Ryan Beatty Mesmerizes The Crowd At Thalia Hall - The Calico Tour

Concert Review

Mar 20

It was sticky like a summer night on March 4th, unusually hot for the beginning of spring in Chicago. The line to enter Pilsen’s iconic music venue, Thalia Hall, was buzzing with anticipation as it stretched down 18th Street. The excitement for the show that was about to take place was heavy and electric like the “old summer rain” storm set to roll in after the concert.

Ryan Beatty’s sold-out set began promptly at 8:15 with an alluring piano intro to his first song “Ribbons”. Beatty’s show needed no opener as he stepped out on stage dressed in a simple white t-shirt, blue jeans, and worn brown cowboy boots. When he sang the first lines, the crowd fell silent, careening around the other people in the venue to witness his Calico Tour intimately bleed out in front of them.

Humble, magnetic, and emotionally powerful–Beatty puts on a show unlike any other. It’s just him and his band sitting on stage leading Thalia Hall gently from one song to the next, with no extra frills. He presents his album simply and beautifully, making it all the more hypnotizing to watch. There is purpose in the way Beatty has created his setlist and the entire tour – he wants you to stay captured in the present moment with him. Each song played is a unique rendition of its original form, with simple additions that elevate them to a higher level.

The crowd came alive when he weaved into the back half of his set with “Bruises Off The Peach” – his second song on Calico. They began belting the lyrics with him, “Love will always last / Love will always hold me down” being the loudest lines. Friends could be seen dancing and hugging. Strangers were crying, “ribbons running down [their] face[s]”. Everyone’s attention was fixed on the man on stage and the meaningful connections he was creating through his live music.

Before he led us into his last song, “White Teeth”, Beatty stood and expressed his gratitude to the audience for allowing him to perform his music in such a beautiful space. His encore of Dolly Parton’s “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” and his own “Little Faith”, left the audience in awe as the concert ended. Murmurs of wishes to relive the show echoed off the walls of Thalia Hall as the crowd left a bubble of pure intimate connection and entered the “old summer rain” storm that awaited them outside.