A Truly Incredible Performance: Sam Fender In Glasgow

Words: Rosie Russell

Despite being unwell during the show, Sam Fender really did put on an incredible performance in Glasgow. Wunderhorse opened strong with a masterful set of their growing hits, like ‘Purple’, ‘Leader of the Pack’, and most notably ‘Teal’, setting the stage for an unforgettable night.

Opening the show with ‘Dead Boys’ Fender proved that the set list for this tour, as much as it was heavily debated and argued over, was for the fans and not the Tik Tok warriors (there’s nothing wrong with finding an artist through Tik Tok and social media, it’s one of the things that’s great about it, however, there is an issue with only showing up or paying attention to an artist for a 15-second section of one song). This fan-curated list of songs hit mark after mark being followed shortly after by ‘The Borders’ and my personal favourite ‘All Is On My Side’, and after having a right old boogie to it I realised I had completely lost my voice (like that was going to stop me from carrying on). 

With the staging and visuals, it was clear that this tour was to be one for friends and family with such a focus being on the band as well as Sam, which is one of the things I really admire about him, there is always some part of the performance that is routed in home. The addition of new band members also brought in the new energy onto the stage; special mention to Brooke Bentham who was the life and soul of the dancefloor she’d made herself on stage. It really felt like watching a bunch of mates performing without a care in the world. 

The crowd favourites of ‘Spice’ and ‘Howden Aldi Death Queue’ were as excitable as you’d expect a bunch of ‘wegies on a Monday night gig could be and the addition of the new songs ‘Wild Long Lie’ ‘People Watching’ and possibly my new favourite Sam Fender song ‘Arm’s Length’ seemed to hype the crowd even further for new album (out on the 21st Feb) and Arm’s length seems like the perfect addition to his discography, with the same sort of vibe as ‘All Is On My Side’ and ‘Good Company’.

Now as impressed as I was with Fender’s performance I felt it only seemed to dip during the surprise song section of the night, as the band began to play ‘London Calling’ by The Clash, now is it an incredibly iconic song? Yes, was the crowd still enjoying it? Also yes. However, I felt that the song choice should’ve been different for every city. I may be reaching a bit but ‘London Calling’ only seems to resonate in, well, London, and being in a city so rich in music history I felt it was such a missed opportunity to play one of the Glasgow’s iconic songs. 

‘But Rosie what would have been a good option?’ 

Well dear reader, I’m so glad you asked, as a proud Glaswegian with a strange obsession with music here are some that could’ve made the cut;

• Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
• Sun Queen – Gerry Cinnamon
• Jenny Don’t Be Hasty – Paolo Nutini 

To name a few, but enough rambling. I really can’t complain because he did sing ‘Angel in Lothian’ with reduced me and my cousin to tears and we loved the fact it was brought on by a drunk man screaming ‘Play Angel In Lothian’ at the only time it was quiet enough to. 

Overall this was a genuinely incredible night and despite having to cancel the rest of the tour due to medical issues, Sam Fender and the rest of his band really did put on such a show and it really proved why he is such a popular and pivotal voice in indie music today.