Andy Burnham has come under fire for an ambiguous but rather patronising verdict he delivered about Tyneside's own Sam Fender on Twitter, with many people pulling up Manchester's Mayor for his sentiments and choice of words.
In the same weekend that Sam and his band headed north for a headline slot at TRNSMT festival in Glasgow, Andy took to Twitter, having clearly become a fan of Seventeen Going Under star Sam and his music. But his declaration of admiration for the North Shields musician didn't sit too well with some people, given that Andy tweeted: "I’ll be honest, I’m a bit late to @samfendermusic as I thought it was Geordie music. But he’s actually great, isn’t he?"
The first and most obvious question asked in response to Andy's post was 'what is Geordie music??' to which the politician replied: "You know what I mean," a rather ironic reply, given that most people who saw the post had no idea what he was getting at. One Twitter user responded: "And what exactly is wrong with Geordie music? You'll be telling me you don't like Jimmy Nail, next.," to which Andy wrote back: "Love Jimmy, lad!"
Listing a number of the fine musicians to hail; from Newcastle and the surrounding area, someone else commented: "Sting, Brian Johnson, Eric Burdon, Mark Knopfler, Hank Marvin, Bryan Ferry, Chas Chandler….that sort of Geordie music?" Others saw the funny side of Andy's remarks, urging him to go and listen to Robson & Jerome and PJ and Duncan, as others called him into question for the tone of his original post.
Viewing it as a dig, one disgruntled follower reacted: "Regional stereotyping is a bit silly these days tho isn’t it," with a second telling him: "What’s Geordie music? Feels steeped in classism this,"
*For all the latest TV and celeb news from Chronicle Live, sign up to our dedicated newsletter HERE.
