songs, gorgeous stage production and moments where even the band had to stop and appreciate what was going on around them, the seventeen going under tour is a gig you wouldn’t want to miss!
When support act GOATGIRL took to the stage, it was clear to see the crowd for the night were more than ready and warmed up for a night of large mosh-pits, great music, sing-alongs and lots of fun!
When the band made their way to the stage and the lights went down in the arena the roar from the crowd was phenomenal! It’s clear to see the pull these five normal lads from North Shields have on their audience as the excitement from the crowd only grew more and more from the minute their opening song ‘Will We Talk?’ began to play, to their final song of the show ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ which was their first ever release as a band! These boys know how to keep their crowd entertained.
If you’ve ever had the chance to go down to a Sam Fender gig, you’ll know that the lad is known for always speaking his mind. With bouts of chants about ‘Fuck the Tories’ and his little funny rant where he said ‘You can’t fart without people knowing about it these days’, whenever you’re at a Fender gig, it is certainly known that you’re always guaranteed to be laughing about something during the show!
The energy that this band possess on stage is incredible and is such a mood lifter to see. From Dean on guitar often showing off his best dance moves to Joe on the keys getting the crowd hyped, jumping around, they all each individually bring their own energy into their performances, showing that every member of the band is key to their huge success so far, so early into their careers.
The show had the wow-factor in every single aspect for me! The stage production design from ‘Spit of You’ was a very special moment of the night in every way. While ‘Spit of You’ plays, a song Sam wrote for his dad, pictures of fans and their families when they were younger appear behind the band on a screen, toward the end of the song the pictures are pulled together individually to make the photo that Sam posted on his Instagram of him and his dad when he was younger. And, in true Sam Fender style, he had to take a minute to turn around at the end of the song appreciate the moment as he didn’t even have a clue what was going on behind him. It was truly such a beautiful moment to be a part of and to see and is just a glimpse of what you’re in for when you come down to see these shows!
Even while fans fainted in the pits from the heat of the venue, the band kept their professionalism about them right till the very end of the gig, with Sam even stopping songs to check that everyone was okay. Once he knew the pits were safe the band, very calmly, picked up the song right from where they left off, showing the true care they show and adoration they have for the people who take their time to come and see them Live.
While Sam played the piano section of the show for his song from his new album ‘The Dying Light’, confetti flew around the arena and shot out of canons toward the climax of the song, again an amazing moment to see from the crowd as they reached up and looked toward the blue pieces of paper falling around them. After this the band, again, took a moment to really take in the reality of their first ever arena tour and asked for the house lights to be lifted so they could really look at the crowd standing before them. It isn’t often that bands tend to be so appreciative of the moments they’re living in while on stage and it’s so clear to see how much these moments mean to these five boys on stage.
The sold out Seventeen Going Under tour is truly an unbelievable experience to be part of and I encourage anyone who hasn’t already seen these boys do their thing on a stage to get down to a show whenever you have a chance as these boys are set to have an extremely, successful and long career ahead of them!
Words by Bethany Atkins
