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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
£80 for a sam fender ticket is insane what is happening to our gig economy man i remember when i could see an artist play arenas for 40/50 quid and didn’t have to go through ticketmaster scams to do so christ alive
don’t get me wrong I love sam fender but it’s ironic he goes on about the working class and how the north east is deprived and then goes on to charge £80 for a ticket to his gig
Fender has been vocal throughout his career about giving back to charities and organisations with two 2020 singles raising money for separate causes.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
Paul Heaton capped all his arena tickets off at £35 and still profited from the tour.. artists DO have control over prices. Sam Fender charging £80+ for arena standing tickets is just disgusting. Grew up working class and has a HUGE percentage of WC fans. Do better. pic.twitter.com/FrsCs5p6rm
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.
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
Blossoms at O2 Ritz Manchester – five-night hometown residency is already a triumph
Daisy Jackson
Blossoms are a band who were born and forged here in Greater Manchester, and now they’re back retracing their steps with a five-night residency across the venues that launched them into the big leagues.
Their star has risen all the way to arena level and headline shows at Wythenshawe Park at this point, especially here in their hometown, so the chance to see them back in these cosy-ish little venues is special, and a little bizarre.
For night two of their landmark sold-out gig series, it was the turn of the O2 Ritz, that sweaty spot off Oxford Road where the floor bounces downstairs and you stick to the carpets upstairs.
Poetically, the first time I ever saw Blossoms was in this very room in 2016, when they had the mid-afternoon slot at Neighbourhood festival and the queue to get in went all the way back to St Peter’s Square.
Since those days, Blossoms have come a long, long way, and their live show has evolved and matured from five lads thrashing on their instruments to this well-oiled, hip-swaying, flares-wearing, chart-topping machine.
There’s even choreography now – how fancy!
A stand-out moment from the show is actually a song from their new, fifth studio album Gary, which is still barely eight weeks old.
A spoof recording of legendary Manchester indie club 42s rings out, then all five band members abandon their stations, slinging keytars and marching drums around their necks so that they can dance together in front of neon signs.
Blossoms have just done their second of five shows in Manchester, this time at the O2 Ritz. Credit: The Manc GroupBlossoms on stage at the O2 Ritz in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Blossoms promised more disco with this album and they bloody meant it. It’s not just the flares and the blow-dries and the moustaches (though those do help) – it’s in the funk and groove that’s gradually crept into their music exponentially with each album release.
This is still indie rock but it’s the most danceable of its genre. Good luck keeping your shoulders from wiggling and jiggling in here. Good luck keeping that grin off your face.
And Gary is one of the most unexpectedly fun albums to be released in the last year – the fact they called it Gary, named after a giant fibreglass garden centre Gorilla, should’ve been our clue. It could border on silly were it not such a masterpiece.
It seems like the only thing Blossoms are trying to prove is that you can be wildly successful without taking yourself too seriously. They just seem like a group who want to have a good time and it’s totally infectious.
Case in point – when each band member is introduced, keyboardist Myles Kellock plays the riff of Satisfaction by Benny Benassi and The Biz. Unexpected.
Blossoms also clearly give a sh*t about their live shows and graft at it – I’ve seen these guys an awful lot and it’s because their tour dates are plentiful and consistently worth the ticket price.
This is definitely the biggest era of their career so far, but have they peaked? Not even close.
The Warehouse Project reveals return to Rotterdam for second-ever overseas event
Danny Jones
The Warehouse Project has confirmed it will be returning to Rotterdam in 2025 for just its second-ever overseas event.
After debuting abroad in 2023 with an action-packed few days in the city of Rotterdam – whose art scene, music culture and even canal network bears lots of similarities to Manchester – Warehouse Project is coming back for more.
There’s just over a month left of the 2024 WHP calendar; you’d think they’d be getting ready to wind down and enjoy the Christmas breather, but not so: the organisers are already planning what is set to be one of their biggest and best long weekends to date.
Set to take place over the early May bank holiday, the Dutch port city will once again play host to one of Manchester’s legendary club nights.
The second biggest city in the Netherlands behind Amsterdam, the next edition of Warehouse’s international series is set to return to Rotterdam RDM – a warehouse space very reminiscent of both Depot Mayfield and their original home at Victoria Warehouse.
WHP x RDM II is already being billed as an “unforgettable weekend” and if any of this year’s mainline events here in Manchester are anything to go by, they’re bound to live up to that promise.
There’s also a full FAQ page for anyone looking to find out more information regarding Rotterdam, the venue itself, travel and more.
As well as revealing the dates (2-4 May 2025), the organisers have already teased a good chunk of the lineup, with the likes of Chris Stussy, Peach, Four Tet b2b with Sammy Virji, salute and many more already confirmed.
With a slew of incredible acts, multiple afterparties on boats and other local venues, as well as plenty of opportunity to see the rest of Holland’s ‘Manhattan on the Maas’, this is going to be SO good.
We were lucky enough to have been sent to sample their inaugural Rotterdam date back in April of 2023 and, we have to say, it was an absolute blast.
Take it from us, if you’re considering being a part of this next event you won’t regret and we’ll be putting together an extensive guide to help you feel prepared for raving overseas. Registration for early access is already live, so sign up fast if you want to give yourself the best chance of being there.
Limited presale and accommodation packages will be available to those who have applied at 9am on Monday, 2 December (UK customers only). General admission tickets will go live from 9am n Tuesday, 3 December sale for UK and Dutch customers starts Tuesday 3rd December at 9am GMT/10am CET.
Rotterdam 2025 will be here before you know it, so take a boots-on-the-ground at what an international Warehouse Project date looks like down below:
Thomas Melia -
23rd October 2024 
