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Josiah Antonio, ABS-CBN News
MANILA – English singer Sam Smith’s “Gloria” concert in the Philippines on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena was truly a great celebration of music and sexuality.
Smith’s concert was divided into three acts. The “Love” portion includes hits from the Grammy Award-winning album “In The Lonely Hour” such as “Stay With Me,” “I’m Not The Only One” and “Like I Can.”
After the first three songs, Smith recalled their first visit to the Philippines when they were 21, emphasizing that they don’t take the support of their Filipino fans for granted.
“I feel something good in the room tonight. It’s so great to be here with you again after such a long time. I just want to say that I never take your support and your love for us for granted. Thank you so much for staying. on our end,” Smith said.
“I remember coming here when I was 21 and having an incredible experience with you, so thank you for being here again,” they added.
The Grammy winner hopes they can exude a sense of freedom with their “Gloria” tour.
“Before this concert, I found out that we have 9 concerts left from this tour. We’re going to give you everything tonight, but we need you to go as much as we want tonight too,” Smith said.
“This show is our baby and it’s our baby and it’s about so many different things, but the one thing I want you to take home tonight. The only thing I want you to know about this show is that this night is a show about freedom,” they added.
The “Love” portion continued with the lead single “Too Good At Goodbyes” from The Thrill of It All, followed by “How Do You Sleep,” “Dancing With A Stranger,” and “Diamonds” from the pandemic album “Love Goes, and “Perfect” from the latest album “Gloria”.
In the second act, titled “Beauty,” Smith kicked off with a cover of Desree’s “I’m Kissing You” and shared his struggles producing “Gloria” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I recorded my album ‘Gloria’, it was a very different time in the world for us and we couldn’t do what we do just together, not in these rooms, we couldn’t share music like we used to,” They said .
Smith praised his friends and emphasized that thanks to them they realized that they love music. They later sang “Lay Me Down” with backing vocalist Laduna and “Love Goes” with backing vocalist Patrick.
“For me, it was the first time I stopped singing on stage since I was a kid, since I was about 8 years old, and in those couple of years it really hit me what it was about this job and what it was such. It’s about the music that I love and miss the most, and the truth is I love singing and I love singing with you, I love it,” Smith said.
“The reason I came into this world is because I wanted to dedicate my life to music. This is because when we make music, we don’t make music alone, we make music with our friends and with our loved ones and I miss them more than anything in the world and that’s why I promise myself that if I come again on tour, I’m using this time to really celebrate my friends and introduce them to you properly,” they added.
The energetic Smith then sang tracks from Gloria such as “Gimme”, “Lose You”, “I’m Not Here To Make Friends” and other singles such as “Promises”, “Latch” and “I Feed Good”. . “
The “Gloria” tour concluded with the third act, “Sex,” in which Smith showed off three outfits.
The English singer began her last performance with the title song “Gloria”, dressed in an angelic outfit. They then stripped down to their underwear for a cover of pop icon Madonna’s “Human Nature.”
Dressed in a spectacular devil costume, Smith closed out the “Gloria” set with the Grammy-winning track “Unholy,” featuring pre-recorded verses from Kim Petras.