25 May 2023 , 11:09
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Sam Smith's gig in Manchester ended abruptly on Wednesday night, leaving fans confused, angry and worried about the award-winning singer.
The Oscar award-winning singer, 31, cancelled further gigs on Thursday morning, explaining doctors have advised them to rest their vocal chords amid fears over permanent damage to their voice.
Sam has offered refunds to present to watch their brief stint on stage at Manchester's AO Arena, with the option also available for those with tickets to postponed dates in Birmingham and Glasgow to get their money back too.
While many have been sharing their concerns for Sam's mental health amid the drama, others have been recalling the 'terrifying' experience on Wednesday night online.
One concert goer took to social media to slam Sam for leaving the stage so suddenly - claiming she was left anxious and scared in the dark with her 13-year-old daughter, not knowing what was going on.
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Just hours before teasing Madonna would be joining them at the AO Arena, Unholy singer Sam left the stage after performing just four songs for an excited crowd, with it claimed one of their backup singer had been spotted crying while performing.
Sam, who had to pull out of a tour date last month due to illness, went on to share a lengthy statement on social media, revealing they "noticed something wrong with my voice" while belting out their third song of the evening.
But despite Sam claiming the reason for the cancellation was down to not being able to get their "voice back in gear", fans and gig-goers have been left in a state of confusion following the sudden stage exit.
It was initially thought the concert had been cut short thanks to a power cut, with many in the crowd sharing footage on social media as the arena was plunged into darkness.
Sam Smith's fans were left in the dark as the singer unexpectedly left the stage (Twitter/ @RachPayne88)
The crowd originally thought a power cut or technical issue had occurred (Twitter/ @davidianedwards)"Sam Smith concert at MEN arena has had a power cut everybody in darkness," one fan of Sam's tweeted as they posted a clip of the chaotic moment on Twitter on Wednesday night.
Another user, RachPayne88 shared similar footage and penned: "Possible power cut at Sam Smith."
One fan begged AO Arena for some clarification, asking the venue's official Twitter account: "Here at he Arena to see @samsmith there is we are led to believe a Technical issue that has STOPPED the show for over 10 mins now. No comm’s/ update/ reassurance/ people becoming anxious/ nervous understandably - tell us what’s happening/ communicate, very poor."
Discussing the experience on Twitter, another attendee recalled: "I mean it was scary we was left for around 20 to 30 mins not knowing what’s going on.."
"Just not ok I had my 13 year old sat with me in the dark for 20 min before another 20 in the light on nearly to the day of the awful things that happened and you had us sat in the dark genuinely hope Sam is ok but damn handled awfully #SamSmith," one fumed online amid the cancellation.
The drama at Manchester's AO Arena on Wednesday night comes just days on from the sixth anniversary of the terror attack at the venue that claimed the lives of 22 people, including some young children.
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The bombing carried out by Islamic extremist Salman Abedi at the Manchester arena took place during an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 2017.
The AO Arena are yet to comment on Sam's cancelled performance, instead just reposting the singer's Instagram statement to their own followers on social media.
Sam's statement reads: "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 an amazing show tonight, with a special surprise guest at the end."
They continued: "During my third song, I noticed something wrong with my voice. I prayed it was just my voice waking up for the show but into the fourth song I could feel something was really wrong.
Madonna had been expected to take to the stage towards the end of the night (Madonna/Instagram)
But instead, the crowd heard just four songs from Sam before the gig was cut short (Kenny Brown)"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".
Sam returned to Instagram the following morning to update fans further and announce more dates on their Gloria tour will be postponed.
The statement shared on Sam's Instagram Stories on Thursday [May 25] reads: "DUE TO VOCAL ISSUES DURING LAST NIGHT'S MANCHESTER PERFORMANCE, REGRETTABLY WE WILL BE CANCELLING THE RESCHEDULED BIRMINGHAM AND GLASGOW SAM SMITH SHOWS. REFUNDS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT POINT OF PURCHASE FOR ALL THREE DATES; MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM AND GLASGOW.
"A SPOKESPERSON SAID 'DOCTORS HAVE ADVISED DUE TO A VOCAL CORD INJURY, SAM MUST HAVE COMPLETE VOCAL REST. SAM IS HEARTBROKEN TO HAVE HAD TO CANCEL THESE SHOWS BUT THEY HAVE BEEN TOLD BY DOCTORS THAT IF THEY KEEP SINGING, THEY WILL DO PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THEIR VOICE.
"IF THEY TAKE SOME REST THEY WILL BE ABLE TO PERFORM AGAIN."
When posting the statement to their 14.7million followers on Instagram, Lay Me Down singer Sam added: "I'm so sorry [heartbroken emoji]."
"If Sam Smith cancelled their show tonight due to their voice, surely they should have cancelled it BEFORE, seems insensitive to stop mid show, turn lights on and say there’s issues at an arena where there was a serious terrorist attack, talk about anxiety for the crowd," one Twitter user mused online as the news broke.
"The irony of Sam Smith cancelling the gig last night after Too Good at Goodbyes is not lost on me," another joked.
One mused how Madonna had been scheduled to making a cameo on stage and shared their regret at missing out on seeing the Queen of Pop perform alongside Sam.
"Madonna and Sam Smith have a new song coming out and Sam was supposed to premiere it at their show last night but then the show got cancelled [sad face emoji],"
Sam, who identifies as non binary and uses they/them pronouns, has also been subjected to abuse on social media amid the drama surrounding their cancelled gig.
"I posted a video of Sam Smith performing on TikTok and had to disable the comments as the amount of transphobic t****ery I received was simply disgusting," one fan shared on Twitter on Wednesday night.
Another added: "I see #SamSmith trending and I'm not surprised they didn't come on stage to tell y'all that they couldn't perform considering how transphobic some of these tweets are. Why even go to their show if you are gonna attack their gender identity when something goes awry."
The Mirror has approached Sam Smith and Manchester AO Arena for comment on Wednesday night's cancelled concert.