Sam Fender: Can Heartland Rock still be generational? – Rockon.it

Article by Umberto Scaramozzino | Photo of Andrea Ripamonti

We had to postpone such an important moment for a long time: The first headliner concert in Italy by Sam Fender. Event awaited since the wonderful record debut of 2019 (“Hypersonic Missiles”) and then finally calendarized on May 23, 2023. Too bad that a few minutes from the beginning of that highly anticipated show, when the gates of the Fabrique in Milan should have been already open, a sign suddenly posted outside the Venue announced to the thousands of people in line that would have made it better to start home:

Cold shower, regret and the hope of being able to recover soon. Thus we arrive at March 13, 2025date that six years after his debut and two years after the broken dream, the brand new Choruslife Arena Of Bergamo In the meantime, it is preparing to welcome an audience more than doubled and galvanized by the long wait. A few times an Italian concert in recent times has generated such an atmosphere of emotion. “History in the Making“His compatriots would say, because we are witnessing the achievement of the maturity of one of the most talented songwriters of this generationin the first chapter of what promises to be a beautiful love story between a country and a new musical myth.

When the world struggled to label Sam Fender as “the new Bruce Springsteen” (because to say it of Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem did not already go more fashionable), and then faded even more to deny it, the British artist already looked beyond and offered in response his irresistible irreverence and the fruit of his talent. How to be like this serious and deep in the texts of his songs, and so light -hearted In promoting and relating to the external world, a nice mystery remains. But that's it: part of its success also derives from this dualitywhich could in part could have protected it from caustic comparisons. Today we find ourselves on the hands “People watching“, Third work in the studio which is also the third large record released given up by an increasingly focus author, increasingly decisive and solid in his proposal.

There remains a question, which many arose at the beginning of this career. But can the Heartland Rock still be generational? Sam Fender, apparently, is the affirmative response to this question. Not only is it credible as the new flagship name of a songwriting halfway between Britpop and the English version of a rock branch that has always been typically American mold, but it is also a great performer. Not only big albums, but also great live.

“Dead Boys”, the first song in the lineup in Bergamo, is a surprising start. Not the classic explosive beginning that is expected from a concert in an indoor arena, but an exciting start, especially for those who care about the first record chapter. The task of inflaming Choruslife instead belongs to the subsequent “Getting Started”, the singles of “Seventenen Going Under“Which is one of the many potential generational hymns that Mr. Fender has put in its heavy luggage. There is no single person who does not sing with full lungs. The building overflows with passion and boasts a very heterogeneous audience, both by age and by origin. In fact, there are many British away, but also representatives of various European states who have chosen the Italian stage to see North Shields's rocker live live. The statistical data that represents the real crazy splinter of the evening is perhaps the ridiculous number of shirts of the team of the heart of Sam, the Newcastlemuch more widespread than the official merch. Wear it too Edoardo da Livornoa fan in the barrier who with a sign and a lot of stubbornness manages to be invited on stage to play the acoustic guitar in the Borders, increasing even more the degree of empathy recorded by the evening.

Contrary to what we could predict years ago, nostalgia is not the engine of the evening. On the contrary: each element screams a “here and now“Peremptory, proof of the great ability of Sam Fender to decline in the present of the musical genres who apparently made their time. The merit is also of the new sound, where the touch of Adam Granddural of the The War on Drugsproducer of this third album, and the band of seven elements that brings a completely new vitality to the stage, far from poses and imitations. A small row only underlying the studio is not negligible, but expertly added to the live mixture. And what to say about the work on Sam Fender's guitar: the icing on the cake. A series of solos worthy of the best Prince school.

The impression is that the possibility of seeing it in a club is now definitively nuanced and that, indeed, the large buildings are the next step in a path that will inexorably take in the future to the stadium (as already happens in the United Kingdom). Because even if the comparisons with the boss are useless, annoying and overcome, theSpringsteenian energy released by the contact between the artist and the public is undeniable and strongly revealing. Sam Fender's entry into our Olympus is imminent and is a beautiful news.

Sam Fender – The Scaletta of the Bergamo concert

Dead Boys
Getting Started
Arm's Length
People watching
Crumbling Empire
Will we talk?
Tyrants
Howon Ardi Death Queue
Dinner TV
Spit of you
The Borders
Little bit closer
Seventenen Going Under

Encore:
Something Heavy
Hypersonic Missiles