Over the weekend, Newcastle singer-songwriter Sam Fender
headlined his home city’s St. James’ Park across two nights – and at the
second of the two shows, he brought a local legend onstage.
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson joined Sam and his band on June 10
to run through rock staples Back In Black and You Shook Me All Night Long – and the surprise guest appearance marked his first live performance since the Taylor Hawkins tribute show in London
last September (while also being a pretty decent practice run before this year’s massive
Power Trip in October).
Taking to social media after the pair of gigs – which saw him
play to over 100,000 people – Sam posted: “The last few days have been
insane. Sharing the stage with Brian Johnson was a dream come true. When we
first started seeing success with our band, me and Dean used to watch
interviews of Brian to keep ourselves grounded – he is the prime example of a
Geordie who has never forgotten his roots.”
Sam also posted about his first guitar teacher who he brought
out onstage, adding: “Phil Martin, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this
if it wasn’t for your tutelage and back when I had my first band (when we were
bairns, 14 or 15) you let us rehearse in the Gasworks practice rooms for free.
We need more people like you in our community.”