After what feels like an eternity, everyone’s favourite Geordie is back: Sam Fender’s new album looks like it’s on the way but we’re getting a massive UK arena tour first.
Literally three whole years since his smash-hit sophomore record Seventeen Going Under and having gone without any new releases from Sam besides an exciting feature on Noah Kahan’s ‘Homesick’ back in January, Fender fanatics have quite rightly been losing their minds.
You can consider us firmly included in that group.
Confirming the announcement at 10 on Friday, 18 October after a series of teasers online, the 30-year-old has finally shared details of the new ‘People Watching’ tour, suspected to be the name of his upcoming third studio album.
Fans have already heard glimpses of the heavily rumoured title track ‘People Watching’ both in the short social media clips and out on the road, as the North Shields-born indie star and his band have been playing new songs at a handful of gigs at the likes of this year’s Boardmasters festival back in August.
Although live versions of other as yet unreleased tracks like ‘Nostalgia’s Lie’ and ‘Love is a Long Road’ are out there on the internet, it became clear which song he was going to release first after he posted the lyrics, “I people watch on the way back home”, on his accounts.
As well as resharing posters outside some of the UK’s biggest venues like Manchester’s Co-op Live and Leeds’ First Direct Arena, he also told fans to get ready with a countdown page on his website.
Having now dropped the series of dates, we’re buzzing to find out that ‘Sam Fender 3’ and his UK tour are coming sooner than we expected – the gigs themselves as early as December in fact.
Consider this the best early Christmas present ever!
Set to play Leeds First Direct Arena on 4 December 2024 and a special hometown gig in Newcastle later that month, he will be launching into the rest of his European dates in March next year. It’s hard to believe this is his first UK tour since spring 2022.
Better yet, the incredible Wunderhorse will once again be supporting him and £1 from every ticket sold for the UK dates will be donated to the Music Venue Trust in support of grassroots venues. Love this boy.
The latest Sam Fender tour dates might be confirmed, but we’re still yet to hear details about ‘SF3’. (Credit: Screenshot)
General admission tickets go on sale from 10am next Friday, 25 October via Samfender.com but you can access pre-sale by pre-ordering the new album in any format HERE before Monday, 21 October to get an exclusive code.
We still don’t know the album name for sure or the release date, but we know that ‘SF3’ is coming and we can’t wait to hear the new songs as well as all the hits live. Roll on December!
An independent music festival in South Yorkshire has been forced to cancel.
It's official, music festival season is on the horizon and it's getting us very excited to be stood in a field with a pint of cider in our grasp.
But unfortunately, that won't be the case for those looking to attend Reytfest - an independent music festival 'run my music fans by music fans'.
Set to take place at the end of June, the festival announced on Tuesday 12 May that they have had to cancel the event due to 'the cost of living crisis'.
Posting the news to Instagram, Reytfest said: "We have had to make the heartbreaking decision to not go ahead with the REYT FEST event this June. This is due primarily to poor ticket sales which we can only attribute to the cost of living crisis.
"We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the festival, from the bands, vendors, stakeholders, suppliers and all other interested parties. We’d also like to thank you, our followers, liking and sharing our posts really built our fanbase, but especially to those of you who purchased tickets.
"Rest assured your ticket money will be refunded and please don’t get disheartened by this news, keep on booking live events whether its grassroots music in a local bar to big band stadium events or something completely different such as theatres, cinema, sports, etc, if people don’t buy tickets, they will disappear.
"We had a dream that unfortunately we can’t see through to fruition on this occasion, but we’ve learnt so much and we don’t want to throw all that knowledge and experience away, so when the time is right - watch this space!! Thank you - Jon (Brad), Ian, Jess and the rest of the REYT FEST Team."
Leeds Jazz Festival returns to the city this month complete with best lineup yet
Clementine Hall
The 2026 edition of the Leeds Jazz Festival is here, and it's set to be bigger and better than ever before.
If you're a lover of jazz, then you're going to want to keep reading.
Now in its fifth year, Leeds Jazz Festival showcases the best of local, national, and international music through gigs, screenings, DJs, talks and more.
The festival is set to take place across the city from Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May 2026, making it the perfect event to enjoy across the bank holiday weekend.
Image: Supplied
Kicking the festival off is Submotion Orchestra, a boundary-pushing musical collective originally formed in Leeds who will be making their return to The Wardrobe for a very special gig.
Over in Chapel Allerton, Jazz Leeds will bring Donovan Haffner to Seven Arts, fresh from his wins for "Jazz Newcomer of the Year" at the UK Parliamentary Jazz Awards and "UK Breakthrough Act" at the 2026 JazzFM Awards.
Leeds Jazz Festival legend DJ Lubi has curated a fantastic night of live Cuban music, alongside a Cuban dance class and a DJ after-party at Howard Assembly Room.
Image: Supplied
Elsewhere at The Domino Club there'll be a whole host of different events taking place, including Three or Four Shades of Mingus, Alligator Gumbo, and two special shows celebrating the 100th birthday of jazz icon Miles Davis.
For more laid-back chill vibes on Bank Holiday Monday, Mercury Music Prize-nominated pianist Kit Downes will play an intimate performance in the stunning acoustics of Mill Hill Chapel. Now that is something not to be missed.
For full details on the lineup as well as information on free activities as well as ticketed gigs, visit the Leeds Jazz Festival website.
Danny Jones -
18th October 2024 
