For just over a decade, Sam Smith has been extremely, unquestionably popular. Between their billions of streams, seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits and five Grammy Awards, the English singer-songwriter has routinely sold out global arena tours, bringing their somber singing voice to massive crowds around the world.
Yet on Wednesday night (Oct. 15), Smith was not singing to a roaring crowd of 20,000 inside of a massive arena. Standing on the stage at Warsaw, the unassuming concert hall in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, Smith peered out at a crowd of mere hundreds. And they looked thrilled.
“I have been touring so much, since the age of 21. I went from playing in venues of this size to playing in arenas in one year — it was really f–king intense,” they told the hushed audience. “I stayed in those arenas for nearly 10 years, and it was a really amazing experience, and I love singing in those rooms … but my favorite shows, and the ones that changed me as an artist were the gigs that were shared in rooms like this, that are built for music.”
It’s fitting, then, that “built for music” could have been the tagline for Wednesday night’s edition of Smith’s To Be Free: New York City residency at Warsaw. Spanning a whopping 24 dates at the trusted local concert hall, the new show sees Smith pulling down the artistic scaffolding that they’ve constructed over the last decade and change. There’s no gimmicks, no glitz, no sets, no costumes; just Sam Smith, a small live band and their larger-than-life voice.
Over the course of two hours, Smith ran the gamut of their catalog, weaving in unreleased songs that fans haven’t had the chance to hear yet, covers of pop classics from throughout history and well-loved B-sides, while also making sure to give their eager audience the hits that they came to hear. Below, Billboard takes a look at the five best moments from Sam Smith’s remarkable, intimate performamce:
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The Crowd Is the Choir
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}While Smith was joined by a group of impeccable backup singers on stage at Warsaw — at one point Smith even ceded the stage to allow his troupe to deliver a stirring performance of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” — the singer knew that the best way to achieve the sound of a full chorus was with their audience. So, during two of the evening’s numbers, Smith simply turned the microphone over to the crowd.
First came their breakthrough hit “Stay With Me,” which saw Smith sat in a tight semi-circle with four guitar players while the crowd wailed along to the track’s soulful chorus. But the second, and more impactful of the two sing-alongs came with the penultimate number of the evening, “I’m Not the Only One.” Quieting the band and giving their fans the go ahead, Smith watched in amazement as the on-tune onlookers perfectly executed their 2014 fan-favorite.
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A Touching Tribute to Tom Petty
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}Shortly after finishing their rendition of “Stay With Me,” Smith told the crowd that they had a story the needed to get off their chest. They recounted the story of how, shortly after releasing “Stay With Me,” a copyright issue arose concerning the song’s melodic similarity to “I Won’t Back Down,” which led to a 2015 agreement that gave Petty and Jeff Lynne retroactive writing credits on the track. Smith said at Wednesday’s show that he had never heard Petty’s track before writing his runaway hit — “I am gay, as you know, and it didn’t quite reach me in little old England” — but was struck by Petty’s generosity of spirit in the months after the agreement was reached.
“The night before the [2015] Grammys, I was in my hotel room, and I got a handwritten letter from Tom Petty. He told me he didn’t want me to worry, and that there were only so many notes on a piano,” he said. “He was very kind, but I was so young and silly and so pissed off when I got this letter, that I never replied to him. And sadly, a year or so later he passed away, and I never got the chance to reply to him and thank him for being as sweet as he was and telling me exactly what I needed to hear at that time.”
Smith then proceeded to launch into a heartfelt rendition of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “It’ll All Work Out,” accompanied by their quartet of guitarists, emphasizing the song’s titular line as a tribute to the late legend: “That’s the way it goes, it’ll all work out.”
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A Star-Making Duet
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}After rising soul-pop singer Sienna Spiro opened the show on Wednesday night with a short but vocally dexterous set, Smith made sure to have their audience give the performer her due by bringing her back out on stage. Dusting off their In the Lonely Hour single “Lay Me Down,” Smith invited Spiro to trade verses with them on the moving single. By the time the pair joined together for a harmonious final chorus, sniffles could be heard throughout the crowd as the awestruck audience held back their tears while watched the pair of performers effortlessly riff off one another.
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A Request From the Rocket Man
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}At one late point in the show, Smith recalled a time when pop legend Sir Elton John had them over to their house in the South of France for dinner. After enjoying their meal together, Smith says the “Tiny Dancer” singer sat them down and told them that they needed to perform John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” during one of their live show. “I ignored him for about eight years,” Smith said. “But when I was preparing for this show, I finally went, ‘You know what? He was right.’”
Launching into their own rendition of the 1971 country classic, Smith didn’t shy away from the track’s folksy roots. Leaning into their band’s twangy sound, Smith delivered an top-tier performance of Prine’s original track, proving the Rocket Man right years after the fact.
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A Suite of New Songs
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}One of the few constants through Wednesday’s show was Smith’s decision to give fans some new material to take home with them. Letting them know from the top that they would be performing a number of yet-unreleased songs, Smith spent much of their performance at Warsaw giving the fans a taste of what’s to come.
Among the many Americana-tinged new offerings, including songs like “Hazel Eyes,” “Constant Companion” and “When He’s Gone,” one song in particular stood out from the bunch. “My Guy,” an utterly romantic new ballad that sees Smith finally finding love after years of heartbreak, proved yet again that Smith’s voice continues to be their greatest weapon. Backed up only by a piano, Smith wailed their way through the earnest new track as their audience watched in anticipation: “And like all good things, it caught me by surprise,” Smith sang on the chorus. “You can dream he’s yours all you want/ But he’s mine, mine, mine / He’s my guy.”
