Sam Fender fans brand setlist 'insanity' as People Watching tour ...
Sam Fender fans are split on the People Watching opening night show, with some branding it “insanity”.
Fender, 30, is touring the UK before the release of his third studio album, People Watching, in February next year. Two singles have been released so far to promote the album, with the title track and moody follow-up Wild Long Lie available to listen to now. Both songs were played live by Fender at his opening People Watching tour show in Dublin, Ireland.
The 3Arena crowd was treated to fifteen songs, and many were upset that there were not more in the mix. The live debut of Arm’s Length and unreleased song Nostalgia’s Lie, which featured at his Boardmaster warm-up shows in August, did little to satiate those wanting more.
Fans have since taken to Twitter/X and wrote of their disappointment with cut songs and the length of the set. One wrote: “Sam Fender playing LESS songs than his 2022 arena tour but charging double the price is actually insanity.”
A second fan wrote: “Sam Fender is amazing but a 15 song setlist is a bit of a pisstake when you’ve 2 albums, a fair amount of stand alone singles and a new album on the way.”
Another added: “I’m so sorry like I love Sam Fender but 15 songs for that ticket price… I literally saw The Cure for 50 quid this year and they played 31 songs.” One user simply wrote: “70 quid.”
Some users questioned why some songs had been left off the setlist for this tour, naming a few heavy-hitters omitted from this first set: “I know Sam Fender has a new album out, but the fact he’s missed out Saturday, Dead Boys & The Dying Light is crazy.”
Others were horrified with The Dying Light‘s disappearance too, with another user adding: “I’m sorry Sam Fender took The Dying Light, one of the best songs you will ever see live, off the setlist???”
Not everyone is upset with the setlist as many noted it was a chance for those who had not seen him before to hear hits like Seventeen Going Under and encore track Hypersonic Missiles live for the first time.
“Sam Fender actually having a good setlist and listening to the songs that people have been requesting,” one user wrote. The setlist featured deep cuts like All Is On My Side and the essential double bill of Spice and Howdon Aldi Death Queue. Fender’s setlist could, of course, change over the course of the tour.
Usual features Getting Started, The Borders, Will We Talk? and Get You Down were also included in the set. The sold-out tour is set to continue across the UK with the next stop-off in Leeds on December 4, before concluding with a homecoming show in Newcastle on December 20.
It comes as Fender sells out three separate dates at St. James’ Park next summer, with the three stadium dates based in Newcastle next June now sold out.
