Review: Sam Smith's Abu Dhabi gig proves it's time to stop being cruel about him


Rupert Hawksley
  • English
  • Arabic

Sam Smith

Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday November 24

Rating: 4/5

It is easy to be cruel about Sam Smith. His teary ballads and earnest lyrics lack the grit to really move you. This is music so sentimental and sugary, it can leave you feeling a bit sick. But it is, perhaps, this inoffensiveness that ensures Smith's enduring mass appeal. Two top-five albums since 2016 and a 100-date worldwide tour prove that, sometimes, all we really want is an enormous comfort blanket draped around us.

And while Smith certainly delivered this often throughout his performance at the du Arena, he also brought an unexpected - and irresistible - sense of joy. Where once Smith was a shy, almost awkward, performer, here in Abu Dhabi he loosened his shoulders, let his hips go and belted out his choruses - all the while imploring the crowd to do the same.

Heartbreak? It's just a state of mind, you see.

There was a real swagger about Smith during a jazz-infused version of Omen (Smith's 2014 collaboration with dance duo Disclosure), while Restart, from Smith's debut album In the Lonely Hour, saw him shimmying this way and that to the electro-pop beat, even while singing about a troubling break-up. Same songs; different guy.

By the time Smith performed Promises, the Calvin Harris-backed sound of the summer, that comfort blanket had been thrown off and replaced by a carnival atmosphere. It was impressive stuff and a delight to see the 26-year-old Londoner embracing a bolder, happier presence on stage.

Smith's voice has never been the concern. And he showed off its full range on the epic Bond theme, Writing's on the Wall, backed by luscious strings and grand piano, before moving straight into the breathy falsetto of Money on my Mind. As the croaky singalongs around me proved, the rest of us don't find this so easy.

There were inevitable lulls, meaning that the pacing of the set was awkward and a bit uneven. The formula of much of Smith's material is defiantly conventional. Say It First and Midnight Train have all the spark of a clod of damp soil. I've Told You Now isn't much better. And when too many of these forgettable meanders are stacked one after the other, the effect can be soporific - a feeling not helped by Smith's insistence on introducing every member of his band. Sweet thing to do maybe, but hearing a roll call of names - "Patrick... Lucy... Chris..." - wasn't all that much fun for those of us not in the band.

Fortunately, Smith now has the charisma to shake off these lapses in energy. There was a blistering encore, featuring the durable Stay with Me, and a final goodbye to Abu Dhabi, a place he really - really! - loves (I don't know if he mentioned that). At long last, Smith's personality has caught up with his talent. It's a potent combination.

Time, then, to stop being cruel about Sam Smith.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Biog

Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara

He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada

Father of two sons, grandfather of six

Plays golf once a week

Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family

Walks for an hour every morning

Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India

2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business

 

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Founder: Ayman Badawi

Date started: Test product September 2016, paid launch January 2017

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Software

Size: Seven employees

Funding: $170,000 in angel investment

Funders: friends

FIGHT%20CARD
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
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  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
'Panga'

Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta

Rating: 3.5/5

Sam Smith

Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday November 24

Rating: 4/5