Tom A. Smith – Live Review – Steelyard, Sheffield
By Brad Jones, June 2026
As Tom A. Smith came out onto the stage in front of a jovial crowd at Sheffield’s Steelyard, I was asked by the person next to me, who was wearing a Sherlocks shirt along with many others in attendance: “Is he old enough to be up there?”
For someone who has been performing on stage since the age of eight, there’s no doubt this question has been posed countless times about the now 21-year-old, and after dealing with momentary issues with sound levels and even an inflatable beachball to the head during an electric performance of opening track ‘Let’s Go Dancing’, the same person immediately turned to me and said: “There’s my answer.”
As is expected from any Sherlocks gig in Sheffield, none more so than one on a beautiful summer’s day in the build up to an England World Cup match, the fans will give you excellent energy as long as you reciprocate. Tom and his four-piece band understood that assignment with fierce vocals and buoyant indie pop backing tracks from the off.
Tom A. Smith, 2026
image: Katie Anderson
“Beyond his years”
When asked about the crowd afterwards, Tom said: “Everyone was up for it, it looked like everyone had a fantastic day throughout, the weather was phenomenal and what a venue as well.”
The band then really got into their groove during ‘SFX’, a song which oozes the confidence and swagger that emanated from each and every member. In particular Tom, who strutted around, stretching out his white braces from a pink and black patterned shirt and dancing carefree.
From there, the assurance of his performance and on-stage persona became more and more notable through ‘Our Song’ and ‘Put A Record On Tommy’, not to mention a maturity and crispness to his voice beyond his years, providing further evidence of his experience of this environment in spite of his age.
With the crowd completely onside, they needed no second invitation when Tom instructed: “When I ask you to, shout ‘I don’t blame you’ back at me” throughout the song of the same name, and just like that, the atmosphere went into another gear just as we were heading into the last song of an impressive set packed with energy and attitude.
“Infectious charisma”
There was a devilish smile on Tom’s face as he asked for more bass on the stage, and it proved to be much-needed for the rousing final track ’Fashion’, which came to a close with a chorus of Tom A. Smith chants from both levels of the Steelyard.
It is undoubtedly exciting times for the Sunderland artist and his band, who smiled back in appreciation of the chants. Afterwards, when asked about what’s up next for him, Tom said: “We’ve got some amazing shows this summer, some support shows with The Kooks, Rick Astley and the Maccabees in session,” before going on to say: “One place I’d love to play in Yorkshire is the Millennium Square in Leeds.”
On this display, it’s safe to say he has established himself in that cross-section of indie rock and pop music with infectious charisma and charm to match. With well-suited support slots of that nature and an ability to write anthemic tracks of that ilk, there’s no reason why he can’t reach that level soon.
gig images: Brad Jones
Having spent most of the seven years since studying Sports Journalism at university producing TV guide magazines at the Press Association, as well as creating programme content for Hull City and venturing into music reviews, Brad quickly learnt the joy that comes with the variety of a career in journalism. Getting a story published in Karan Tejwani’s Iberia Chronicles book in 2020 gave him the bug for bringing stories to life on anything he’s passionate about ever since, which ranges from food to football and stand-up comedy to solo holidays.
