The excitement was palpable in the auditorium. There were three generations of my family tonight and looking back at the crowd we’re not the only ones.
There is so much love for the young man who broke through via TikTok with his heart-felt songs of heartbreak and openness about the human condition. This is his ‘Hi My Name is Insecure’ album tour.
The night began with a set by support act, Brighton’s very own Lily Knott. A perfect pop princess with a heart full of expertly written songs who skipped on joyfully and went straight in with ‘Silly Girls’..
Engaging and relaxed on the mic from the start, despite her saying she was nervous at the fact that this was her biggest show in her career so far. The seven-track set was accomplished, full of energy and great songs. A couple of tracks in, she asked for the audience to turn on their phone torchlights and of course they complied. Knott had already won over them over.
She was genuinely thrilled and surprised how many of the audience were singing her songs back at her.
Lily Knott is set for bigger things and, with her talent and commitment, it’s a sure thing that she will certainly get there.
Sam Tompkins starts the first song ‘More Than Me’ off stage then comes on to squeals and hollers from the adoring crowd.
It’s a full-energy performance from the get-go with a pounding bass line and the audience singing from the start.
“You’re the loudest crowd so far,” he says. Hometown gigs are always special for artists. “Oh my god. I’m so happy to be here.” He tells us a story about being 16 and not being able to buy a cap in a skate shop and going out in the street to play for the first time to make the money to buy it.
He asks the crowd to sing it back to remind him of the 16-year-old scared kid. Then his hands go over his face because he’s so happy he doesn’t know what to say.
Next we move into a more mellow mood with ‘Whole and See Me’.
This artist has a great vocal range and his body contorts, consumed by the emotion of his lyrics, which is perfectly reflected in the heartbreaking ‘Phones In Heaven’ which tells us of the loss of someone dear to him.
With ‘Open Mind’, which he wrote with Martin Luke Brown, his keyboard player, we discover lyrics so simple and ‘real’ which is the signature of Sam Tompkins. His ability to lay bare his innermost feelings has garnered him a tribe of all ages who connect with him.
‘Thanks God You Talked to Me’ marks the night when he met his partner Lily Knott (our support act tonight) and fell in love with her.
It brought him to tears talking about his Mum and sings the song that means so much to them both – Stevie Wonder’s ‘Lately’.
Moving into ‘Numb’ he ups the tempo again.
Introducing ‘Little Boy’ he tells of him writing the song following the loss of his father a year ago. He’d been devastated and considered not going on the tour that was imminent, but his family encouraged him to carry on and clearly that was what his dad would have wanted.
Thank goodness he did as without that he would have never got to be there in front of this loving home crowd and achieved the success he has.
“I’m so proud to be a Brightonian,” he declaims as he moves through to the end of the night. He shouts out a young lad who’d been carried on someone’s shoulders throughout the show who knew the words to every song.
My own granddaughter, Lila, was bowled over by the experience saying that it was “amazing” and, following a big hug from Lily, that she thought that she and Sam were her role models.
Sam moved to centre of the standing audience to sing the chorus of ‘Lose It All’ for one more time asking them to make a circle around him and they light up the space with their camera torches. It’s an utterly stunning close to an equally wonderful show.
Photos credit: Mitchell Peryer
LILY KNOTT SETLIST
Silly Girls
Women
When The flowers Stop Working
Sunny side Up
Haunt Me
I Blame You
I Hate It When You Do Drugs
LILY KNOTT BAND
Adam – bass
Theo – drums
Callum – guitar
SAM TOMPKINS SETLIST
More Than Me
Die For Someone
You Broke My Heart So Gently
Whole
Time Will Fly
See Me
All My Everything
Phones In Heaven
Open Mind
Thank God You Talked To Me
Little Boy
Talking To The Moon
Someone Else
Scared Of Going Under
Numb
Thanophobia
Bloodline
Alone At The Party
Encore
Dead To Me
Lose It All
SAM TOMPKINS BAND
Martin Luke Brown – keyboards
Brad Singleton – guitar
