Sam Tsui’s pizazz and energy abound on the Manila leg for The Gold Jacket Tour last November 25 held at the SM North EDSA Skydome.

Singer-actress Daiyan Trisha from Malaysia opened the show with her original songs and effortlessly sang cover songs of “Lover” by Taylor Swift and “7 Rings” by Ariana Grande. The concert served as the Philippine concert stage debut of the singer-actress who has collaborated with Tsui in song covers including “Memories” by Maroon 5.

After the sweet kick off by Daiyan Trisha, Sam Tsui made his golden entrance, rocking fashionable statement pieces to pay homage to the theme of the tour. But more than a color and a fashion, the Gold Jacket has a symbolic meaning. According to him, it is a representation of one’s attitude and/or state of mind, conveying one’s uniqueness and being fabulous in this day and age where beauty standards and influence seem to be validated by likes and followers. He then relayed his wish to bring into everyone’s psyche that one should really feel good about oneself and that you are enough and can make a difference in this world.

Very evident of his love affair with his fans here in the country was how he fondly remembers the support and interaction he had with Filipino fans throughout the years and just recently, a collaboration with homegrown singer-actress Karylle came to fruition through a cover version of Sponge Cola’s “Kay Tagal Kitang Hinintay”. He serenaded the audience with the aforementioned song with flawless and great diction of the country’s local language.

A delight as well to see onstage alongside Sam is his life partner of three years, singer Casey Breves. The couple gave their own flavor to the mashup tunes of Ed Sheeran’s iconic hit song “Thinking Out Loud” and Sam Smith’s “I’m Not The Only One”. To mark an important milestone on their lifetime of togetherness, Sam shared to the audience that an original piece/song was written for it called “This Promise”.

Sam’s glowing impression of Filipinos continues as he is well-aware of Filipinos having the knack and/or talent in singing as he brought the crowd to a trip down memory lane with his favorite songs throughout the years. It was a massive videoke session as the crowd sang with gusto with Sam such hits “Like A Prayer” by Madonna, “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion, “No Scrubs” by TLC, “Yeah” by Usher, “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis, “Somebody I Used To Know” by Gotye and “Shape Of You” by Ed Sheeran.

A tribute to dear friend Christina Grimmie was one of the show’s highlights. Sam dedicated his performance of “Just A Dream”, reminiscing on how lucky he was to sing alongside a great talent.

It was indeed a golden night for both Sam Tsui and his fans as he looks forward to come back to our shores. Aside from the song covers, the singer-songwriter also performed his original songs “Trust”, “Shadow”, “Carousel”, and “Just For Tonight”.

Words and photos by Lou Belit

The Gold Jacket Tour was presented by PULP Live World. We extend our thanks to PULP Live World for the invitation to the event.