Live Review: Sam Smith, Odette

Sam Smith may be the master of heartbreak and sorrow, but we left feeling rather uplifted after his intimate one-off concert at the Sydney Opera House last night. 

England-born, Sydney-raised songstress Odette opened the proceedings, weaving her spell of soulful vocals and poetic spoken word verses over understated piano sequences. The audience delighted in hearing the amusing anecdotes behind the 20-year-old artist's introspective and sometimes sinister ballads, much like the well-received debut single Watch Me Read You. Odette culminated her beautiful set with a haunting, poignant cover of The Cranberries' Zombie, as a timely tribute to one of her biggest inspirations; Dolores O'Riordan, whom we tragically lost this week, and the crowd's hearts melted.

When Sam Smith's silhouette sauntered into the spotlight, the Concert Hall burst into applause. It's been nearly three years since the acclaimed British singer-songwriter toured here — and clearly he's been missed. 

Smith led with one of his many hit singles Lay Me Down, his spectacular voice soaring in a cappella and eventually over the lull of gentle piano keys and the cello. The full backing band and vocalists (including the all-lyric-knowing-fans in the stalls) came to life on the heart-rending I'm Not The Only One, and it brought an irremovable smile to the singer's face as he paced the stage ever-so gracefully.

Sam Smith blissfully recounts how he's spent the beginning of 2018 holidaying here in Sydney, highlighting the significance of this show as one of his very first for the year — and for the second album, The Thrill Of It All.

He takes us on an anecdotal journey of the emotive new album with Midnight Train, Burning and One Last Song, which as per the multi-award winning debut In The Lonely Hour, is all about battling with a horrible break-up. Tapping into those painful and deeply personal matters of the heart seem to be a winning recipe for Smith, as he had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. They happily obliged to hold up their phone torches for an acoustic rendition of Latch, and get up out of their seats for Like I Can at his request. 

Sam Smith gave one of his first ever performances of Say It First, which transitioned ever-so-smoothly into gospel-inspired ballad Stay With Me, before farewelling his Australian fans with the suitably named set-closer Too Good At Goodbyes. 

If you missed out on this special one-off show, don't despair: Sam Smith has just announced he's coming back to our shores on his The Thrill Of It All world tour in November, and promises it will be fabulous!