Sam Smith Played the Belasco Theater [photos]

Photos by Ramon Smikle

Sam Smith spent his time in between the excitement of Coachella’s weekends performing two sold out shows at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles. Fifteen minutes into his hour long set, Smith, humbled by the crowd’s enthusiasm, was pleased to announce that his album, The Lonely Hour, is set for release in June.

The devastatingly beautiful lyrics in his songs serve as poetic interludes and also provide an emotional safe haven for anyone who can identify with the pain of heartbreak. The set list reflected a teary-eyed, yet uplifting theme of unrequited love, including the songs “Leave Your Lover”, “I’m Not the Only One”, “I’ve Told You Now” and “Not in That Way”. Smith shared with the audience that he used his experiences of being in love as motivation for the songs he’s written, but has never actually been in a relationship. Still, the compassion and conviction of his words were readily recognized through his compelling performance.

Smith’s powerful, palpable set included new songs from his upcoming debut album and his already well known EP, Nirvana. A crowd pleasing cover of “Do You Wanna Know” by the Arctic Monkeys was followed up by his fun, uplifting hit “Money on My Mind”, which hit #1 on the UK charts in February. The encore opened with Smith’s Disclosure collaboration, “Latch”, and moments later, Howard Lawrence of Disclosure was brought to the stage for the debut of their collaboration “Make It to Me”, a powerful piano ballad.

Sixteen-year old Keta Jo McCure (aka Keta) is currently opening for Sam Smith for his US tour and will be releasing an EP for her forthcoming album Generation Call.

Sam Smith

Ke’ta