We went along to Tom A. Smith’s show at The Waterfront Studio in Norwich, having seen him only a few months back supporting The Lottery Winners at The LCR, I was very much looking forward to seeing his return for his own headline show.
Kicking off the night was Hunny Buzz, an indie pop band based in Bristol. Having listened to them in advance in preparation for the show, I really enjoyed their music and knew that I was going into a show I was going to love. From the beginning, they really captivated the crowd, immediately drawing attention from people as they were walking into the venue. Midway through their set, drummer Ben Laver took centre stage to showcase the merch that they had available to purchase that night, it was a fun little break between songs and really highlighted the personality of the band.
One of my favourite songs of the night was their new track ‘Joyride’, which releases on 1st May (can’t wait to put this on repeat), their whole set has me imagining I’m running across the beach on a hot summer’s day – not that that’s something I have experience with. I can’t wait to see these guys again, hopefully soon!
The room had filled up, everyone was sweaty, it was a million degrees (might be a slight exaggeration), and it was time for Tom A. Smith. Immediately, he was interacting with the crowd and bringing more energy than I think I’ve ever had in my life. That was one big thing that really stood out to me both at this show and supporting The Lottery Winners; he is a natural performer, and you can tell he truly LOVES what he does. The whole set was just chaos in the absolute best way, his bold movements and showmanship, getting everyone dancing to ‘Put A Record On, Tommy’, and just his crowd interactions in general. I’d love to say I had a favourite song of the night, but I simply couldn’t choose.
Tom A. Smith closed his set with ‘The Band’, which brought calm after the chaos, and to me felt like I was watching a movie. He would regularly look around the room, directly at people in the audience, seeming to just take a moment to really appreciate where he was and everyone that came out to see him. It was the perfect end to a really fun, hot, sweaty show.
