Concert Review: Sammy Rae & The Friends at Empire Control Room

Sammy Rae & The Friends opened their “If It All Goes South” 2022 tour at Empire Control Room on October 1, 2022.

Written by Audrey Kendrick

Photo courtesy of Mia Aguirre

After an hour-long set of heartwarming folk-rock ballads from The Collection, the Empire Control Room’s outside venue was full and buzzing. Effortlessly connecting with an excited audience, the opening act from North Carolina instructed the crowd to become a part of their songs, a common request of the night.

Sammy Rae and her six piece band claimed the stage at 10:05 pm, smiling with multi-colored bandanas tied around their necks. As they stepped into purple, pink, and blue pulsing lights, the crowd warmly waved at the Friends, greeting them as if they were old pals. Horns immediately launched into the opening groove of “Follow Me Like the Moon,” welcoming a series of joyful calls from the audience. Percussion easily led the crowd to move and sway through the jazzy rhythms. Sammy Rae’s voice later debuted, clear and free like an arrow, adding the final puzzle piece to the hypnotic band.

They swiftly followed the opening track with more sunny, doo-wop tinged jazz, launching into “Talk It Up.” Expressively cooing through the chorus, Sammy Rae welcomed an upbeat solo of harmonies between Kellon Reese on alto saxophone and Max Zooi on tenor saxophone. 

Right after the bridge, she stopped to address the crowd, singing instead of speaking while the bass and percussion softly continued on. She melodically whispered, drawing the audience in, “We spend so much time singing and screaming and dancing and yelling with each other. It takes a whole lot of trust to be quiet with somebody, don’t it?” Guiding the crowd to sit in silence and reach into the air to “hold onto the moment,” it was one instance of pause in the lively performance.

Strumming a ukulele without accompaniment, she later led a chorus of crowd members through the first verse of “Whatever We Feel.” As the fun, multi-textured percussion from C-bass Chiriboga on drums joined in, her voice moved into ever-changing harmonies and cheerful riffs accented by colorful horns. She unleashed the full power of her vibrato loudly proclaiming, “And if you don’t agree, I’m gonna keep doing me / Keep doing you though / Because that’s important too.” Illuminated by rainbow hued stage lights, her presence moved almost as openly as her voice. Through the night, the band brought out a series of props, including a bubble gun, denim jackets, oversized sunglasses, a xylophone, and a pillbox hat, which Sammy paraded around in during another searing, triumphant saxophone solo for “Jackie Onasis.”

Led by Debbie Tjong’s beautiful keys and dreamy backing vocals, the band launched into the tender “Living Room Floor.” Sammy Rae floated above the sweeping, symphonic instrumentals, repeating the lines, “I am in my own lane. / I will not let myself down / I am in my own place / I am my own house.”

In between “The Box” and a funky rendition of  Cher’s “Believe,” the band spoke on queerness and social justice. “To be queer is to be unlimited.” Sammy Rae stated, having the audience repeat back, “... to be queer is to be … unlimited.” Speaking from the heart, she continued reiterating the importance of listening to women, supporting people of color, giving Indigenous land back, and protecting queer people.

During the multi-instrumental frenzy of “The Good Life,” the crowd and band’s energy grew and reflected off each other. James Quinn’s punchy bass solo and Will Leet’s mellow guitar moment left audiences awestruck at the explosive music paired with syncopated strobe lights. In a dynamic, organic jam session, the band continued to riff. At the final note, the crowd erupted with five minutes of uninterrupted shouts, celebrating the performance, hoping to hear another song.

Clearly touched, Sammy Rae returned to the stage alone at the piano to play “the song that started everything.” In a very stripped-back rendition of the group’s first hit, she began weaving alternate melodies to build an earnest version of “The Feeling.” With a captivating display of artistry and talent, she moved on to a crooning cover of “Hotel California.” Her voice hung in the air, moving through improvised runs in a beautifully haunting fashion. Met with another relentless round of applause, the band returned together to close with its biggest song, “Kick It To Me.”

As the magical, nearly two hours of heartfelt, high-energy music ended, Sammy Rae grinned alongside her talented band members, offering one last kindness to the concert-goers — the mantra of her band: “Go put a smile on somebody’s face. Go tell somebody they have a place in this world. Go tell somebody you want to be friends with them.”