“Tom A Smith, he’s one of our own” chanted the Sunderland crowd. This was the second night that Tom performed at the Fire Station. The first night sold out in a few days. Such is the popularity of this new face on the Sunderland scene. Tom comes complete with the right credentials having played at Glastonbury this year, at the Radio 1 Big Weekend and having just completed a UK tour taking him from Cornwall through London and up to Glasgow via Manchester and many other parts of the country.
His music is I suppose (and how would I know at my age?) Indie Rock. He has catchy pop songs, a full backing band who gave him a rocky edge and a rapidly growing Sunderland following. He is also very ambitious. “Thank you for having me at the Fire Station for two nights, how about next time I come to Sunderland Empire and we try and sell that out? And how about the Stadium of Light? No I could not sell that out yet but maybe in the future?” Tom says to the audience. He clearly has these venues in his sight. And why not? Newcastle has Sam Fender, Middlesbrough has James Arthur and maybe the time is right for this guy to be the Sunderland equivalent. You get the feeling the crowd is willing this to happen.
From the Fire Station site: “Fresh off the back of a wave of support for his latest single “Little Bits”, which found airtime on BBC Radio 1, Radio X, and Absolute Radio, as well as on air support on Sunday Brunch, MTV Gonzo, and MOTD X, Sunderland’s Tom A. Smith has now returned to announce the details behind his latest collection ‘EP3’, alongside the euphoric new single “Weirdo”.
‘EP3’ will follow an incredible whirlwind of live performances throughout the last year, including being selected by Elton John to join him at his British Summer Time show at Hyde Park, appearances at Glastonbury, Barn On The Farm, F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and opening Leeds Festival to more than 6000 music fans. He was also announced as Apple Music’s Up Next artist for September and Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Artist of the month. Having already played a ton of gigs throughout the last two years, including supporting Courteeners, Miles Kane, Martha Hill, Vistas, Blondes, The Pale White, Eliza and The Bear, Gang of Youths, whenyoung, Cat Empire, and Sunset Sons, as well as shows at The Great Escape, Stockton Calling, Sound City and Neighbourhood Weekender, Tom A. Smith looks set to continue his busy live schedule throughout 2023 as well.”
“There’s an age-old rule about working for 10,000 hours before you truly master something. Now, we can’t verify if that’s true or not, but prodigal songwriter Tom A. Smith must surely have clocked up 10,000 hours before he was even in his teens.” – CLASH
“A restless rocky anthem to freedom from the Sunderland teenager who penned more than 150 songs during lockdown.” THE TIMES (Best New Tracks, ‘Dragonfly’)
The crowd was a mixture of (mainly) young people, and a smattering of older fans and (I assume) members of his family. I bought his tour T-shirt which was sold to me by a couple of lovely friendly ladies who could be family members? Jan and I both really enjoyed it and we are now official Tom A Smith fans. Thanks to Jan for the photos and to Chris for helping me with the entry. This guy seems to be on an up and coming trajectory. And all credit to him.
Tom A Smith he’s one of our own!
Setlist: Wolves; Toronto; Could I Live With Being Fake?; Man Overboard; Convince Yourself; Little Bits; Weirdo; The Worst Is Still To Come; This Christmas Time; Fading Away; Never Good Enough; Like you do; Dragonfly
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