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Sam Fender under fire following outrage over ticket prices for his upcoming tour

He's been accused of going against his image as a working class artist. (this article contains affiliate links)

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia - 23rd October 2024

North East superstar Sam Fender is no stranger to visiting our bustling city but this time fans of the singer are upset with the prices of tickets for his upcoming tour.

The Seventeen Going Under hitmaker has come under fire the past few days due to the ‘excessive’ and ‘hypocritical’ pricing of tickets for his upcoming tour.

Earlier this month, the Geordie rock singer started teasing his tour through visuals displayed around suspected venues for his upcoming tour, with one appearing just outside of Co-op Live.

Simply titled the ‘People Watching Tour’, Fender has announced dates and tickets for his 2024 Winter tour with prices reaching £80 and above.

The Newcastle musician is known for having a high majority of working-class fans and these are the very people criticising these ticket prices.

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Another big demographic for Fender fanatics is students. They too play a huge factor in the star’s career, making up a large proportion of the rock singer’s fanbase.

Fender has been vocal throughout his career about giving back to charities and organisations with two 2020 singles raising money for separate causes.

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He joined the Foo Fighters ‘Times Like These’ celebrity cover recording as part of BBC Radio One’s Live Lounge Allstars project during the pandemic to raise money for both Children In Need and Comic Relief.

In November of the same year, he also distributed ‘Winter Song’ with the single being used to raise money for The Big Issue, a charity known for creating opportunities for people experiencing homelessness across the UK.

Some have come out to defend the 30-year-old by arguing that tour pricing has more to do with management, promoters and venues than it does with the artists themselves.

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Nevertheless, lots of fans have still taken issue with Fender over the ticket prices, especially given the working-class nature of not only his background but the content of his music, insisting instead that Sam and plenty of other artists do have a say over costs.

Announcing shows in Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow and one right here in Manchester at the already world-leading Co-op Live arena this winter, this is the ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ singer’s most high-profile UK tour to date.

With the scramble for pre-sale codes already having caused plenty of panic online and with the increasingly popular Wunderhorse once again set to serve as the main support act on his first tour since Spring 2022, tickets are set to be in serious demand.

The Newquay-founded band have seen acclaim and accolades this year with their latest project, Midas, even gaining the title of ‘greatest gig of my life’ by one member of our very own Audio North team.

With dates throughout the festive period this year, Fender is set to begin his tour on 2 December with the Newcastle date on 20 December undergoing balloted tickets due to demand to watch him play the massive gig in his hometown.

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Read more:

The ‘People Watching Tour’ to Manchester on Friday, 6 December with general admission going live this Friday, HERE – it’s just up to you whether you’re willing to pay those prices.

What do you make of the Sam Fender ticket prices – will you be going for them or is between £60 and £90+ for seated and standing simply too much in your opinion?

Featured Images – Niall Lea/Press Image (supplied)

Audio

Busted and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man added to huge music series line-up in Delamere Forest

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

Pop-punk band Busted and pop/soul singer Rag ‘N’ Bone Man are the latest acts announced to headline a music-filled forest a short drive from Greater Manchester.

The new names have been added to the huge Forest Live 2025 gig series, which takes place at Delamere Forest as well as four other unique outdoor locations across the country.

In a setting that’s mostly greenery and acres of trees, one voice is guaranteed to travel through the dense landscape of the forest, and that’s Rag ‘N’ Bone Man.

The powerhouse vocalist loves Northern crowds especially Manchester, back in October when we sat down with the Uckfield singer he said ‘Whether it was playing Gorilla or the Ritz… I never seem to have had a bad crowd’.

Joining the bill with the impressive soloist is boyband and still-to-this-day heartthrobs Busted who are visiting AO Arena this year as well, for those who aren’t such big fans of the festival scene.

Busted have had worldwide and national acclaim soundtracking the early noughties by transporting people a thousand years into the future with ‘Year 3000’ and educating us on ‘What I Go To School For’.

Rag ‘N’ Bone Man has his fair share of chart topping too with notable songs like the hard-hitting drum-heavy ‘Human’ to the Calvin Harris link-up ‘Giant’ which is a flurry of flamboyant horns and EDM beats.

You could be like these lucky gig-goers, front row in Delamere Forest.
Raise a glass to your favourite band at Forest Live 2025.
Bringing music and green spaces together, Delamere Forest, Cheshire.
Credit: Supplied

Stockport five-piece Blossoms will also be headlining and they might be bringing their latest member Gary, the infamous eight foot gorilla, on stage with them too.

There’s another Gary on the bill too, with Gary Barlow set to play in June.

Dundee legends Snow Patrol are another of the acts who are set to play at Forest Live this summer.

Situated in Cheshire, Delamere Forest has been hosting events and shows as part of ‘Forest Live’ in partnership with lots of other unique green spaces like Sherwood Forest and Cannock Chase Forest too.

This initiative is set to drive more people into these natural environments that they maybe wouldn’t visit if it wasn’t for the music and make them realise how brilliant these grounds truly are.

Rag ‘N’ Bone Man is headlining on Sunday 15 June while Busted are set to headline on Thursday 19 June, both events are taking place at Delamere Forest as part of Forest Live 2025, with tickets HERE.

Forest Live 2025 at Delamere Forest line-up

  • 13 June – Snow Patrol
  • 14 June – Gary Barlow
  • 15 June – Rag n Bone Man
  • 19 June – Busted (with Twin Atlantic and SOAP)
  • 21 June – Blossoms (with Seb Lowe and The Guest List)

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image: Publicity Picture (Supplied)

Audio

Watch Johnny Marr join Franz Ferdinand on stage in Manchester for a Smiths classic

Danny Jones Danny Jones Johnny Marr joins Franz Ferdinand on stage in Manchester

Franz Ferdinand are the latest act to play Aviva Studios as part of the ongoing Amazon series here in Manchester and were joined by a local music legend during the performance: none other than the mighty Johnny Marr.

Amazon Music UK’s ‘City Sessions’ has already seen the likes of Bastille and Ella Henderson kick off the programme of live performances at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, and this past weekend saw the alternative indie veterans become the third.

Better yet, the Manchester crowd got to see one of their hometown heroes as well, as the former Smiths guitarist turned lyricist and solo artist joined the Glaswegians on stage for a spell.

A ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ cover by Franz Ferdinand featuring Johnny Marr himself was on absolutely no one’s bingo card for 2025 but we’re very happy we’ve lived to see this cameo.

@alixhgz never would i have imagined @Franz Ferdinand to have covered bigmouth with johnny marr wtf #fyp #franzferdinand #thesmiths #johnnymarr #foryoupage ♬ original sound – alix

The 61-year-old musician still has all the effortless swagger he always did and although anyone would struggle to match the same distinct vocal style as Morrissey, lead singer Alex Kapranos did a great job.

Reacting to the clips shared online, the excitement in the room was clearly palpable, with one person writing, “I let out the biggest scream” and another adding, “The crossover I didn’t know I needed!”

A third wrote: “I’d like to see them do an album together like the magnificent FFS album” – referring to the standalone collaboration record created by the Franz Ferdinand and Sparks supergroup in 2015.

Local social media and marketing company, Altrincham HQ, also shared footage of the two artists colliding to perform the Franz fan favourite ‘Do You Want To’, with Marr playing lead throughout.

Just excellent.

The entire performance was livestreamed on Amazon’s Twitch channel as part of the City Sessions series, so you can back and watch the full thing, but it’s fair to say this was the highlight.

It was only back in September that we saw the re-release of Johnny Marr’s only solo album with The Healers, Boomslang, but we’re glad to see the Manc icon is still finding plenty of opportunities to get on stage and do what he does best.

As for whether we’ll see more live performances of The Smiths tunes in the near future, Morrissey recently said that Marr now has full rights to all of their music and could feasibly tour with someone as lead should he wish.

However, the latter was quick to deny the controversial frontman’s claims and insisted that he had simply refused to sign an important document. His response also detailed previous talks about a potential reunion, though the chances of it ever happening now looked slimmer than ever.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Nicholas O’Donnell (supplied)

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