Updated 8.50am
UK singer Sam Smith dazzled crowds in Ta' Qali on Thursday as they headlined the main event of the annual Summer Daze festival.
Organisers said on Friday that more than 30,000 people attended the festival's main event on Thursday, with 65% of them specifically travelling from overseas to attend.
With an electrifying show that had attendees dancing and singing along throughout the night, Smith took the audience through a journey of their musical career, from the softer ballads of the first album to the more recent and racier dance tracks that had everyone dancing along.
With the set featuring the figure of a woman lying asleep, spray painted with slogans that included the phrases “liberation”, “autonomy”, “revolution”, “ cease fire now” and “protect trans kids”, Smith was heralded to the stage with a spectacular light display and dancers holding flaming red torches up high.
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
The crowd erupted into frenzied cheer as Smith made their appearance descending a small staircase in towering platform shoes, with a smile shining under an impressively waxed moustache and an elegant Vivienne Westwood pearl earring dangling from their lobe.
Smith started off with familiar hits from their early career, including Stay With Me, I’m Not The Only One and Like I Can, making a brief pause in the set to get the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to Julia, the band’s bassist.
While the heat didn’t seem to be keeping the crowd from enjoying the evening, Smith seemed unprepared for the temperature for the evening to border on 30 degrees.
“I’m regretting all my outfit changes for the evening,” Smith said, before launching into a rendition of Too Good At Goodbyes.
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Nevertheless, the heat didn’t stop them from changing into a series of daring outfits, including a billowing black gown, a puffy skirted coat of rainbow tulle and back into a slick black coat and veil, concealing a more revealing get up for a much-anticipated finale.
Smith went through a series of more dance-oriented hits, including Promises, Latch, I’m Not Here To Make Friends and Desire, which saw dancers tumbling into spectacular displays of movement in time to the thumping beat.
But the most anticipated moment of the show came in its finale, with Smith and entourage pulling out all the stops to deliver an exhilarating rendition of the sexually charged hit Unholy.
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Smith took to the stage in a corset and thigh-high stockings, as the dancers came out in long, blonde wigs in imitation of Kim Petras, the German pop star who also features on the song, in a high-energy performance that had the crowd dancing along enthusiastically and screaming for more, finally ending in a fireworks display over the stage.
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
‘Are you ready to party?’
Fellow Brit Becky Hill, who rose to prominence after appearing on the first season of The Voice UK in 2012, had already managed to get pulses racing earlier in the evening with a fun and high-energy set.
Clad in leather and with a blonde ponytail swishing behind her as she danced across the stage, Hill’s powerful voice had people jumping in no time, starting the crowd off with a call and response for Crazy What Love Can Do.
Becky Hill. Photo : Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Hill ran through familiar hits, including Back and Forth, Afterglow and Disconnect, that left attendees with a deep bass line thumping in their chest as they sang along bathed in neon lights.
She expressed gratitude to the crowd, both because she had been recently recovering from laryngitis and for audiences enthusiastically returning to live performances after the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“I’m so glad we made it through that and that we have live shows and music and partying again because this is my life,” she said, before launching into a version of Never Be Alone.
She went on to close off with I Wish You Well and That’s What I Remember.
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Majority of attendees came from overseas
Organisers said on Friday that over 30,000 people attended the event, with 65% of attendees coming from overseas to watch the show.
These largely came from the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Ireland and the US, they said.
Overall, the week-long festival is expected to attract some 60,000 attendees across all of its events.
“The pull of such an international audience is a testament to the quality and appeal of the headliners that SummerDaze continues to bring to the Maltese Islands, as well as partnerships with global brands such as the BBC, Creamfields and their newest addition of partnerships with the renowned Universal Music Group,” the organisers said in a statement.
“These relationships put Malta on the map and make it the more obvious destination for music lovers worldwide.”
This edition of the Summer Daze Festival was organised in partnership with Universal Music Group, BBC Radio 1 Dance Anthems and Creamfields and also featured Shaun Farrugia performing on Thursday.
Events are set to continue throughout the rest of the week with Vida Loca at Uno Malta on Friday, a BBC Radio 1 Live Broadcast at Uno Malta on Saturday and close with performances by Kungs and Danny Howard on Sunday night at Cafe Del Mar.