Summer of Concerts: Sam Smith

When I think back to the summer of 2023, the whole year actually, I will remember how many concerts we went to this year. I wouldn't trade it for anything, spending time with my teens is always great because the time is fleeting. Soon my oldest will be in college and it'll be so quiet. And weird.  

One of the concerts we went to this year was Sam Smith, which was a last minute ticket for us. There were seats for $25 so who is turning that down? I mean, really. 

Back in the day I could drive to St. Paul and back (it's about two and a half hours one way) with no problem. Now I have to pre-game and by pre-game I mean I have to take a nap knowing I won't get to go to bed at my usual time of 10pm. I'm old now and I don't even feel bad about it. On this day I didn't get my nap because I had appointments so by the time I got to the concert I was exhausted. 

The opener was Jessie Reyez who I wasn't familiar with, but she was pretty good. 

I've already seen Sam Smith live before and I know that he is a tremendous performer. With that said, I'm not a huge fan of this weird Gloria phase he's in, but you know, do you, booboo. 

Jackson isn't a huge fan but he's a fan of live music, but Olivia really likes Sam Smith, so she was all about this. 

It ended up being a great concert. We left with like five songs left but truly, I was fading fast and having to drive another two and a half hours in the dark was daunting. We were missing the newer stuff so I was OK with that. 

We had a good time though and I'm so surprised it wasn't sold out. He's a great live performer and if you get the chance to see him, especially at $25 for a seat, absolutely take advantage of that! The people watching alone was completely worth it. I'm always a fan of drunk people hanging over balconies and you're just wondering if they are going to go over or puke. It's really a toss up, you know? Either way, it's bonus entertainment. 

I know I'm not the only one.... to go to a Sam Smith concert.

I feel like as summer is winding down (which feels disgusting to even say out loud) that the days and weeks are really starting to fly by. We're already in mid-August and that's bananas. But the last two weeks have been one thing after another and I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants. Thankfully I've had opportunities to get out of my house in the way of concerts. Last week I went to the Jay-Z and Beyonce concert and that was great. This week I went to Sam Smith with my friend Amy. 

I had purchased these tickets way back in October 2017 as a birthday gift for her. Mostly because I was in charge of getting Adele tickets and I totally failed at that (both times!!) and he is like the guy version of Adele right now and I thought it would be a good show. I kind of forgot about it until my Ticketmaster alert reminded me and I got super excited because I hadn't seen Amy since.. February, I think? But we were due to hang out so if nothing else, I got to see my friend. 

So I drive down St. Paul and I got kind of mixed up when my go-to parking ramp was closed, and my GPS seemingly gave up on me, and then I realized I had driven way far out of the way and couldn't figure out how to find my way back. After having a mini panic attack I got myself together, used my phone GPS and found parking! Only to pay $30 for my spot but whatever- I found parking and I feel like that's a triumph in the situation. 

We head to dinner, which takes FOREVER to get our food, but we had a good time catching up. Headed over to the venue, I managed to use electronic tickets for the first time without messing it up, so another triumph, folks. Found our seats and I'll just spoil it, the crowd didn't bother me. My medication is working and for that I'm ridiculously grateful. I still feel like I want to die every day but at least I'm not having panic attacks in a crowd, gotta take the wins where you can get them. 

The opening act was Beth Ditto, which I got no pictures of because I am a poor photographer while using my phone. But Beth Ditto is AMAZING, and my friend Kate has gushed about her before online and it's always a "I should check her out" but then I forget and it's one of those things. Except her performance was so good that I bought her new album right there for my drive back because it was great. 

You could already tell there was a good vibe about the crowd, that people were friendly and happy, and that always sets the tone for a good show, I think. It certainly adds to it. So Sam Smith comes out and he was SO GREAT. 

I need to just admit that I didn't have any expectations for the show because, as he mentioned, his music is depressing as fuck, and there was a good chance we'd all leave there bummed out. But he made the show really dynamic and fun and even the sad songs left you feeling joyful that you got to experience it live. 

 And I'll just apologize right now for my terrible photos. We were in nosebleeds and the stage was triangle shape with these lights along the edge. The lights were SO bright and they were shining right at us so everything is blurry or bright. 

 His voice is just as amazing live as it is on his albums. He is a genuine singer and there is no doubt about it. 

 You can also tell he adores his band and his band adores him. Such genuine affection that really made it feel super cohesive. 

 I have to say though, this was easily, the best concert I have ever been to for sing-a-longs. Hands down. If you want to see a show where the crowd sings along loud enough to almost drown out the singer and the band? You go to a Sam Smith concert .

 He ended up singing quite a few songs from all three of his albums, but his encore was maybe my favorite? He played "Palace", which is OK, but he also did "Stay With Me" and my personal favorite, "Pray". 

This concert was so good. So, so good. I had such a good time. While we were there Amy bought us tickets to see Bruno Mars in September, so now I have him and Taylor Swift (Olivia's birthday present- it's a surprise!) in September, and then Florence + the Machine in October. Pretty excited to get back into going to concerts. I just need a bigger budget to support the habit. Ha!