Sam Smith was forced off stage during his Tuesday night show at the Grand West Casino in Cape Town amidst concerns over a strained voice.
The British singer, who is scheduled to perform three shows in Cape Town this week that have all been sold out, wowed the crowd in the first 45 minutes of his show before disappearing backstage.
Much to the audience’s disappointment, an announcement was made shortly after a break in the concert.
“Sam Smith’s CPT concert tonight has been cancelled. Unfortunately Sam Smith took strain to his voice & had to stop his performance. Ticket holders will be contacted directly. We will keep you posted with more info for the other CPT performances as it becomes available,” read the official statement from Big Concerts.
The Grammy winner began the show by telling the Cape Town audience how much he has been looking forward to performing in the Mother City.
“It’s been my dream since I’ve been a little boy to perform in Cape Town.”
Smith recently took to social media to share his battle with anxiety since arriving in South Africa.
“The last week, or so I’ve been doing these incredible shows, and from my pics, I look super happy and calm and collected. And I am happy, and sometimes I am calm. But the last few weeks my anxiety has been so f**king intense! I can’t even begin to explain.”
Smith confessed to the many difficulties of being on tour for the last seven years during his short time on stage. One of them being, “it’s f**king lonely.”
This hasn’t been the first time the “Thrill of it All” singer has had to cancel shows. In 2015 Australian fans were left disappointed as he underwent surgery for a vocal cord hemorrhage.
Amongst the sold out crowd were many students from Stellenbosch University.
“He was talking about how he always nearly rips his pants when he gets on top of the stage, so when he went off, I thought it was because of this. It was still one of the best concerts I’ve been to up until that point,” says Emma Fookwe, a third year BA (Social Work) student and concert attendee.
Alexander Dickie, a final year BAcc student thought they were playing a prank on the crowd.
“I thought it was a joke at first. We sat there for 15 minutes or so waiting for him to come back out. Nevertheless, the first part of the show was definitely one of the best concerts I’ve seen.”
It’s still unclear whether Smith will complete the two remaining shows in Cape Town.