“Don’t worry, I’m not going to get my bum out,” said Sam Smith on stage at the Royal Albert Hall. “The clothes are staying on. This is going to be an appropriate show. Even I know there’s a time and place.”
Eyebrows were inevitably raised when the British pop singer, who is non-binary, was announced as a headline performer at this year’s BBC Proms. Smith has garnered a reputation for shows and outfits that are raunchy, or according to some pearl-clutchers, borderline pornographic. Booking Smith, some believed, was an anti-traditionalist move from the BBC, one that Glastonbury-fied and corrupted the Proms.
Whether squeaking their way around the Brit Awards in inflated black latex — a Michelin tyre version of the wide-legged vinyl Kansai Yamamoto jumpsuit David Bowie wore 50 years ago — or earning allegations of “Satanism” in a devilish costume at the Grammys, Smith is the modern Madonna, trying to stay relevant by being controversial. Pop stars pushing boundaries with outfits that could end up in an exhibition down the road at the V&A is nothing new (just look at Bowie) — except, perhaps, at the Proms.
The tabloid hullabaloo was unwarranted, not least because Smith’s music is incredibly safe, and lends itself well to accompaniment by the BBC Concert Orchestra. The Prom performance celebrated 10 years of the star’s debut album, In The Lonely Hour, which conquered the mainstream with its Radio 2 adult contemporary sound, an undeniable singing talent boxed in by bland balladry.
Fears of thongs duly allayed, Smith got down to business in a wide-lapelled suit, performing songs from In The Lonely Hour including their biggest hit, the gospel-inflected Stay With Me. Conductor Simon Hale worked on In The Lonely Hour as an arranger, and the songs seemed built for syrupy strings and orchestral melodrama — in fact, they needed it. To pad things out, Smith brought singing teacher Joanna Eden on stage to cover the Sherman Brothers’ Hushabye Mountain, after turning Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now into a John Lewis Christmas ad in the making.
With a triumphant “ladies and gentlemen and everything in between!”, Smith re-emerged after the interval in an elaborate claret Disney-esque gown — clearly, the suit wasn’t going to stay on. Jazz singer Clare Teal joined them on stage for her song Messin’ With Fire — Smith playing into those “satanist” allegations — before Smith donned a horned trilby to perform last year’s hit Unholy, their most interesting and creatively risky song.
BBC bosses hoped Smith would draw a different audience to the Hall (just as Pet Shop Boys have done with their Royal Opera House shows) and while Friday night’s crowd certainly didn’t exude transgression — a polite array of Apple watches and in-laws — they paid Smith the level of attention any pop star ought to receive at any show: few phones, no chatting. The orchestra elevated the pop songs to their full potential, and the classical setting elevated the crowd.
Smith not only respected but thrived in the grand surroundings. The final song, a cannily chosen cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, summed it up: gentle, harmless, slightly sickly subversion.
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