Sam Fender is currently touring the UK in support of his latest album, Seventeen Going Under. Recent migrants to the UK, Gang Of Youths, are Fender’s support act for the tour.
Fender has been regularly covering Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing in the Dark’ over the past few years, dating back to the promotional campaign for his debut album, 2019’s Hypersonic Missiles. He’s maintained the habit on the current tour, returning to the stage sans band to play ‘Dancing in the Dark’ as the first song of his encore.
Fender did just that on the second night of his sold-out double-header at London’s Alexandra Palace over the weekend. However, instead of launching straight into ‘Dancing in the Dark’, Fender brought out Gang of Youths’ Dave Le’aupepe for a cover of the Boss’ ‘I’m On Fire’. ‘I’m On Fire’, like ‘Dancing in the Dark’, appears on Springsteen’s commercial high water mark, Born in the USA, released in 1984.
Although Fender and Le’aupepe are both intimately familiar with the song, the performance didn’t go off without a hitch. After making it through one rather scratchy verse, Fender stopped the song to request Le’aupepe’s vocals be turned up. “Turn Dave up. Let’s do this again,” he said. “Turn Dave right up.”
Satisfied with the new levels, the pair duetted like they’d be singing together for years. Then, after Le’aupepe left the stage, Fender got back to business by playing ‘Dancing in the Dark’. See clips of both songs below.
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