Sam Fender is officially back as he’s announced a huge UK and Europe tour as well as a new album called People Watching.
This big news comes after billboards were spotted popping up all over the country, especially in his native Newcastle, with some serious social media action from the Getting Started hitmaker too.
The Geordie star, 30, last released music in 2021 with his second album Seventeen Going Under, which followed on from his debut Hypersonic Missiles two years prior.
It’s been a long wait for fans up and down the country, but now Sam is back.
Coincidentally – or perhaps not so – Sam’s big announcements will come just in time for the November Glastonbury ticket drop, as he’s tipped for the festival in 2025 alongside names including Olivia Rodrigo, Fred Again, Harry Styles, and Eminem.
Having rallied fans to sign up for his mailing list and also to receive texts – which satisfyingly pop up in phones as Sam Fender, nice touch – his website featured a countdown which ended today.
At 10am his new tour, supported by Wunderhorse, was announced – his first in two years – which will see him taking to the stage in Dublin in just six weeks time on December 2.
After hopping around Leeds, Manchester, London and Glasgow the tour will end in Newcastle’s Utilta Arena on December 20, in what will be a huge festive treat for north east fans.
After that Sam will head to Paris, Tilburg, Zurich and Cologne, Munich, Bergamo, Berlin, Amsterdam and Brussels in March 2025.
Sam Fender People WatchingUK tour dates 2024
December 2 – 3Arena, Dublin
December 4 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
December 6 – Co-Op Live, Manchester
December 10 – The O2, London
December 13 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
December 16 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
December 20 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle
It’s been three years since he released his second studio album Seventeen Going Under (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
How to get tickets for Sam Fender’s UK tour?
Tickets for all shows go on sale from 25th October at 10am via Sam’s website.
Due to the expected high demand, tickets for the Newcastle Utilita show on Friday December 20 will be available by ballot to customers with North East postcodes only. To enter the ballot, fans should visit his website and enter their details.
If fans pre-order any format of Sam’s new album before Monday October 21 hey will receive an exclusive ticket pre-sale code, giving them the best chance of bagging a ticket.
Pre-sale will take place on Tuesday October 22 from 10am. Those dedicated fans who ordered the album before the announcement drop today will automatically be entered for the presale.
However, due to high demand, the Newcastle show is not doing a pre-sale – whether fans order the album or not – but is only open to those with North East postcodes.
These vans have been spotted across the North East over the past week (Picture: Instagram/Sam_Fender)
Pre ordering an album will give you a chance of getting a pre-sale ballot ticket (Picture: Sam Fender)
In the lead up to the announcement Sam posted many videos of him playing unfamiliar song snippets on social media, and pictures of him in the studio.
Teaser posters blazoned on vans and buildings were spotted all over the country, especially in Newcastle, where billboard were spotted outside NUFC’s St James’ Park stadium.
The van posters simply showed an image of Sam’s eyes through a rectangular gap surrounded by a blurry backdrop, with the only writing his website URL: samfender.com.
Fans naturally went wild at the action, as @TheRandLMill took to X with a screengrab of his website and said: ‘IT’S HAPPENING EVERYBODY STAY CALM SAM FENDER IS BACK Friday People Watching?!?!?!’
‘SAM FENDER IS BACK. I REPEAT SAM FENDER IS BACK,’ raved @kizmew, while @AngelinLothian7 said: ‘Sam Fender is actually Back feel like I’m gonna vomit.’
This comes after Sam confirmed that his third studio album was finished and ‘mastered’.
In August, he gave a taste of his upcoming single People Watching along with another track from the upcoming album Nostalgia’s Lie, both of which he played at Boardmasters Festival.
In an interview on Sky Arts’ Johnson and Knopfler’s Music Legends earlier this year, Sam explained why there was a three-year gap between his last album and this one.
‘The third one we started rushing and I thought, “No, we have got to take the time”,’ he explained.
‘I want to do the best I possibly can. I’d rather it be late and great than early and shite.
He posted teasers from across the UK and now the announcement is out (Picture: Instagram/ sam_fender)
‘What we have got so far I am absolutely over the moon with but I want to give it that bit more time and more thought.’
Speaking to NME in September 2022 as he announced his huge St James’ gig – the first ever stadium one with his devoted home crowd – Sam admitted playing there had been a ‘running joke’ with the band.
‘We used to be like, “Ah, imagine if we headlined St James’ one day!” Now that it’s happening, it’s a little bit bizarre,’ he admitted.
At the gig, which also had a pre-party hosted by Newcastle-born bakery Greggs,Geordie dads were seen on shoulders rocking along to his tracks in what was a historic moment for the city.
Speaking about the St James’ gig, he continued to the publication: ‘No actual Geordie band has ever done it.
‘Brian Johnson did it with AC/DC, but they were already an Australian band that were doing well [before he joined].
‘For the whole band to be from the area and to play there, it’s a really, really big thing for us.’
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