Review: Sam Fender @ AEC Arena 25/11/25
The new voice of modern rock and roll had Adelaide moshing with a thrilling set of anthemic tunes that left everyone wanting more.
Words Tobias Handke // Image Mhari Dougal
Sam Fender w/Holly Humberstone & Esha Tewari @ AEC Arena 25/11/25
It’s been one hell of a year for UK singer-songwriter Sam Fender. Appealing to the post-Brexit generation of young English voters who relate to his modern rock songs about life in England, where men’s suicide rates are skyrocketing, far-right rhetoric is on the rise, and the working class are struggling to put food on the table, Fender’s anthemic guitar-driven snapshots of everyday life have seen the northern lad win three BRIT Awards, take out this year’s Mercury Prize Award for his third album People Watching and rise to the top of the charts across the globe.
After a breakout performance at Coachella earlier this year, along with a near sold-out summer tour across the UK and Europe, Fender has finally returned down under for a run of concerts, including a stop in little old Adelaide. But before the new voice of UK rock made his presence felt, emerging Aussie pop star Esha Tewari and English singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone warmed up the crowd.
It was clear to see why Tewari is being touted as the next big thing. Her bedroom indie pop ditties are catchy and crowd-friendly, and although her opening set was short, Tewari gave a solid showing, with her new single ‘in twos’ a highlight.
Humberstone is very much in the Olivia Rodrigo mould of popstar, with her upbeat indie rock meets cheery pop getting the crowd on side. Humberstone performed a selection of old and new tracks, with the unreleased ‘Cruel World’ and ‘Dive’, which sounded like Tom Cochrane’s ‘Life Is a Highway’, fitting in well alongside fan favourites ‘Falling Asleep At the Wheel’ and ‘Scarlett’.
The growing crowd was dotted with Newcastle shirts and plenty of ex-pats, with anticipation at fever pitch when Sam Fender and his seven-piece band made their way on stage to thunderous applause, getting stuck right in with the anthemic ‘Angel in Lothian’.
From the get-go, it became obvious just how talented this lad is, with Fender’s high tenor reverberating around the AEC Arena as his equally skilled band members did their thing.
“Hey Adelaide, how you doing?” Fender asked in his Gerodie accent before launching into ‘Will We Talk!”, initiating the first crowd sing-along of the night. This was partly inspired by Fender’s keyboardist and good mate Joe Atkinson, who acted like a hypeman for the singer throughout the evening, constantly revving up the crowd and encouraging everyone to sing and shout.
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A running spot on this tour has seen Fender pull someone from the crowd to join him on stage and play ‘The Borders’ on guitar. A lucky gent named Andrew got his chance to showcase his guitar-playing chops and did a bang-up job, much to Fender’s relief. ‘People Watching’ was dedicated to Fender’s Uncle Paul, who lives in Hahndorf and is a painter and decorator, in case you need some work done.
I heard someone nearby remark that it was like seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and while comparisons between Fender and the Boss are easy to make, it’s getting a little lazy. Sure, the saxophone plays a huge part in songs like ‘Getting Started’ and ‘Talk To You’, and Fender’s lyrics are certainly aimed at the working class, but the northern lad stands on his own as a unique artist who has helped bring rock and roll back to the charts. The more I listen to Fender, the more I hear Brandon Flowers from The Killers. There’s a slice of Americana in Fender’s tasty UK rock sanger that gives it a familiar flavour while still offering something new and unique.
Strumming the acoustic guitar during the opening of ‘Wild Long Lie’, Fender switched to the electric before the song’s chaotic ending, while ‘How’s On Aldi Death Queue’ was a torrent of punk rock noise and a song Fender called “fucking stupid”, although people went mad for it.
‘Seventeen Going Under’ seemingly brought things to a close with Fender and his band bathed in red, but the inevitable encore quickly followed.
Fender sat at the keyboard solo for ‘The Dying Light’ before his band joined in, with Fender grabbing the guitar for the song’s epic conclusion. Humberstone joined Fender for a duet of ‘Something Heavy’, which the Geordie was quick to point out is his favourite song from his latest album. The night ended in a hail of confetti during a rocking rendition of ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ that saw Atkinson smoking on stage and the crowd singing the chorus loudly before it all came to a climactic conclusion.
