Sam Fender finally makes his highly-awaited debut in French-speaking Switzerland at the Montreux Jazz Festival. One number sums up the phenomenon: in June 2023, he attracted 100,000 spectators for his two concerts at Newcastle’s St James Park football stadium. The author of three brilliant albums, Sam Fender has achieved the feat, increasingly rare in today’s rock, of combining both critical and popular success. A triumph that can be explained by the strength of his unifying anthems, but also by his status as a working-class hero.Through his sincere, poetic and politically-charged lyrics, he reflects the harsh social realities of northern England. Realities he knows well, having played his first gigs in the same local pub where he was serving pints. Now a superstar, Sam Fender has opened for Bruce Springsteen – to whom he is often compared – and invited one of his heroes, Adam Granduciel (The War on Drugs), to produce his latest album, People Watching.