Sam Smith concert at AO Arena suddenly cancelled as lights go out

Sam Smith’s concert at Manchester’s AO Arena was cancelled last night as lights went down after just four songs.

Their Gloria Tour performance was suddenly stopped midway through on Wednesday evening, May 24th, as the singer appeared to then walk off stage.

A packed out arena saw many confused fans take to social media to understand what was happening. Fans at the show reported the lights went dark for around 20 minutes, believing at first that there had been a ‘power cut’. 

After some brief uncertainty, minutes later, it was confirmed over the tannoy that the performance had been pulled due to ‘vocal issues’.

Fans were left disappointed but understanding, as Sam has recently had to put back some gigs due to suffering from a virus.

One fan wrote: “Was excited seeing @samsmith #GLORIA tonight but they cancelled after 4 songs. Various reasons have been put out, but hope Sam is ok either way. From what we saw, they did great!”

Another put: “#samsmith concert cancelled because of a voice issue! What a massive shame! Take care @samsmith you did sound amazing!”

A third tweeted: “Sam smith show in Manchester has been cancelled due to their voice — hope everything is okay.”

A fourth disappointed fan penned: “Gutted Sam Smith show has been cancelled after 4 songs. Truly devastating it was on its way to being an amazing show.”

Fans said the show had a great start but looking back, they noticed Sam had to keep pointing the microphone over to the crowd as they must have been struggling with their voice.

The pop star later posted a statement on Instagram to say they had been battling a virus and were ‘heartbroken’ they couldn’t finish the show.

They said they could feel that ‘something was really wrong’ with their voice during the fourth song.

In an Instagram story, Sam wrote: “I don’t know what to say honestly. I fought off a virus a few weeks ago and since then we have travelled across Europe and had such incredible shows.

“Today in soundcheck I felt fine and was so excited to give Manchester and amazing show tonight, with a special surprise at the end.

“During the third song, I noticed something wrong with my voice waking up for the show but into the fourth song I could feel something was really wrong. I came off stage and have tried everything to get my voice back in gear but it won’t.

“I am honestly heartbroken I couldn’t finish the show tonight for you all. I love you all. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry x.”