Sammy Rae & The Friends concert review| House of Blues | Cleveland, OH | 09.26.2023

Sammy Rae & The Friends brung their vibrant, positive, and campy energy to the House of Blues (09.26.2023). The aesthetic of the concert was to combine a summer camp feel with campy elements of the show, from Sammy Rae’s Freddie Mercury poses on stage to holding up a fan with the word “CAMP” in rainbow at the end of the band’s introductory song, “Talk It Up.” 

The stage was decorated in everything summer camp style — from the microphone stands wrapped with stretchy kids toys, friendship bracelets, beaded crafts and faux vines to the amps covered in realistic-looking moss and plastic flowers. The band themselves was dressed in all manner of REI brandwear, from climbing gear around some of the bandmates’ legs to the drummer wearing a Girl Scout tunic covered in patches and no shirt and Sammy Rae wearing a cropped park ranger shirt. The band even had their own Bigfoot roaming the stage before the band came out, sending the crowd yelling and waving at him in excitement each time he walked across. The final time he made an appearance on the stage, he brought a flashlight with him, flashing it into the crowd, commencing the start of the concert as the lights went down. 

The theatrics of the concert were as heavy as the jazzy lyrics while Sammy Rae dramatically eyed the crowd and grabbed the microphone to tell the audience, “If you don’t know, you’re about to find out.” Due to the size of the band’s discography — which is relatively small — Sammy Rae & The Friends fans can typically expect to hear most of the songs they want to hear. However, the band also substitutes some well-known cover songs that allow the crowd to sing along with at least some songs if they do not know all the words to the band’s music. 

At the end of the night, fans were left with a true sense of community, fostered by the band’s crowd interaction, “campy” feeling, and soulful music. Despite sharing some serious themes, the group never took themselves too seriously, allowing the audience to just enjoy the moment.