Sam Smith Took Down the Walls For Soul-Bearing Show of Their New York City Residency: 5 Best Moments

2 weeks ago 5

Set successful Brooklyn's cozy Warsaw venue, Smith stripped distant the artifice of fame for a career-defining unrecorded performance.

10/16/2025

Sam Smith

Sam Smith performs onstage during the Sam Smith: “To Be Free New York City” Residency astatine Warsaw connected October 15, 2025 successful New York City. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Interscope Capitol

For conscionable implicit a decade, Sam Smith has been extremely, unquestionably popular. Between their billions of streams, 7 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits and 5 Grammy Awards, the English singer-songwriter has routinely sold retired planetary arena tours, bringing their somber singing dependable to monolithic crowds astir the world.

Yet connected Wednesday nighttime (Oct. 15), Smith was not singing to a roaring assemblage of 20,000 wrong of a monolithic arena. Standing connected the signifier astatine Warsaw, the unassuming performance hallway successful Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, Smith peered retired astatine a assemblage of specified hundreds. And they looked thrilled.

“I person been touring truthful much, since the property of 21. I went from playing successful venues of this size to playing successful arenas successful 1 twelvemonth — it was truly f–king intense,” they told the hushed audience. “I stayed successful those arenas for astir 10 years, and it was a truly astonishing experience, and I emotion singing successful those rooms … but my favourite shows, and the ones that changed maine arsenic an creator were the gigs that were shared successful rooms similar this, that are built for music.”

It’s fitting, then, that “built for music” could person been the tagline for Wednesday night’s variation of Smith’s To Be Free: New York City residency astatine Warsaw. Spanning a whopping 24 dates astatine the trusted section performance hall, the caller amusement sees Smith pulling down the creator scaffolding that they’ve constructed implicit the past decennary and change. There’s nary gimmicks, nary glitz, nary sets, nary costumes; conscionable Sam Smith, a tiny unrecorded set and their larger-than-life voice.

Over the people of 2 hours, Smith ran the gamut of their catalog, weaving successful unreleased songs that fans haven’t had the accidental to perceive yet, covers of popular classics from passim past and well-loved B-sides, portion besides making definite to springiness their anxious assemblage the hits that they came to hear. Below, Billboard takes a look astatine the 5 champion moments from Sam Smith’s remarkable, intimate performamce:


Billboard VIP Pass