concert #14: sam smith @ wiener stadthalle

2023-12-13 22:05:11

Lots of hits, lots of gold and lots of naked skin: “Sam Smith” brought a huge amount of extravagance to the town hall!

I was very excited that day: I danced around the apartment with “Sam Smith” in my ears and was really looking forward to the performance that same evening in the Wiener Stadthalle. I had a seat ticket somewhere in the middle of nowhere, but that didn’t dampen my anticipation one bit.

A little later the time had come, I made a pilgrimage to the concert hall in question, took my seat and first examined the support act “cat burns“. The lady was a bit lost, all alone on the huge stage, but she was still able to capture my attention with her soulful pop songs. also because I knew in advance that it was currently experiencing a bit of hype. I’m always all ears for hype! It was really nice when she was able to get the audience to sing along – a support act has to be able to do that!

But at some point it was time for “sam smith“: When the show started and Smith appeared on the golden butt of the giant statue and sang “Stay with Me,” the audience literally went crazy! But that wasn’t surprising, because the whole hall shimmered gold and the most beautiful pop ballads were booming out at us, who wouldn’t freak out?!

It was interesting that the set started so smoothly and full of feelings – normally such parts are put in the middle or at the end. But it was really nice to start the concert so emotionally and to see how it grew more and more. With “Too Good at Goodbyes” Sam Smith performed in the middle of a small, swaying group of singers and musicians, with “Dancing with a Stranger” things got more lively and little dance interludes spiced up the song.

The dance performances became wilder and more energetic as time went on and were impressive across the board, but Sam Smith’s different outfits were equally impressive! sometimes in white and gold including platform shoes, sometimes completely black, sometimes in a dress, sometimes half-naked – there were definitely no outfit wishes left unfulfilled!

From the song “lose you” onwards, there were no song requests left unfulfilled, at least as far as I’m concerned. It became more and more intense, and at some point the concert became more of a party than just an I-stand-on-stage-and-sing-for-you evening. “I’m not here to make friends”, the disclosure song “Latch” and of course the grand finale with “Unholy” and a really crazy dance performance almost took my breath away. When Sam Smith appeared at the end as the devil on the golden rump, I just sat there in amazement anyway. what kind of show had I just seen?

The “Sam Smith” show was definitely very different than expected and a very positive experience from start to finish. I was able to witness dance performances that I would never have even dared to dream of – yes, they were that wild. The only criticism I have: at some point the giant statue in gold was a bit too gold. At some point I could no longer see gold. But that’s definitely complaining on a high level and maybe it’s also due to the fact that I had a seat very far away and my glasses don’t yet have a telescope function. But otherwise Sam Smith in the Stadthalle was very great and recommended!