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SAM FENDER // Photo – Mark Francesca (@sixstringsphotography)

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SAM FENDER
+ Gretta Ray
@ HBF Stadium, Perth,
20th July 2023
(Live Review)

Review by Melanie Griffiths

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SAM FENDER // Photo – Mark Francesca (@sixstringsphotography)

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Sam Fender wears his heart on his sleeve and his roots laid across his guitar. The singer-songwriter is known for his emotionally charged lyrics and anthemic hooks but when he stands on the stage of HBF Stadium with his guitar adorned in the Newcastle stripes, looking out with surprise over the audience that won’t stop chanting his songs, he casts the image of a Geordie boy made good.

For a supporting act, Gretta Ray was given a substantial slot of 45 minutes. The Triple J Unearthed High winner has garnered a strong following. However, they were not present on this night. Her introspective songs like America Forever were too delicate to combat the noise of the crowd at the back of the floor. Her reflective explanations of the origins of her songs including Seventeen were drowned out from the rumbling of the crowd. But had they paid attention they would have heard a singer that has a gracefully charming allure with songs like Heartbreak Baby. A shame really of perhaps the wrong crowd with a setlist list that needed refinement.

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GRETTA RAY // Photo – Mark Francesca (@sixstringsphotography)

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SAM FENDER // Photo – Mark Francesca (@sixstringsphotography)

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With a pulsating light and the stomp of a drum intro to Will We Talk? Sam Fender took position at the microphone and let it rip. By the song’s end, the singer mused to himself, “We’re truly fucking jet-lagged” but then dove into Getting Started from 2021’s breakthrough album, Seventeen Going Under. With its bright melody and brisk pace, it was a cracker of a start. Even at the song’s end, the chorus was taken up by eager fans chanting the chorus. A chuffed and stunned Fender declared, “Perth you fucking legends. That is the first time that has ever happened for this song. This is gonna be a good night innit?”

True to his words, it was. Fender with his working-class roots has drawn comparisons to Bruce Springsteen’s lyricism. For juxtaposing the ordinariness of life with the desire to want something grand. It’s why songs like Dead Boys with Fender’s achingly stark vocals conveying the futility of suicide hits right in the gut. Or Mantra, a sensitive ballad that conveys a weariness that belies the artist’s age. An English Springsteen? Not yet but it’s obvious that Fender is driven by his family’s roots and has a keen understanding of storytelling.

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SAM FENDER // Photo – Mark Francesca (@sixstringsphotography)

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But on the flipside is a musician who revels in rocking an audience. Backed by a full band including an acoustic guitarist, saxophonist and trumpet player, Fender appeared to have a lot of fun as he ripped through The Borders before hitting a dark and gritty vibe for The Spice. Drenched in blood-red light Fender stoked the crowd into forming a mosh pit, which fans happily complied with. This was the point the concert started to lift. Embracing a messier and looser approach in Howdon Aldi Death Queue the crowd loosened up and Fender liked what he saw, commenting “You fucking legends”.

Fender stomped the stage through the wistful Spit of You. The theme of patriarchal division between father and son is a common theme, however, Fender’s ability to undercut his frustration with genuine tenderness sets him apart. Fender then rolled out a Thin Lizzy cover of The Boys Are Back in Town, which bombed in Ireland but was a bawdy success in Perth.

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SAM FENDER // Photo – Mark Francesca (@sixstringsphotography)

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Not stopping there, Fender then leaned into the comparisons by playing a sensitively arranged cover of Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark. A momentum breaker hit with Wide Green Ocean before his massive hit Seventeen Going Under’s guitar riff rang out over the buzzing crowd.

Hypersonic Missiles closed out the night and had the entire stadium bouncing like an undulating wave. It was joyous and proved that Fender has gas for a very long career and is an exhilarating songwriter. A reluctant rockstar but a master of poetic storytelling.

5/5

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SAM FENDER // Photo – Mark Francesca (@sixstringsphotography)

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Check out Mark Francesca’s (@sixstringsphotography) full gallery of this event HERE

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Follow SAM FENDER
Website – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter

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SAM FENDER // Photo – Mark Francesca (@sixstringsphotography)

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AMNPLIFY – DB