‘It’s Bollocks and It Won’t Be Happening’: Sam Fender Tears Up Premium Standing and Cuts Stadium Prices

Sam Fender has scrapped premium front-standing tickets for his 2027 stadium tour and cut the prices, after leaked figures put front standing at Wembley Stadium at £130.75 including fees. The 32-year-old singer from North Shields responded on Instagram on Friday after the prices circulated online, NME reported. “I’m not happy with these prices, they’re getting changed,” he wrote. “It got inflated well more than I’d had in mind, it should only be inflated in relation to the cost of putting the show on.”

Fender said he had not known that the standing area was to be split into front and general sections. “The standing will not be split as well, I had no idea about it,” he wrote. “I have no idea how this was normalised in gigs. It’s bollocks and it won’t be happening on this tour.”

In a further Instagram post on Saturday evening, Fender confirmed that the premium tier had been removed from the UK stadium shows. “I’ve managed to get Front Standing tickets removed from the UK stadium tour,” he wrote. “Whoever buys a standing ticket gets as much chance as anyone to be at the front. No more 120 quid standing tickets either.” The Press Association carried the same posts in its coverage on Sunday.

The new face values, excluding venue and ticketing fees, are general standing at £85 and seats at £95, £75 and £55, NME and the BBC reported. The prices also carry a £1-per-ticket contribution to the Live Trust, which supports grassroots music venues, NME reported.

Fender said the fees themselves were beyond his control. “Costs are astronomical compared to two years ago, I can’t control the venue and ticketing fees, that’s a sad reality of today’s industry,” he wrote. He added: “This is gonna be the biggest and best show we’ve ever put on. Can’t wait to see everyone on the road next summer!”

Reports differ on the original general-standing price at Wembley: Far Out put it at £98.75 including fees, while NME put it at £98.85. Wembley seats had ranged from £64.75 to £130.75, Far Out reported. Premium front sections were also reported for Cardiff, Edinburgh and Manchester, at roughly £120 to £130, NME reported. Newcastle, which had no front-standing option, had standing listed at £98.60 and seats from £86.50 to £112.90, the Press Association reported.

The “Proper Massive Stadium Tour ’27” opens with two homecoming shows at St James’ Park in Newcastle in June, before visiting Cardiff, London, Dublin, Edinburgh and Manchester, NME reported. The venues include Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield and Manchester’s Etihad Stadium, with the Dublin date at Marlay Park, according to the tour reporting. Support at the UK stadium dates comes from Wunderhorse. A presale begins on Wednesday, October 28, and tickets go on general sale at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, October 30, NME reported.

It is not Fender’s first move on grassroots venues: a £1 levy on his arena tour last year helped support 38 grassroots venues across the UK, NME reported, and he donated the £25,000 prize money from his Mercury Prize win for the album People Watching to the Music Venue Trust.

Sources: NME (October 24–25, 2026); BBC and Press Association coverage (October 25, 2026); Far Out Magazine (October 25, 2026).