You could honestly sense the on-edge excitement within the band.
“I can’t tell you how f**king nervous we’ve been, because it’s been so long since we’ve been on tour,” Fender told the crowd.
“We’ve been f**king shitting ourselves. Anyway, here’s The Borders.”
His loyal fanbase lapped it up. Many were wearing Newcastle United jerseys, a nod to Fender’s Geordie roots. A noticeable group of people had travelled from Northern Ireland just to see Fender perform.
Knowing the 30-year-old’s origin story – a regular bloke, who worked in a pub before being discovered by Ben Howard’s manager – it’s easy to see that he’s still just a down-to-earth guy who made it, despite all the bright lights, fireworks, and fiery on-stage playing.
The setlist also included three as-yet-unreleased songs from People Watching
Opening with The Kitchen, the crowd was ecstatic. While Fender is primarily known for indie rock, the energy immediately ramped up and mosh pits started during the tracks Spice and Howdon Aldi Death Queue.
As he performed some of his older songs, you could sense he was brushing away the cobwebs on tracks he might not be as enthusiastic about anymore, but that he knew the crowd would absolutely love.
His distinctive Northern accent was stamped on every song, especially during Seventeen Going Under, which had everyone singing their lungs out and dancing.
Interestingly, there wasn’t a close-up of Fender on the stage screen. Sitting in the middle of the stadium, I was close enough to get a good view, but the lack of close-ups on his face made me think this was deliberate. The focus wasn’t on his appearance – it was on the performance itself.
There were times when he turned his back to the crowd and you could see the nervousness melt away, as he jammed with his bandmates.
When he began All Is On My Side, one of his older tracks from 2019, he explained there had been “a bit of a technical issue”, leading to two restarts before he launched into the chorus.
“It’s going to happen on the first day,” he said. “I haven’t played this song in a long time.”
Saxophone and trumpet feature heavily in many Fender songs – they’re a huge part of All Is On My Side and The Borders – and saxophonist Johnny ‘Blue Hat’ Davis and trumpeter Mark Webb were in fine form. It was actually Blue Hat’s birthday, so the crowd sang him Happy Birthday, making him especially embarrassed.
The setlist also included three as-yet-unreleased songs from People Watching – Fender’s upcoming album – and he was clearly delighted to play Nostalgia’s Lie, Arm’s Length and Wild Long Lie. Coming close to the end of the gig his raw happiness was clear.
“F**king hell, this is cool. I like this. Thanks so much for being the first of the tour and hopefully many others.”
Thanking his support act, up and coming rock band Wunderhorse, he said: “They make us work harder because they’re so good”.
Along with tracks from his hit 2021 album Seventeen Going Under, he also performed songs from his 2019 debut Hypersonic Missiles, and closed out the gig with Spit of You.
