Fender told the crowd that his three-night run at St James’ Park, seen by 150,000 fans, had been the ‘best weekend of his life’
Geordie superstar Sam Fender was joined on stage by his hero ‘Big Dan Burn’ for the last hometown gig of his world tour. Fender told the crowd that his three-night run at St James’ Park, seen by 150,000 fans, had been the ‘best weekend of his life’.
For his final night, he had some special guests, including the Newcastle United and England star Dan Burn. The giant defender arrived with the Carabao Cup in his hands to a hero’s welcome from the 50,000-strong crowd. He was a hero on Tyneside after scoring the Toon’s opening goal in the 2-1 victory over Liverpool in March.
Fender gave Burn, 33, a hug before the pair raised the trophy to cheers from the fans. Burn left the stage but then came back to say: “Thank you mum and dad” before he departed once more.
There were then a number of special guests, including Fender’s elder brother Liam on keyboards. The singer’s former guitar teacher Phil Martin also made a guest appearance, and a random 17-year-old fan plucked from the audience.
There was a montage of childhood photos of the band on the giant stage screen to mark Father’s Day, including a snap of Fender with his dad Alan, an electrician turned music teacher who was a huge influence on his career.
The North Shields born singer and Martin stood side by side for a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town”.
Easington Colliery Brass Band then appeared for ‘Remember My Name’ from the People Watching album, dedicated to the star’s grandparents.
At the end of the show, with a finale of fireworks and flames shooting through the night sky, Fender asked the crowd to donate to the charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres).
The singer is supporting their work in Gaza, describing their medics as ‘real life heroes’.
He told the crowd that he could not believe it was his fifth show at St James, the home of Newcastle United. “I never thought that I would say that,” he added. “I want to just to take that in.
“Thank you for the best weekend of my life.” His two shows in June, 2023, attracted around 100,000 fans and were credited with boosting the local economy by around £15m.
Dan Burn made his Wembley cup final appearance and then had another dream come true when he was called up for England after getting some tips from the son of Jack Charlton.
The People Watching Tour is moving to Silverstone on July 3, then the US, Canada and Australia. *https://www.msf.org/donate
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