Sam Smith shines at MOA Arena show

Sam Smith enthralls fans during Saturday night’s concert at SM MOA Arena. POCHOLO CONCEPCION

A fullhouse crowd of more than 10,000 swooned to Sam Smith’s soulful music Saturday night, Nov. 21, at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

The Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter was in fine form, performing with hardly any difficulty after his recent surgery for vocal cord injury which forced the initial cancellation of his current tour, including the rescheduling of the MOA concert originally set last May 10.

Though the show was relatively short at just a little over an hour, Smith—accompanied by a band that had a cellist and an all-black vocal trio—delivered an emotionally sanctifying set of songs from his 2014 debut album “In the Lonely Hour” which won four Grammy awards, plus snippets of covers like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” and plenty of back-to-basics yet first-rate artistry.

Throughout the show, Smith personified elegance as he interpreted classic soul music in a style that oozed with confidence and honesty.

The no-frills performance was a refreshing deviation from the bombast and gimmickry that have become the standard attractions of today’s concerts.
Apparently the mostly youthful fans appreciated it, judging from the happy faces and animated talk after the gig.