Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: The Captain of the Castro: Why Sam Smith’s Residency Is San Francisco’s New Sanctuary
Words by Starr Lee
SAN FRANCISCO- After an intimate residency in Brooklyn earlier this year, Sam Smith has brought the concept west, settling into San Francisco’s newly reopened Castro Theatre for a five-week run that feels deliberate and personal.
The neon marquee glows against the fog like it has something to say. Inside the 1,400-capacity movie palace, restored after a $41 million renovation, the main level fills quickly. No floor seating. Just a standing crowd packed beneath the balcony, bodies shoulder to shoulder, faces tilted toward the stage. Above them, fans lean over the railing, drinks in hand, waiting.
Smith walks out without fanfare.
They open with “Lay Me Down,” nearly motionless beneath a single spotlight. Dressed in a structured captain’s hat and a sweeping lace coat fastened with an oversized flower pendant, they look like a romantic voyager arriving somewhere that already feels familiar. The first note is soft, almost cautious. Then it opens.
In a room this size, nothing escapes. The Castros’ acoustics catch the grain in Smith’s tenor, the slight ache at the edge of sustained notes, the inhale before a chorus swells. The crowd is silent, standing still, listening.
When “I’m Not the Only One” begins, the temperature shifts. Smith lowers their voice for the first verse, almost speaking the lines before lifting into the chorus. On “You and me, we made a vow,” their voice tightens just slightly, intentional and controlled. By the second refrain, the crowd is singing quietly along. Not screaming. Not overpowering. Just enough to be felt. Smith steps back from the mic for a beat and lets the lyric hover before reclaiming it with a steady rise. The moment feels shared rather than performed.
After the second song, Smith looks out across the standing crowd below the balcony.
“This city means a lot to me,” they say. “My first show here, I was 20 years old.”
They tell a story about being left alone in San Francisco while a partner explored the city without them. About wandering through neighbourhoods by themselves. About unexpectedly falling in love with the place. “It feels very full circle to be here for five weeks,” they admit, scanning the room.
Then they squint toward the front.
“Wait. Were you here last night?”
A fan screams.
“Oh my God. You’re doing the residency properly. I love that.”
Laughter spreads across the floor and up to the balcony. That’s the difference when an artist stays in one place. The room starts to recognise itself.
Midway through the set, the lace coat slips away, revealing a custom Vivienne Westwood look: a black poet’s shirt with dramatic sleeves, tailored cheeky shorts, towering heeled boots striking sharply against the stage. The shift feels freeing. Smith moves differently now. Looser. More playful.
They introduce a new track, “My Guy,” sharing that for the first time in their career, they are writing from a place where the love is reciprocated. Followed by a cover of Erasure’s “A Little Respect”, “It’s a Wednesday,” they laugh, “but I need you to shake your titties.”
The balcony answers first.
A sleek blend of “Ain’t Nobody” and “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” turns the theatre intoa late-night dance floor. But soon they bring the energy back down to another cover
Later, bathed in deep blue light, Smith steps toward the piano for “Angel From Montgomery.”
“It took me eight years to finally listen to Elton and sing this,” they admit.
The arrangement is stripped back to piano and voice. No embellishment. The lower register carries weight. The higher notes remain clear and measured. When the final line fades, the room holds still for a second longer than expected before applause breaks through.
Sam Smith’s residency at the Castro Theatre runs through Feb.10th-March 14th, 2026. Tickets are available via the theatre’s official website. With just 1,400 standing spots per night and word spreading quickly, availability is limited.
Five weeks in one theatre does something rare. It turns a concert into a chapter. And this one is still being written.
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: LP Brings ‘All Is Not Lost’ Tour to Vancouver
On September 5, multi platinum singer-songwriter LP brought the All Is Not Lost Tour to Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre, delivering a performance that moved effortlessly between vulnerability, power, and pure rock-and-roll energy. The night also carried a special significance: the tour celebrates the 10th anniversary of Lost on You, the record that helped transform LP from a respected songwriter into a global phenomenon.
Known professionally as LP, Laura Pergolizzi has spent years carving out a space that is uniquely their own. Before becoming internationally recognized as a recording artist, LP established themselves as a songwriter for major artists including Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, and Celine Dion. Their own breakthrough came with “Lost on You,” which went to No. 1 in 18 countries and eventually surpassed one billion Spotify streams.
Inside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, LP’s music felt much more immediate. Their unmistakable voice moved from restrained and intimate to explosive within moments, giving songs such as “Muddy Waters,” “The One That You Love,” and “Lost on You” a sense of urgency that is difficult to recreate outside of a live setting.
The evening’s setlist reflected both sides of LP’s career. The first part moved through newer material and familiar favourites, including “Shelly,” “Tokyo Sunrise,” “Love Is All I Have,” and “Chasing & Waiting.” Later, the performance shifted toward the Lost on You celebration, bringing some of LP’s most recognizable songs into the spotlight.
It was the kind of moment that makes a concert feel bigger than the room. The song that introduced LP’s voice to millions became a shared experience between artist and audience, with the theatre singing along to every familiar line. After nearly a decade of the song living its own life around the world, hearing it performed in a packed Vancouver theatre gave it a renewed sense of intimacy.
From behind the camera, there was another layer to the experience. Photographing LP meant constantly watching for the moments between the obvious ones. The dramatic poses and powerful vocals naturally create striking frames, but some of the strongest images came from the quieter details, the concentration before a verse, a hand wrapped around the microphone, a fleeting expression beneath the stage lights.
LP is an artist who gives a photographer plenty to work with. Their movement across the stage feels instinctive rather than choreographed, and their performance style carries the same unpredictability as their voice. One moment can feel completely still; the next can explode into movement.
That contrast became one of the defining visual elements of the Vancouver show. The Queen Elizabeth Theatre also suited the performance. Rather than feeling distant or oversized, the venue allowed the audience to remain close to the emotional centre of the show. LP could command the room without having to overwhelm it.
There was also a sense of celebration throughout the night. Ten years after Lost on You, LP is still performing the songs that changed the trajectory of their career while continuing to introduce audiences to what’s next. The tour combines material from the upcoming album with a special presentation of Lost on You in its entirety, making the show feel like both a look backward and a step forward.
That balance is what made the Vancouver performance so compelling. LP isn’t simply revisiting an old record. They are showing how those songs have evolved with them and how they continue to resonate with an audience that has grown alongside their music.
By the final moments of the night, the feeling in the theatre was less like watching an artist celebrate an anniversary and more like witnessing a career still in motion.
For me, photographing LP in Vancouver was an opportunity to capture that evolution in real time: the voice, the movement, the vulnerability, and the electricity that has made LP such a distinctive live performer.
Ten years after Lost on You, the LP still has something to say and judging by the way Vancouver listened, people are still more than willing to hear it.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
LP
All Photo Credit: Raphael Arthur
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Icons Deep Purple & Kansas Bring A Legendary Celebratory Night of Surprises To Abbotsford’s Rogers Forum
I don’t say this lightly, but both Deep Purple and Kansas absolutely put on a hell of a show. Since 1968, Deep Purple have basically been the godfathers of live rock performance. Don’t believe me? Go look up their Guinness World Record for “loudest concert,” which they snagged back in 1972. That same energy, that same wall of sound, made the trip across five decades and landed right here for the band’s headlining North American tour stop in Abbotsford. Original drummer Ian Paice is still holding it down, now joined by guitarist Simon McBride, bassist Roger Glover, keyboardist Don Airey, and vocalist Ian Gillan. Sure, only one original member remains, but somehow the whole group still nails the spirit of what made Deep Purple, well, Deep Purple.
They tore through 16 tracks that night. “Smoke on the Water” got the loudest reaction of the evening, no surprise there. “Diablo” and “Perfect Strangers” also landed big, and “Highway Star” kicked the whole thing off on an absolute high. And when I say the crowd was into it, I mean it. Fans who’ve followed this band for almost fifty years were pressed right up against the barrier trying to get as close as possible. That closeness paid off too, with an incredible light show and Simon McBride ripping through solo after solo. Honestly, McBride was the highlight more than once, stepping up so Gillan could catch his breath between songs. Given how much those vocals demand, that rest was more than earned.
Like I said, “Smoke on the Water” was the main event for Abbotsford. It’s one thing to describe it, but actually watching the buildup, seeing the bandmates grinning at each other because they knew exactly what was coming, that was priceless. Then those notes kicked in. You know the ones. Every Guitar Center employee’s nightmare. The whole arena became one voice, singing along to a guitar riff like it was a chorus. It was the moment of the night, the kind of thing every rock fan dreams about experiencing live. That wave of energy carried all the way through to the final song, “Hush.” If you were a millennial who spent way too much time on Guitar Hero 2, hearing this one live gave you full goosebumps. This was the band’s first big hit back in 1968, and in 2026 it still hits just as hard. The crowd treated it like more than an encore. It felt like everyone in that room knew they might not get another chance to see Deep Purple live, and they soaked in every second of it. When the house lights finally came up, Abbotsford just stood there in awe. Deep Purple‘s legendary status was on full display, and nobody in that crowd wanted the night to end.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
DEEP PURPLE
KANSAS
All Photo Credit: Marquise Monno