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Yesterday was Tchaikovsky and tomorrow is Elgar. But tonight is Sam Smith. And there’s an air of not quite knowing what to expect in the Royal Albert Hall before the debut Prommer takes to the stage.
This Prom with the BBC Concert Orchestra is billed as a retrospective look at Smith’s debut album, In the Lonely Hour, released a decade ago. But when the concert was announced in April, the BBC was moved to reassure people that it would be “entirely appropriate for the Proms and entirely appropriate for the audience in attendance”. Why? Because 32-year-old Smith, who is non-binary and uses the preferred pronouns they/them, has proved themselves to be one of our most controversial pop stars.
Recent live shows have seen them dance in a corset and shake their bare bottom. Promo videos have been set in wild, sexually-charged house parties. Regulator Ofcom received more than 100 complaints about Smith’s performance of “Unholy”, their song with German singer Kim Petras, at the 2023 Brit Awards after a leather-clad Smith donned a hat with devil horns, and two dancers shared a long and passionate kiss. Crikey, thought traditionalists. Would this hallowed hall become a land of grope and fury?
Well, no. Wearing a smart double-breasted black suit, Smith addresses the issue head-on a few minutes into the show, using a form of words I’ll wager have never been uttered at a Prom before. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to get my bum out,” says Smith. “The clothes are staying on. This is an appropriate show. Even I know there’s a time and a place.”
What we get instead is a night of soulful music, a mixture of Smith originals and cover versions. Backed by swooning orchestration and the 17-piece LJ Singers choir, Smith’s voice is showcased in its raw form.
Motown-tinged early track “I’m Not the Only One”, from In the Lonely Hour, proves itself to be a modern soul-gospel classic. The sense of a trump card being played too soon is put to rest with “Like I Can”, which rolls like thunder thanks to timpani and dramatic stings. Throughout, Smith introduces guests including their early singing teacher Joanna Eden and jazz singer Clare Teal. A version of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” is tender; you could hear a pin drop in the audience, which includes documentarian Louis Theroux. Meanwhile a duet with backing singer LaDonna Young, “Lay Me Down”, features vocal gymnastics that would challenge Simone Biles for a medal.
I’ve always found Smith’s voice slightly shrill. But it’s rich and sonorous here, particularly on “Writing’s on the Wall”, their theme to the 2015 James Bond film Spectre. Who can fail to be moved by hearing a Bond theme played by a live orchestra? It’s special.
After the interval, Smith appears in a vast Vivienne Westwood crimson ballgown, with gloves, a sash and train (come on, what did you expect?). The stage is bedecked with claret flowers. We get lovely covers of “Fever” and “My Funny Valentine”, and even an orchestral “Unholy”, during which the dreaded devil-horned hat makes an appearance. They end with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, a nod to Judy Garland’s famous 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall, one of their favourite ever vocal performances.
If not quite a back to basics approach, then Smith’s only UK live show this year allows them to consolidate their position as a singer rather than a controversialist. The music is given room to breathe. It is, as things turn out, entirely appropriate.
