Samia Sells Out Chicago’s Thalia Hall on her “Loving U Thanking U Tour”

Written By | Summer Ralston

Sunday night I was on my way to my second Samia show within five months, this time at Thalia Hall. Up and coming indie folk artist, Samia, returned to Chicago for another sold out show for her Loving U Thanking U Tour this weekend. This is only the singer’s second headlining tour, her first being a short run last fall. The show definitely exceeded my expectations in a lot of ways and it was a great time.  

See More photos of Annie Dirusso HERE

The night started out with opener Annie Dirusso and her band taking the stage and performing a track titled “Dead Dogs.” The set was filled with high energy & dance breaks coming from not only Dirusso but her two guitarists Daniel Nunnelee and Benjamin Sheridan as well. Dancing like no one’s watching was definitely a common theme for the night. Annie had the crowd engaged from start to finish with her delivery and as someone who’s never heard her songs before, her lyrics caught my attention right away and I definitely plan on adding a couple songs to my library. If I had to describe her sound it would be something like mid-tempo with a big hint of nostalgia. Very similar to Samia.

See more photos of Samia HERE

Not long after Dirusso’s set, Samia stepped on stage wearing a purple, polka-dotted floor length dress. She did a couple twirls and got the crowd hype. Emotions were high after the very first song as I listened to the crowd’s reactions behind me & by the look of the singer standing in front of me. The last time she was in Chicago, Samia said she played a 200 capacity venue so she took that moment to take it all in and you can see on her face how appreciative she was. The night kept on going and the energy didn’t stop. Samia’s voice filled the entire room and it was crazy to hear the crowd sing back every lyric.   

Something about this show just felt different than a lot of others I’ve been to recently and I’m not sure if it’s because of the electric lighting that paired fantastically with each song change or just the structure of the entire night. We went from an intermission performance of Forever Young by Alphaville from Samia’s bandmates to a limbo break suggested by someone in the audience and then a somber song about a restaurant in the east village. It all just felt very vulnerable & carefree which is very on brand for her and made for a great Sunday night.  

Photos By | Summer Ralston