Seraphina Lotkhamnga on October 2nd, 2014

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Often dubbed as “the male Adele” for his songs of heartbreak and vocal prowess, U.K. crooner Sam Smith has had a fast ride to the top once music fans took notice of his collaboration with Disclosure on the smash hit “Latch.” Smith’s critically lauded “Nirvana” EP was followed up by the May release of “In the Lonely Hour,” which now holds the No. 2 spot on the U.S. album charts. Funny enough, for having put out what he called “a pretty depressing album,” Smith seemed to be in his happy place at the Greek Theatre on Monday – the first of his two sold-out L.A. shows.

• ||| Photos by Kelsey Heng

With the outdoor amphitheater filled with super fans, smitten couples and hopeful singer-songwriters themselves (this writer was surrounded by several young men loudly demonstrating their own perfected yet “freestyle” vocal riffs), it was a surreal moment when the lights blacked out and a sharply dressed Smith walked out into the spotlight and closer to the screams. Opening with “Nirvana,” Smith and his perfectly coiffed hair delivered the opening verses as if he were performing in an intimate jazz club. If you focused on only one of the jumbo screens, you could have pretended (really hard) that it was so. That is until the lights went up to reveal the band, which included a full string quartet and backing vocalists, on black tiers with standing lamps that almost resembled futuristic palm trees from afar.

“You good up there?” the singer shouted up to the Greek’s nether reaches after the funky “Together” (which was written with Nile Rodgers). “This is so beautiful,” Smith continued to gush. “I’ve been dreaming of playing this place. Thanks so much for much being part of my first proper American tour.” With that he went into the melodically sweeter yet heartbreaking ballads such as “Leave Your Lover,” “I Told You Now” and “Like I Can.”

“I can’t believe how many of you are out there,” Smith spouted before he decided he wanted to pick up the pace with his latest single “Restart.” Forming a line with his backing vocalists, he requested some serious two-stepping for the most upbeat track on his record. Swaying back and forth, the crowd happily complied before things slowed down again.

After making a funny speech about how he tended to be truly inspired by only “female divas” (with the exception of Stevie Wonder), Smith performed his heartrending interpretation of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know,” which became widely popular after he performed it for Sirius XM’s “Hits 1.” The performance was accompanied by a sea of (cell phone) lights – an odd but beautiful thing if you’re a tech geek.

“Good Thing” followed and prevailed even if it was another sad love song, before Smith claimed “I feel like I’ve been singing my ass off” as the opening backing vocals of “La La” began. “Now it’s it your turn!” Oddly, not many in the crowd seemed to know the collaboration he had done with Naughty Boy. The “la’s” were rather timid and the jazzy arrangement flourished more than the sing-a-long. However, things turned around when Smith went into “Lay Me Down, “ the song that started it all for him and eventually landed him a record deal. “Money On My Mind,” another rare upbeat gem of Smith’s, closed out his main set.

It didn’t take very long for Smith to return to the stage for his encore (the strict 9:45 p.m. curfew at the Greek may have factored into his promptness), and if everyone in the venue were actually true Sam Smith fans, it was obvious what three songs he would be closing with.

“This is ‘Latch’,” Smith said matter-of-factly as he stepped up to the microphone for the laid-back romantic version of the electronic radio hit. He also made sure to clarify something before the night was over. Smith revealed: “I’m a happy person,” – a statement which immediately received laughter – “and I wanted to end [the album] on a happy note.” He sang his album’s final track “Make It to Me” (“a mating call”), but we all knew what was coming. Smith’s smash hit “Stay With Me” involved the biggest sing-a-long seen and heard yet with fans’ arms around each other and singing to each other or being happily melodramatic. Mary J. Blige may have not made a guest appearance (they have performed and recorded a live duet of the song together), but it was the closer everyone had been waiting for.

New Zealand’s Broods opened the night with songs off their self-titled EP.