Sam Fender will have blown away by the noise that met him and his band as they walked on stage in Newcastle on Friday night, with St James' Park turned into a cauldron of emphatic noise, moments before the gig started.
It was way back in the autumn that Sam announced that he'd be playing on the pitch at NUFC's city centre ground and all tickets were snapped up as soon as they went on sale as demand soared through the roof. The whole of Newcastle was gripped by Fender Fever on Friday; everywhere from Greggs on Grainger Street, which was transformed into live music bar Fenders Unplugged for the occasion, to the bars close to St James, like Shearers, The Strawberry and The Mayfair, where fans flocked to in the hours leading up to Sam coming on stage.
Anyone who walked into the stadium in the half hour leading up to Sam kicking off his set will have been blown away by the sea of black and white the greeted them, as Wor Flags came up trumps again, to turn St James' into an atmosphere quite like it had never witnessed before. And of course, no trip to SJP these days would be complete without a rendition of The Beatles' Hey Jude.
And, just like they do on match days, fans filled their air with their songs and chants, with deafening lines of 'na na na na na na na....GEORDIES!" Many people got their phones out to capture the spinetingling moment, before things then got even more Geordie with a burst of Blaydon Races, before Sam was introduced to the stage, like he always is on home turf, to Local Hero, which ended with a timely nod to Newcastle United's recent accomplishment, with a few bars of the Champions League theme tune.
Friday, June 9, 2023, Sam Fender at St James' Park - what a night!
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