Sam Fender to play historic gig at St. James’ Park
Sam Fender is to become the first Geordie artist to headline St James’ Park in his hometown of Newcastle, UK.
The North Shields singer-songwriter says it is “a dream come true” to announce a show at the 55,000-capacity football stadium, home to Premier League club Newcastle United.
The 28-year-old’s historic concert is set to take place on 9 June 2023, with support from Inhaler and Holly Humberstone.
It will see Fender follow in the footsteps of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Ed Sheeran who have all performed at St. James’ Park.
“Ever since I started this band, I always used to joke with the boys that one day we might play St James’ Park in Newcastle,” says Fender.
“This is literally [going to] be the biggest show we’ve ever done – our first stadium show”
“This is literally [going to] be the biggest show we’ve ever done – our first stadium show, which is so weird to say. I can’t wait, it’s gonna be absolutely lush and I hope to see you all there.”
Fender has won two Brit awards, the critics’ choice rising star in 2019 and best rock/alternative singer in 2022, both of which have been turned into beer hand pulls at the Low Lights Tavern in North Shields, where he worked and was discovered at the age of 18.
Both his albums, 2019’s Hypersonic Missiles and 2021’s Seventeen Going Under topped the UK charts, and he had supported the likes of The Killers and The Rolling Stones before headlining a sell-out 45,000 crowd in London’s Finsbury Park in June this year.
Fender’s agent Paul Wilson spoke to IQ earlier this year about the Finsbury Park show and the artist’s long-term ambition to perform at St. James’ Park.
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1m tickets sold for Sheeran UK dates…but 10k cancelled
A remarkable one in 65 Britons are seeing Ed Sheeran’s 2018 stadium shows, with in excess of one million tickets having been sold since 8 July, promoters Kilimanjaro Live, DHP Family and AEG Presents have announced.
Sheeran’s third world tour, ÷ (Divide), returns to Europe next summer, with the British superstar playing four nights at Etihad Stadium (60,000-cap.) in Manchester from 24 to 27 May, three at Hampden Park (90,000-cap.) in Glasgow from 1 to 3 June, three at St James’ Park (~52,000-cap.) in Newcastle from 8 to 10 June, four at Wembley Stadium (90,000-cap.) in London from 14 to 17 June and four at Principality Stadium (74,500-cap.) in Cardiff from 21 to 14 June.
According to the promoters, more than 90% of tickets were bought at face value by Ed Sheeran fans, with just 10% finding their way into the hands of touts. The three warned buyers that tickets re-listed anywhere but on the official resale site, Twickets, would be “instantly” cancelled.
Sheeran is a vocal opponent of for-profit secondary ticketing, and his manager, Stuart Camp, has given evidence to a parliamentary hearing on ‘ticket abuse’.
Despite this warning, reads a joint statement from Kili, DHP and AEG, “it has has become clear that one such company, Viagogo, have ignored the promoters’ requests, and there is an increasing number of customers who are realising they have been duped by Viagogo’s false advertising and have unfortunately become victims of massive hidden overcharging for tickets. […]
“Up to 10,000 tickets have now been cancelled and are being returned back into the marketplace for individual fans to purchase at face value”
“The promoters have been monitoring the sales transactions in close conjunction with the National Trading Standards cyber crime team and have identified many multiple purchases which are in contravention of the terms and conditions for the sale of the Ed Sheeran tickets. As a result, up to 10,000 tickets have now been cancelled and are being returned back into the marketplace for individual fans to purchase at face value.”
The official primary ticket agencies for the UK tour are See Tickets and Ticketmaster.
In addition to cancelling the tickets, the promoters have reported all secondary ticket listings that violate the newly updated Consumer Rights Act – which requires a ‘unique ticket number’ to be displayed when a ticket is listed for resale – to the CMA to aid its ongoing investigation into suspected breaches of the law among ticket resale sites.
Any customers who are concerned they may have been “defrauded” by Viagogo have been directed to Claire Turnham’s ‘self-help guide’ for obtaining a refund, hosted on the FanFair Alliance website.
Sheeran’s next ÷ tour show is at the Videotron Centre (20,396-cap.) in Quebec tomorrow. An Asian leg kicks off in Taipei on 22 October.
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