Sam Smith – Vector Arena April 22, 2015

Despite only releasing one album, albeit one with five singles, 22-year-old Sam Smith played the first of two shows at Auckland’s Vector Arena. Unfortunately the need to accommodate so many fans here trumped his musical needs resulting in his intimate, soulful songs being lost in the big room.

But I was possibly the only one who noticed.

The reception for the young singer was truly impressive when he and his eight-piece band took the stage just after 9pm.

Smith seemed genuinely moved “to come somewhere you’ve never been before and get a reception like this”.

But the band, including three backing vocalists, sounded overly loud and very “boomy” right from the start, making set opener Life Support almost unrecognizable.

I was hoping that the sound issues would work themselves out, but it seemed to get worse with a low rumbling sound running through the song Nirvana.

Bu as I said, it seemed that I was the only one who noticed. Meanwhile there was a virtual love-fest going on between Sam Smith and the audience.

He prefaced the second song, Together, by telling the crowd, I want to see every single person on your feet and your hands in the air”. They happily complied.

Smith himself was looking pretty sharp in his well-cut suit, holding court on the stage while his band played behind him on an upper level. It kept the focus on the singer, but also didn’t allow for much interact between him and the band.

The backing singers did venture down to join him for Like I Can, which made things a bit more interesting, visually, but for the most part, it was best to watch the close ups of Smith on the large monitors at each side of the stage.

With only one album to draw from, it was a given that we would hear most of it, and we did, with only Not In That Way making the cut. We also heard earlier collaborations with Disclosure and got a cover of My Funny Valentine, which, for me, marked the low point of the show…Smith’s treatment of the classic love song was bombastic…ripping the very heart out of the tune.

The artist did share plenty of thoughts and insights about making the album and the inspirations for his songs with the audience. He also showed off his impressive voice…favouring his falsetto…throughout the evening.

After an hour, Smith and the band left, but they were quickly called back…after all, we hadn’t heard his biggest hit, Stay With Me.

Before we got to that we heard the ballad, Latch, with the cello making its way through the muddy sound. Smith stood still after and basked in the crowd’s adoration. Then it was on to Make It To Me before the inevitably singalong of Stay With Me.

No doubt that Sam Smith is a talent vocalist and his songs resonate with a lot of people…but sadly, those songs struggled to make themselves heard on this particular night. This is a show that deserves to be heard in a much smaller venue or at least presented with a much more capable sound engineer.

Hopefully tonight’s show with be better.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn:

Sam Smith set list:

1. Life Support
2. Together
3. Leave Your Lover
4. I’m Not The Only One
5. I’ve Told You Now
6. Nirvana
7. Like I Can
8. Restart
9. Good Thing
10. Lay Me Down
11. My Funny Valentine
12. La La La
13. Money On My Mind/Finally
14. Latch
15. Make It To Me
16. Stay With Me