Sam Fender celebrates historic Newcastle United win at Berlin gig: “Shed some tears – Howay the lads”
Sam Fender has celebrated a historic win by Newcastle United while on stage in Berlin. Check it out below.
The moment took place as the singer’s home team took home their first domestic trophy in 70 years last night (March 16) after beating Liverpool 2-1 in the Carabao Cup. Thousands of fans headed to Wembley to see the club lift their first European Inter-City Fairs Cup since 1969 and first domestic trophy since their 1955 FA Cup victory.
Among those celebrating the win was Sam Fender, who took to the stage in Berlin shortly after the Newcastle United victory.
Marking the occasion, the singer switched up aspects of his live show – which follows the release of his album ‘People Watching’ – and used moments to pay homage to his club. This included walking out to NUFC anthem, Mark Knopfler’s ‘Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero’.
He then also switched up the lyrics to his song ‘Little Bit Closer’ later in the set, changing one of the lines from “I never found him” to “his name is Dan Burn”. This was after the player sent Newcastle United one ahead at the Carabao Cup Final with a header in the 45th minute.
Check out footage and the setlist below.
Sam Fender enters in Berlin to the NUFC anthem…
pic.twitter.com/Nhs6qpeel8
— Northern Chorus (@NorthernChorus_) March 16, 2025
Sam Fender’s Berlin setlist was:
‘Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero’ (Mark Knopfler cover) (In honour of Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup win)
‘Getting Started’
‘Arm’s Length’
‘People Watching’
‘Crumbling Empire’
‘Will We Talk?’
‘Tyrants’
‘Howdon Aldi Death Queue’
‘TV Dinner’
‘Spit of You’
‘The Borders’
‘Little Bit Closer’ (Lyrics changed from ‘I never found him’ to ‘his name is Dan Burn’)
‘Seventeen Going Under’
‘Something Heavy’
‘Hypersonic Missiles’
In addition to integrating nods to the team into the setlist, Fender also took to the stage wearing the signature black and white jersey and shared a number of updates on Instagram about the win.
“Already got emotional today. Shed some tears. HWTL,” he shared before the match kicked off yesterday afternoon, with the latter part referring to ‘Howay the lads”. He then shared a selfie showing him wearing the jersey and surrounded by Newcastle United scarves, before uploading another selfie after the win.
“Best day ever. We deserved it. 70 years. The clock has been reset. Howay the lads,” he wrote, with the close-up image showing him crying.
Find those posts below.
The win came after the singer-songwriter teamed up with Newcastle United at the start of the year – auctioning off Carabao Cup shirts, with the funds raised going to charity.
Last night wasn’t the only show from the singer’s ongoing tour that saw him make headlines. Earlier this month the guitarist and songwriter also made fans laugh after he ate a Greggs sausage roll on stage, following a fan bringing it all the way from the UK to his show in Paris.
As well as the on-stage happenings, he also hit a huge milestone recently as ‘People Watching’ landed the biggest UK opening week for a British act since Harry Styles‘ ‘Harry’s House‘. It also marked Fender’s biggest ever opening week, selling more units than 2019’s debut ‘Hypersonic Missiles‘ and 2021’s ‘Seventeen Going Under‘ combined.
In a four-star review of the album, NME wrote: “Reflective, analytical and vulnerable, ‘People Watching’ does exactly what the title may suggest: takes stock of the characters, friends and loved ones who have made Fender the person he is today. He approaches each track with sensitivity as he looks back on his life so far – perhaps even with an inkling of guilt – and contemplates who he may be next.”
Looking forward to new music, Fender has recently teased another new album, saying that he is “desperate” to lean into more of a punk-inspired sound going forward, and used his BRITs speech to celebrate the people of Newcastle.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
