Four stars
Coming on earlier than his 9pm billing was the first sign that Sam Smith is nothing like the divas he adores. Citing Lady Gaga and Chaka Kahn as two of his major influences, the 22-year-old Londoner has had a stratospheric couple of years since he provided the vocals for Disclosure's dance hit Latch. This time last year, Smith had been in Glasgow for his first MOBO awards; at this year's event in London on Wednesday evening he almost cleared up, achieving four wins including Best Album for his debut The Lonely Hour and Best Song for Stay With Me.
As this was the first show of his UK tour, it was great to see him so relaxed and in sync with his soul funk band and his trio of backing singers. Frequently the soaring cello stole focus from the rest of the playing but some new arrangements of tracks from his album of unrequited love really made them memorable.
Asking the capacity crowd if they were ready to dance, he revealed a penchant for Amy Winehouse (his singing idol when he was 11) as well as undying love for his heroine from across the pond, Whitney Houston. A slow singalong version of Houston's hit How Will I Know was followed by funky La La La, a vocal collaboration he recorded with Naughty Boy. Relaxed and chatty between songs, he thanked not only Disclosure but all the fans who had followed him since he uploaded his first song to YouTube.
Money On My Mind was an upbeat highlight which segued into CeCe Peniston's Finally (one of the more camp moments of the hour-long set). An encore of Latch, brought huge cheers and feet stamping before Smith decided to end on a happier note. "I am a happy person, and this is a massive mating call song", he said of Make It To Me before he closed with Stay With Me, his UK and US No 1 hit.
Having promised to tour again next year (two dates in March at Glasgow's O2 Academy are already sold out), it will be interesting to see the next steps of this hugely talented singer-songwriter. Having already found international success, Sam Smith has the writing talent, the pitch-perfect vocals and the likeable-young-lad factor sewn up already.
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