Sam Smith – Concert Review + GIVEAWAY

Someone who hasn’t heard of Sam Smith yet is probably not living on this planet. He is a four times Grammy award-winning artist from London. I’m sure you have heard his two number one singles “Stay with Me” and “Too Good at Goodbyes”. Sam Smith is currently the most unique male artist with his angel-like vocals. I had the honor to see him live on his “The Thrill of It All Tour” on the 9^th of May 2018 in Zurich.

Before the concert

I actually had won a Meet & Greet with Sam Smith in 2015 through Universal Music Switzerland. But on the concert day, Sam had to cancel his upcoming concerts because of his laryngitis. Therefore, I couldn’t meet him. Fortunately, Universal Music promised me that I would meet him on his next tour, which is this year. But now, unfortunately, I was told that Sam won’t have Meet & Greets on this tour. So, I only got two tickets for the concert. I was still content with this whole situation because to hear Sam Smith live singing was already enough for me as a gift. Since there were only seats for the concert I asked my mom to accompany me. I thought it would be an unforgettable mother-son experience for us. Luckily, she was interested and for the first time ever I went with my mom to a concert. Before the concert, we spent our afternoon in Zurich City and at the beautiful lake. And just for the case if you’re wondering, I’m a big fan of Sam Smith since I heard “La La La” for the first time.

We were sitting in the second category and our seats cost 81 CHF each, it’s definitely worth the money. The doors opened at 6 pm, I and my mum arrived at 7.30 pm at the Hallenstadion because we didn’t want to wait in the queue, but we weren’t the only ones who thought like this, a lot of people arrived with us at the same time and this fact put the security crew under time pressure, since the opening act started at 7.45 pm. Therefore, the security check wasn’t strict at all, I even could take my PET bottle into the stadium. After we were inside I immediately found myself at the merchandise stand. Surprisingly, my mum didn’t stop me from buying merch, she even helped me choose. I bought the concert program, which cost 20 CHF. The audience consisted of all age groups, but mostly of couples.

Support Act

Lewis Capaldi a Scottish singer-songwriter was the only support act. Even though he isn’t famous here in Switzerland he managed the crowd to pay attention to his performance. He sang about six songs and left the stage after thirty minutes. He also has an amazing voice.

Sam Smith’s Performance

At ca. 9 pm Sam Smith finally went on stage and opened the show with the song “Burning”. While singing, he was sitting on a chair, it was dark everywhere, we only could see his shadow and hear his voice. After the first chorus, his band and the back vocalists also appeared on the stage and accompanied him. The second song was “One Last Song” he asked the audience to stand up and welcomed us to his concert. The stage was built as a triangle and he was mostly singing on the top corner. In the background he used a giant circle and a large tower-like tetrahedron, they changed colors during every song. His band consisted of the instruments: cello, piano, guitar, drums, bass and also of four female backing singers. It was medicine for our ears and souls.

After the first two songs, he took us back to “In The Lonely Hour” era and sang 11 songs from his debut album including all of his hits. Then, before the encore, he performed 6 songs of his new album “The Thrill Of It All”. He sang “Scars”, which is my favorite track of the new album. For me, it’s his most emotional and personal song. During “HIM” he told the audience that he is a proud gay man and the colors of the rainbow flag were illuminated behind him on the stage. It was the only moment during the entire concert, which had a reference to his sexual orientation, therefore you shouldn’t expect a gay show from him.

“Too Good At Goodbyes” was the last song before the encore, most people thought it was the last song, so they left. But Sam came back to sing three more songs, which were “Palace”, “Stay With Me” and “Pray”. During “Palace” the giant tetrahedron was turned into a palace and Sam performed the song from the top of it. He changed his outfit five times during the show and also danced with his band members to some songs. You can find many videos of his performances on my Instagram feed.

It was an unforgettable show and I really couldn’t get enough of his incredible vocals. He was very lovely and thankful in his speeches and he didn’t tell us fake things like “you’re the best crowd I’ve ever had”, he was authentic and just honest with us. He told us his story, the development of his career. He even wished us a safe journey home. To end this concert review I want to say that it was worth going to this concert. It was one of the best concerts I have ever been on. Maybe even a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

For this blog post, I want to do my first Giveaway.

On the 26^th May, it was the 4^th anniversary of Sam Smith’s debut album “In The Lonely Hour”. Therefore, I’m giving away 2 hard copies (CDs) of it, each CD counts 14 tracks. Including the hit songs: “Money On My Mind”, “Stay With Me”, “I’m Not The Only One”, “Like I Can”, “Lay Me Down”, “Latch” and “La La La”.

All you have to do is to follow me on Instagram @erenblogs and comment your favorite track by Sam Smith under the giveaway-picture. You can participate until the 17^th of June 2018.