Sam Smith

Eventim Apollo, London (7th November)

I hold my hands up – I have a real soft spot for Sam Smith. Hearing him sing, either recorded or live, quite often gives me goose bumps and makes me well up a little… I’m not ashamed of this; everyone has one of these artists (or at least should), BUT, I am sure he also annoys quite a lot of people due to his ‘nice guy’ persona  and multitude of famous friends.

Some bill him as ‘the new Adele’, others ‘that singer from the Disclosure record’ – however you want to describe him, I think you’d struggle to say that he comes across as anything other than a genuine (‘nice’) guy.

If you have been lucky enough to witness one of his live performances, you will likely add that he is very humble and appears to feel truly blessed for the position he is in. Unlike Adele, I think he appears to openly embrace the opportunity he has and seems much more willing to engage with his fans through social media and other mediums.

I will stop gushing now and move onto the gig: Sam’s second night playing Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo and the final night of his UK tour.

We got to the venue quite late and proceeded straight to our usual spot…only we couldn’t get to it as the great hall was jam-packed, wall to wall. As Sam walked on stage, the hall erupted with screams and a sea of mobile phones/ cameras/ tablets/ any form of recording device shot into the air! He could have stopped short of actually singing anything at this point and I think he would have maintained the same reaction for the rest of his time on stage. Instead he chose to sing, which was nice of him I suppose.

It’s difficult when an artist rises so rapidly to the dizzy heights of fame as it means they tend to tour the same album and set for an extended period of time (reference Florence and the Machine, Bastille…) This can either get old very quickly if you see an artist more than once within their tour cycle, or you can choose to embrace it and make the most of the nuances a different venue and crowd might bring. This was the case for me here – I saw Sam earlier this summer at the Somerset House Summer Series and I think I even recognised some of the narrative between songs as Sam made his way through his set. The difference here was, of course, the venue (bigger – around 8,500 vs 3,000; enclosed – rather than open air with rain interspersing proceedings; one iconic venue vs another) and the crowd (reminiscent of a late teens/ early 20s girls’ night out vs a more mixed crowd with a heavy male contingent).

I have no complaints, despite watching a familiar set; I will never tire of Sam’s face lighting up as he (metaphorically) pinches himself as he looks around the crowd and realises that all these people are there to see him. Never mind that he has had stars such as Daisy Lowe and Dianna Agron star in his music videos, frequently posts pictures of himself with a multitude of stars on his Instagram account, and is picking up award after award like candy in a sweet shop…you can tell he still laps up every moment!

 

Sam chooses to perform with a live band and trio of backing singers, the perfect accompaniment to his selection of self-penned soulful ballads. With moody lighting and bearded men strumming away on bass and guitar, there’s something for everyone to look at (I certainly wasn’t complaining anyway). In terms of his music, there is always something endearing about hearing the story of unrequited love play out (we’ve all been there), but there is perhaps something even more endearing to hear that he hasn’t given up hope (many of us could take heed here)!  And then there is the delivery – flawless vocals delivered with power and confidence. Perfect.

I think ultimately, you can either be a cynic, or you can take Sam at face value – a undoubtedly sweet guy who can’t quite believe his luck! Let’s hope he retains his humble demeanour and that his success continues long into the future. We love you Sam.

[I shall caveat this review with the fact that it was written by Kate and not Wendy… so you can attribute all the cheese to me (just this once!)]

Set list:

• Nirvana
• Together
• Leave Your Lover
• I’m Not The Only One
• I’ve Told You Now
• Like I Can
• Restart
• How Do I Know
• Good Thing
• La La La
• Lay Me Down
• Money On My Mind
• Finally
  Encore –
• Latch
• Make It To me
• Stay With Me

Visit our Flickr page to see photo highlights from the night, and our YouTube channel where you can watch extracts from the show.
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You can also check out our Past Events page to see our music archives.

 

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