Credit: Tony Shek
Live
Sam Fender
The Mash House, Edinburgh
October 29 2018
Words: Richard Cobb
Booking the first night of a tour for a Monday night is a bold move by anyone’s standards, but when you factor in the air of expectation being at fever pitch after extensive radio play, a highly regarded appearance on Jools Holland and a sold out UK tour to boot, Sam Fender and his band had their work cut out tonight.
It wouldn’t be unfair to say that going into this gig, there was a split between those that already knew and worshipped Sam Fender, and friends or other half’s that were merely tagging along for the brownie points. “He’s like a, eh..you know Bruce Springsteen? Yeah? Well he’s basically like an indie version of that guy” one audience member served up to his half asleep female companion. He needn’t have relied on such epic generalisations, as moments later Fender and his band came bounding on stage to the theme from Stranger Things (not Stranger Thighs as my spell check tried to autocorrect) and seamlessly rattled through ‘Millennial’ - the ideal opener to banish any worried pre-conceptions that tonight was going to resemble anything other than a triumph.
Credit: Ross Paterson
With the first frost of the winter (the actual winter, let’s ignore the Spring snowstorm) hitting earlier that day, the crowd took a little while to thaw out, but all they needed was a mid-set rendition of the endearing, atmospheric and all out brilliant ‘Dead Boys’ to warm the cockles and remind the capacity crowd that they had voices and mobile phones with cameras that they could utilise for the remainder of the evening. There’s always a risk playing arguably your best, or at least most well-known song in the middle of the set, but the bread matched the filling on each side, almost exceeding it with hit after hit, showing no signs of going stale, including a masterly rendition of latest single 'That Sound.
Ending the main loaf of the set with ‘Play God’ and seeing out the night with a few slices of stripped back solo piano and guitar ventures was a nice throwback to where it all began in his pre-band days. In these songs, the raw talent and vocal strength was phenomenal and a special moment to end a memorable night.
Not everyone in attendance may have known who he was prior to the gig, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this time next year, he’ll be playing venues ten-times the size and people won’t have to rely on makeshift comparisons, because his sound is quite unique and if anyone asks, he sounds like Sam Fender.
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