Sam Fender's guitar teacher 'past proud' after joining him on stage at St James' Park

A music teacher from North Shields who taught Sam Fender to play guitar said he is "past proud" after joining him on stage at St James' Park.

Fender sold out two nights at the Newcastle stadium on Friday 9 June and Saturday 10 June, with around 100,000 fans attending the gigs across the weekend.

Phil Martin was invited to play on stage with his former pupil and AC/DC's Brian Johnson too.

Speaking after the event, he said he was "past proud" of Fender. He said: "What he's achieved in a very small period of time, I haven't seen that done before. And the way the Geordie nation's took him to their hearts, for every right reason. He is what he says he is and we can all verify that."

He added: "It was absolutely incredible. Probably the most positive feeling I've ever had. The love out there for Sam is incredible. I think he deserves it."

On stage at the homecoming gigs, they played AC/DC hits Back in Black and You Shook Me All Night Long together.

Asked if he ever thought he would perform at a gig like that, Phil said: "No way. It was about three to four years ago now he [Sam] talked about this and it was just something I thought 'that will never happen' but it did. Absolutely out of this world."

The two gigs are thought to have benefitted the wider community as well, with an estimated £15 million boost to local businesses.

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