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Sam Smith Setlist
George Ezra Setlist
Tour Dates
01/29/15 Inglewood, CA Forum
01/30/15 Inglewood, CA Forum 01/31/15 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic Aud 02/02/15 Seattle, WA KeyArena 02/04/15 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena 02/25/15 London The O2 03/01/15 Brussels, Belgium Forest National 03/02/15 Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall 03/04/15 Munich, Germany Zenith 03/05/15 Cologne, Germany Palladium 03/07/15 Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt 03/09/15 Milan, Italy Alcatraz 03/10/15 Zurich, Switzerland X-TRA 03/16/15 Glasgow O2 Academy 03/17/15 Glasgow O2 Academy 03/19/15 Manchester O2 Apollo 03/20/15 Manchester O2 Apollo 03/22/15 Wolverhampton Civic Hall 03/23/15 Wolverhampton Civic Hall 03/25/15 London O2 Academy Brixton 03/26/15 London O2 Academy Brixton 03/27/15 London O2 Academy Brixton 04/22/15 Auckland Vector Arena 04/23/15 Auckland Vector Arena 04/25/15 Brisbane Brisbane Riverstage 04/27/15 Moore Park Hordern Pavilion 04/28/15 Moore Park Hordern Pavilion 04/30/15 Melbourne Margaret Court Arena 05/01/15 Hindmarsh Adelaide Entertainment 05/04/15 Mt. Claremont HBF Stadium 05/16/15 Rock In Rio USA 06/17/15 Paris, France Olympia 06/18/15 Paris, France Olympia Read More
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Common name, most distinctively uncommon voice.
Amidst the literal plethora of things going on in downtown St. Paul (Winter Carnival, street parade, Red Bull Crashed Ice, The Opera, a cat show, state hockey tournament, and more) that brought over 200,000 people to a one square mile area; a golden voice, a veritable canary in a coal mine, shone through everything to leave a lasting impact on the 5,000 or so that saw Sam Smith at a sold-out Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
The evening started on a high note, with bass-baritone voiced fellow UK up-and-comer George Ezra and band playing seven songs in a brief 30 min. opening set. The 21 yr. old guided his three-piece band playing selections from his debut LP, Wanted on Voyage (Columbia/Sony Records) which makes its U.S. debut (after being out in the UK and Europe since last June) today in record shops.
The lanky Ezra has a big, bluesy voice and lyrics that belie his young age, and sounds almost American, as his stated folk influences have been Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Howlin’ Wolf among others. Lead single, ‘Budapest’ received the predictably strongest response, but initial UK single and set opener ‘Cassie O’ and the closing ‘Did You Hear the Rain’ (folky with electronic loops) also had toes tapping and heads nodding.
Those that didn’t get a chance, or want to experience more George Ezra, can tune into Conan this Thursday night and get tickets for his upcoming headlining club tour, which makes a local stop at the Varsity Theater on March 31st.
A week after headlining NYC’s Madison Square Garden, Sam Smith made his long overdue local debut (a March 2014 showcase set at the Dakota last year for a few radio and retail tastemakers notwithstanding) with a grandiose entrance that set the stage for a polished and entertaining 77 min. set from the Londoner and band.
Lights dimmed and the crowd screamed as a heavy gray curtain dropped to reveal yet another, more translucent curtain with caricatures of Smith’s right and left profiles and behind it, and Smith himself appearing then descending slowly from a center platform.
Smith’s five-piece band (including a cellist) and trio of background singers were, like Smith, dressed in all black, with only the white collar of Smith’s shirt making him stand out more. The musicians were each on varying platform levels behind Smith and framed by a half moon pattern of stage lights to highlight the band.
The crowd of mostly females and couples, screamed at Smith’s dramatic entrance and first song, the aching ‘Life Support’, with Smith’s vocals wisely up front in the mix to cut through the cavernous and often dubious acoustics of the aging auditorium. Smith definitely knew where he was, name-checking “St. Paul” numerous times which delighted the fans every time he mentioned it.
Smith’s debut album, In the Lonely Hour (Capitol Records), climbed to #2 in the U.S. and garnered six Grammy nominations, something he thanked the local fans for and mentioned his concerts were a celebration of, singing all but one track from the album.
With a “sing with me”, he launched early into single, ‘I’m Not the Only One’, which had the crowds in the seated sections swaying to his falsetto chorus. Like Adele, heartbreak has served him well lyrically, though he described the album as “not sad” and more about simply being himself.
An stripped down mini-set midway through, proved to be one of the night’s highlights, starting with only Smith and keyboardist Reuben James playing “the most personal song” on the album, ‘Good Thing’, then into ‘Lay Me Down’ and slightly ramping up with a cover of classic, ‘My Funny Valentine’.
“Who knows this song?” Smith asked, as the vocal loop from he and Naughty Boy’s single, ‘La La La’ was cued up, to great reaction. A mashup of single, ‘Money on my Mind’ and Cece Peniston’s 90’s club hit ‘Finally’, ended the main set with an exclamation.
Maybe most surprising was the first song of the encore, a slowed-tempo version of the song that initially put Smith on the map, ‘Latch’, with elegant piano and cello parts reinterpreting the Disclosure electronic beats and loops of the more frantic recorded version.
Another Disclosure collaboration, ‘Make it to Me’ was next, a “love letter” song Smith performed sitting with his background singers like street corner quartet, that brought out its hopeful lyrics even further.
Saved for last was Smith’s biggest song to date, the infectious ‘Stay With Me’, that only after the St. Paul show was decided by a court that it sounded to similar to a Tom Petty song, and had Smith relinquishing songwriting credits and a 12.5% stake in the publishing—not that any of that detracts from ache and soul the song conveys.
With his career just starting (though he mentioned he’s had a manager since age 12) and a strong chance that he walks away with several Grammys next weekend, Sam Smith’s local debut was worth the wait, with likely several more appearances in the years ahead, to come.
Amidst the literal plethora of things going on in downtown St. Paul (Winter Carnival, street parade, Red Bull Crashed Ice, The Opera, a cat show, state hockey tournament, and more) that brought over 200,000 people to a one square mile area; a golden voice, a veritable canary in a coal mine, shone through everything to leave a lasting impact on the 5,000 or so that saw Sam Smith at a sold-out Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
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George Ezra
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The lanky Ezra has a big, bluesy voice and lyrics that belie his young age, and sounds almost American, as his stated folk influences have been Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Howlin’ Wolf among others. Lead single, ‘Budapest’ received the predictably strongest response, but initial UK single and set opener ‘Cassie O’ and the closing ‘Did You Hear the Rain’ (folky with electronic loops) also had toes tapping and heads nodding.
Those that didn’t get a chance, or want to experience more George Ezra, can tune into Conan this Thursday night and get tickets for his upcoming headlining club tour, which makes a local stop at the Varsity Theater on March 31st.
A week after headlining NYC’s Madison Square Garden, Sam Smith made his long overdue local debut (a March 2014 showcase set at the Dakota last year for a few radio and retail tastemakers notwithstanding) with a grandiose entrance that set the stage for a polished and entertaining 77 min. set from the Londoner and band.
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Sam Smith
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Smith’s five-piece band (including a cellist) and trio of background singers were, like Smith, dressed in all black, with only the white collar of Smith’s shirt making him stand out more. The musicians were each on varying platform levels behind Smith and framed by a half moon pattern of stage lights to highlight the band.
The crowd of mostly females and couples, screamed at Smith’s dramatic entrance and first song, the aching ‘Life Support’, with Smith’s vocals wisely up front in the mix to cut through the cavernous and often dubious acoustics of the aging auditorium. Smith definitely knew where he was, name-checking “St. Paul” numerous times which delighted the fans every time he mentioned it.
Smith’s debut album, In the Lonely Hour (Capitol Records), climbed to #2 in the U.S. and garnered six Grammy nominations, something he thanked the local fans for and mentioned his concerts were a celebration of, singing all but one track from the album.
With a “sing with me”, he launched early into single, ‘I’m Not the Only One’, which had the crowds in the seated sections swaying to his falsetto chorus. Like Adele, heartbreak has served him well lyrically, though he described the album as “not sad” and more about simply being himself.
An stripped down mini-set midway through, proved to be one of the night’s highlights, starting with only Smith and keyboardist Reuben James playing “the most personal song” on the album, ‘Good Thing’, then into ‘Lay Me Down’ and slightly ramping up with a cover of classic, ‘My Funny Valentine’.
“Who knows this song?” Smith asked, as the vocal loop from he and Naughty Boy’s single, ‘La La La’ was cued up, to great reaction. A mashup of single, ‘Money on my Mind’ and Cece Peniston’s 90’s club hit ‘Finally’, ended the main set with an exclamation.
Maybe most surprising was the first song of the encore, a slowed-tempo version of the song that initially put Smith on the map, ‘Latch’, with elegant piano and cello parts reinterpreting the Disclosure electronic beats and loops of the more frantic recorded version.
Another Disclosure collaboration, ‘Make it to Me’ was next, a “love letter” song Smith performed sitting with his background singers like street corner quartet, that brought out its hopeful lyrics even further.
Saved for last was Smith’s biggest song to date, the infectious ‘Stay With Me’, that only after the St. Paul show was decided by a court that it sounded to similar to a Tom Petty song, and had Smith relinquishing songwriting credits and a 12.5% stake in the publishing—not that any of that detracts from ache and soul the song conveys.
With his career just starting (though he mentioned he’s had a manager since age 12) and a strong chance that he walks away with several Grammys next weekend, Sam Smith’s local debut was worth the wait, with likely several more appearances in the years ahead, to come.
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Sam Smith at Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul (24 Jan 2015) |
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