Sam Fender electrifies Newcastle with epic St. James' Park hometown shows
AC/DC's Brian Johnson joined him on stage
Last updated 14th Jun 2023
Newcastle prodigy Sam Fender electrified his home city over the weekend, as the local hero cemented his legendary status with two epic homecoming gigs at the city's famous football ground, St. James' Park, on 9th and 10th June 2023.
Black and white flags and plenty of footy strips filled the stadium as the singer made his triumphant entrance to 'Going Home' (theme of the Local Hero), and with the help of some very special surprise guests - including AC/DC's Brian Johnson - support acts and pyrotechnics, Sam united the city as he performed some of his biggest songs.
Support acts for both shows included Inhaler, Holly Humberstone and Hector Gannett, as well as a special appearance from Sam's brother Liam, which saw the pair perform a duet of a Bruce Springsteen's 'I'm on Fire'.
But one of the biggest surprises of the weekend came during Sam's second show on 10th June, which saw fellow Geordie icon Brian Johnson join the singer on stage to perform two of AC/DC's classic tracks - 'Back In Black' and 'You Shook Me All Night Long'.
Accompanying Sam and Brian as they performed the classic tracks was the 'Play God' singer's first ever guitar teacher. Sam wrote: 'I also brought out my first guitar teacher who showed the entirety of St James’ Park how it’s actually done. Phil Martin, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this if it wasn’t for your tutelage and back when I had my first band (when we were bairns, 14 or 15) you let us rehearse in the Gasworks practice rooms for free. We need more people like you in our community'.
Here we take a look back at photos from both of Sam's Newcastle shows, as the city came together to celebrate their local legend at the home of Newcastle United.
Sam Fender shows at Newcastle's St. James' Park:
On both Friday and Saturday, Sam performed some of his most popular songs, as well as a handful of covers as he was accompanied by his brother, and later Brian Johnson of AC/DC.
Sam Fender's Newcastle set list:
The set list included tracks: 'Will We Talk?', 'Getting Started', 'Dead Boys', 'The Borders', 'Spice', 'Howdon Aldi Death Queue', 'Get You Down', 'Spit of You', 'Alright', 'Play God', 'The Dying Light', 'Wild Grey Ocean', 'Hypersonic Missiles', 'Saturday' and, of course, 'Seventeen Going Under'.
Now read:
15 of Sam Fender's biggest songs and the meanings behind them
Sam Fender: Get to know the 'Spit Of You' hitmaker
Sam Fender's second album: Everything we know about 'Seventeen Going Under'