Sammy Rae and The Friends – The Fillmore – Philadelphia (A PopEntertainment.com Concert Review)

Sammy Rae

Sammy Rae and The Friends – The Fillmore – Philadelphia, PA – April 12, 2025

I attended my third – and favorite – Sammy Rae & The Friends concert on Saturday night. Philadelphia marked the first stop on the final leg of a six-month-long tour for the band’s debut album, Something for Everybody. 

If you haven’t yet heard of Sammy Rae & The Friends, it’s about time that you do. Something For Everybody is the perfect name for an album of a band that mixes a wide array of genres like jazz, folk, rock, funk, and soul to create a lively, dynamic sound that anyone can enjoy. No matter what your typical genre of choice is, the group of seven will have you on your feet and singing along. The joyful atmosphere of their concerts cultivates a feeling of community and safety and sends waves of serotonin throughout the room of adoring fans.

On Saturday night, the band moved us through a musical journey dedicated to topics of friendship, queer joy, community, mental health awareness, and self-love.

The house was completely packed as I entered The Fillmore, as opener Zinadelphia began to play. My heart dropped once I heard the voice coming from the stage, thinking that Sammy Rae had already started her set. It turns out that Zina, the vocalist of Zinadelphia, has a similar deep sultry vocal tone to Sammy Rae, and I absolutely loved it. The audience completely fell in love with her confidence, radiant beauty, power-alto voice, and gut-wrenching lyrics. Her music had a neo-soul groove, and Zina had a powerful rockstar presence that captured the room. 

A bit after nine o’clock Sammy Rae and her six friends took to the stage with exuberance. The Brooklyn based group consists of lead vocalist Sammy Rae (Samantha Bowers), C-Bass Chiriboga on drums, James Quinlan on bass, Will Leet on guitar and vocals, Debbie Tjong on keys, Max Zooi on tenor saxophone and synths, and Kellon Reese on alto saxophone.

Each night of the tour has a theme, and Saturday’s theme was pearls, which could be seen dangling from mic stands and keyboards, as well as strung on the necks of the artists and many fans in the audience.

Sammy Rae and The Friends

Sammy Rae and the Friends is the only band I know of to work so hard to center friendship, community, and collaboration as heavily as they do, hence why “The Friends” are in the name of the band instead of simply featuring front woman Sammy Rae’s name alone. Sammy makes sure to introduce all of her band members during every show, telling stories about their friendships and musical journeys together.

The band also incorporates instrumental solos throughout their shows for each artist, and most of the members sing alongside Sammy, or in the case of guitarist Will Leet, sing lead. Everyone has their moments to shine, and no musician is more important than the other. On Saturday, during the performance of “Good Life,” a throwback to their 2018 EP of the same name, every band member took a moment to solo as Sammy introduced them and the crowd cheered. 

Another thing that makes the band so unique is their dedication to social justice. Like she does in every show, Sammy Rae made sure to shout out their nonprofit partnerships Head Count and Ally Coalition. Proceeds from the tour are going to Ally Coalition, an LGBTQIA+ organization that partners with touring musicians to raise money for efforts to improve the lives of queer youth. They also featured a table for Head Count, an organization dedicated to promoting voter participation in federal and local elections through education and outreach. 

Sammy Rae & The Friends are a safe space for so many marginalized communities, specifically the queer community, as many of the members of the band – including Sammy – are queer themselves. Their concerts are a perfect summation of what queer joy looks like and the freedom of expressing your truest self.      

The Something for Everybody tour has been really special for myself and thousands of other long-time fans, because we got to hear a more diverse array of music and experience live performances of songs we haven’t heard before. The album, which was released in September of 2024, was the first full length album released by the band, following two EPs, “The Good Life” (2018) and “Let’s Throw a Party” (2021).

Sammy Rae and The Friends

Now that their discography has doubled in size, this setlist was jam packed with juicy songs, both old and new. Not only that, but this album was so epic for the band, in that it featured string quartets, guest vocalists and writers, gang vocals, and invaluable musical production. The album exemplifies how much the band has grown and blossomed over the years. 

The band opened with “Thieves,” and from the first note, the room was electric. “Thieves” was one song that was played during their last tour, as an unreleased sneak peek. Sammy’s vocals were powerful and polished. Her vocal quality is inspired by many women of rock, as she has stated in interviews, but I personally think her voice is very distinctive, unmistakable. She has a rare ability to make even the biggest venue feel intimate. Her improvisation also makes the performance feel special, as if this room is the only room that will get to experience this version of the album.

The band transitioned into “The Feeling” and “We Made It,” keeping the momentum high with crisp horns, tight rhythms, and rich harmonies. I also thought it was really smart to play a throwback, because the crowd loved it, and you could tell many audience members are longtime supporters of the band. We then got to hear their 2020 single “Jackie Onassis,” another oldie that many fans have listened to on repeat for the last five years, which was made clear as the audience knew every word. 

Something that I can never get tired of about Sammy’s performance is her ability to narrate and move us through the performance, not by speaking to the audience, but by improvising vocally. Essentially, she sings everything she says between songs, so you never get a break from her jazzy runs and scatting. And the best part, every single note is spot on. 

A standout moment was “Cool-Doug At Night,” which featured the smooth, velvety vocals of guitarist Will Leet. He sang in place of Jacob Jeffries, the artist originally featured in the album. We were all excited to hear him sing on another song, since he is also featured on the album singing “Luck of the Draw” with Sammy. His high tenor voice is almost shocking to hear, as he effortlessly hits some pretty high notes. 

Before “No Rulebook,” bassist James Quinlan played a stunning upright bass solo that had been on my personal wish list – warm, resonant, and full of soul. The entire band followed his lead with a performance that felt both intricate and effortless. Later, “I Get It Now” slowed the night down in the best way. Just Sammy and her piano, raw and heartfelt. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room.

Then came the wildly fun “Call Ya Back,” which turned the stage into a full-blown choreographed dance, involving hand clapping and stomping, like a scene from Pitch Perfect. The band threw themselves into it and were having so much fun. As the song ended, a telephone in the corner of the stage rang, Sammy picked it up, and the recorded version of the doo-wop, jingle-like track, 888-98-CALLYABACK played through the phone. It was all very theatrical and playful. 

The performance of “David” from the new album brought us right back to our hearts. As I mentioned before, Sammy always makes sure to use her platform to call attention to social issues that need attention, in this case, men’s mental health, and the lack of attention and resources offered to support them. She issued us a reminder to check on our friends, especially the ones who always seem the happiest. It’s a stunning piece about mental health and hidden struggles, and the way she sings it – so gently, so vulnerably – makes it hit deep.

One thing that always baffles me about the band is their boundless energy: dancing around the stage, slamming tambourines on the ground, incorporating choreography and jumping up and down, saxophones in hand. It’s like a two-hour heavy cardio workout, but their energy doesn’t seem to dwindle. It’s so impressive. You can tell they are truly doing what they love, and that passion fuels their bodies. 

The night wrapped up with a high-octane medley of fan favorites – “Kick It to Me,” “Talk It Up,” and “Good Life.” It was like a rewind of Sammy Rae & The Friends greatest hits, full of nostalgia and pride. They then left the stage, while fans screamed for an encore.

Sammy reentered the stage alone for a performance of “State Song,” Sammy’s first track self-written on guitar. She then invited Debbie and Will to the stage, introducing the three of them as “the acquaintances” and giving the audience a funny backstory of this group name. According to Sammy, the three of them are the only bad members without jazz degrees, so they named their group “the acquaintances” and labeled the others “the enemies.”

This was followed by their acoustic cover of  “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake, complete with perfectly blended, quietly sung three-part harmonies. To no one’s surprise, the finale of the night was “Coming Home Song”, the biggest hit of the album. The audience sang along, wishing that the night would never end. The inspiring song about returning to your truest self, picking yourself up, and “leaving the light on for yourself” was the perfect end to the night. 

Sammy left us with one final message, the way she ends every show, with her closing sendoff: “Go put a smile on somebody's face, go tell somebody they got a place in this world, go tell somebody you wanna be Friends with them."

Brenna Hallman

Copyright ©2025 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: April 15, 2025.

Photos ©2025 Lucienne Nghiem. Courtesy of Baseline Music. All rights reserved.