A group of friends who forked out £2,000 on a trip to see Sam Smith in Manchester have spoken of their heartbreak after the singer stopped the gig after four songs.
Shane Meredith, 24, made the 200-mile trip from south Wales on Wednesday (24 May) for the show at the AO Arena, along with his husband Ollie and their best friend Sarah-Jane Cooper.
The whole trip cost them around £2,000, which included tickets, travel, accommodation, food and Sam Smith merchandise. Shane said they decided to spend a week's holiday in Manchester, with their favourite pop artist's concert being the main event.
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He had booked the tickets in December as Christmas presents, and since then, the friends have been saving up to turn it into a holiday, Wales Online reports.
"We got there [on Wednesday] and bought £100s worth of merchandise. The supporting act came on, which was fantastic, then Sam Smith came on and performed four songs which were really, really good with phenomenal vocals," Shane said.
"We assumed Sam went off for a change of outfit and a video came on [as though to introduce the first section of the show]. Then everything just went off.
"Someone said over a tannoy 'we are having technical difficulties', which I thought meant a speaker had blown. We sat there for 20 minutes in pitch black and then they said 'the technical difficulties are still ongoing', but they then turned the lights on for around a further 30 minutes."
Next Shane said it was announced over a tannoy that Sam Smith had a problem with their voice and couldn't continue with the show, before fans were ushered out by venue staff.
Shane said: "Sam was supposed to go on at 7.30pm, but the support artist came on about 7.45pm until about 8.30pm. Sam came on at about 8.45pm, so they were pretty late starting.
"They were on for about 15 minutes max, we were left waiting in the arena for an hour or so and then we were back in our accommodation at about 10.30pm. We're really big Sam Smith fans which is why we spent so much money to travel to Manchester for it, so it was really disappointing."
Following the show, Shane said the trio sat in their hotel all night talking about their disappointment. "Family members were excited for us to Facetime them and tell them how amazing it was, but it was the complete opposite," he said. "It's all we've spoken about since because we are still in shock."
Once the show ended, Sam Smith apologised to fans on social media. Posting on their Instagram story, Sam wrote: "Dearest sailors, 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 at the end. 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.
"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."
Shane said he appreciated Sam's apology, but felt it didn't quite go far enough considering fans had travelled far and wide and spent lots of money to see the popstar.
He said: "My thoughts on the apology was that their voice seemed okay on the night because it was some of the best vocals I've ever heard. They could have come back on stage and said something to us instead of some random man announcing it over a tannoy.
"There was no empathy behind the post, it was just plain black with writing on when they could have apologised themselves to their fans [at the venue] who travelled hundreds of miles and paid thousands of pounds to see them. People at the concert came from as far as China to see them.
"We would have no issue spending that money if we got to see Sam, but after just hearing a couple of songs, we didn't get the whole experience. We would love to see Sam again because we are such big fans, but they've cancelled their UK shows before their shows [outside the UK], so I don't think there is another opportunity for us to go and see them."
On Thursday, Shane said he received an email from Ticketmaster saying the company had been advised to issue fans a full refund. He said: "The email said we will have a refund, but we're not having the compassion of a replacement concert. It's just 'here's your money, goodbye'."
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