Sam Smith
Perth Arena
Stars: 3.5
There is no denying that Sam Smith has a voice as pure as honey.
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READ NOWInfused with his melancholic pop-soul hits, the 26-year-old English singer-songwriter has established himself as the voice of disenfranchised millennial LGBTQI with his two hugely successful albums.
Taking to his elongated stage in the middle of a near-capacity Perth Arena on Tuesday night on the 99th and final show of his Thrill of it All world tour, Smith was in a down-to-earth and upbeat mood as he worked through a tight set of his biggest hits.
Opening with Burning, Smith emerged seated in the middle of the stage in a stylish suit. As the song swelled, he was joined by his four strong backing singers who helped his heartbreak anthems reach their soaring crescendos throughout the 100-minute show.
The crowd lapped up every minute as Smith’s voice, perfectly tuned to the arena’s acoustics, delivered hit after hit from his Grammy-winning breakthrough Stay With Me to the chart-topping Too Good at Goodbyes.
Highlights included Say it First from his sophomore album, his Oscar winning Bond theme Writing’s On The Wall and his dance collaborations with Disclosure (Omen and Latch) and the upbeat Promises, his current single by DJ mastermind Calvin Harris.
“I know it’s a Tuesday night but there are a few songs we have to pretend are a Friday night,” Smith said before he dished out the gospel pop stylings of Like I Can.
While Smith has been open in the past about the origins of his maudlin songs, on Tuesday night he didn’t offer much storytelling behind his process which meant at times the evening felt a little emotionally disconnected.
Smith would work much better in an intimate theatre setting where he could sing and banter and allow his music and songwriting to take centre stage but that isn’t to say he didn’t deliver an impeccable evening of song.