British alt-rocker Sam Fender has been forced to postpone his upcoming UK shows due to a crew member testing positive for COVID-19. Presently, no new dates have been announced, but the singer has made it clear that the dates will be “moved to next year.”
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the @samfendermusic gig at @fatsams on Thursday has been postponed. We are working with Sam’s team to confirm a new date as soon as possible. Please note that NO tickets have been issued yet and any tickets being offered for resale are fraudulent. pic.twitter.com/g7lcfQcfnE
— Assai UK (@Assai_UK) December 15, 2021
Despite the unfortunate cancellation of these dates, Fender was able to complete the majority of his UK tour, with dates at Alexandra Palace in London, Newcastle’s Utilita Arena and Cardiff’s Motor Point Arena. The final two gigs were originally meant to take place at Sheffield’s Foundry venue this evening (December 15th) and Fat Sams in Dundee, Scotland on the 16th of December. The singer stated via his Instagram story: “End of year shocker…There’s been a case of COVID in our touring party so the in-store shows in Sheffield and Dundee tomorrow will be moved to next year. Big love and see you soon.”
You can read the official announcement here, or via a screenshot posted by NME.
COVID complications aside, the North Shields singer-songwriter has recently announced that he will be headlining Finsbury Park on July 15th, 2022. Supporting Fender will be Irish post-punk outfit Fontaines D.C, indie pop songwriter Declan McKenna, singer-songwriter beabadoobee, and South London post-punk band Goat Girl. Fender posted a video to Instagram two days ago to express his excitement about the show, saying: “It’s gonna be the biggest gig we’ve ever done.” Pre-sale for the tickets went live earlier today, and general sale tickets will go live at 9AM on December 17th. Tickets can be purchased at this link.
In addition to this, Fender will be setting out on a UK tour in March of next year, beginning with a show at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena. He will also be playing a myriad of other outdoor shows prior to Finsbury Park, such as the Emirates Stadium in London, the Hurricane and Southside Festivals in Germany and Rock Werchter in Belgium. Tickets can be found here.
2021 has been a huge year for Fender, having released his second full-length album Seventeen Going Under in October to widespread praise and acclaim by both fans and critics. Fender began releasing singles for the album back in July, the first being the record’s title track. In a glowing five-star review of the album, The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis described the record as “rousing but arrestingly bleak, personal material that puts his indie-rock peers in the shade”. The album can be found on all streaming services, and physical media, including CDs, two different cassette tape variants, and various merchandise bundles can be found here.
