Samia begins her fall tour, which includes shows supporting Sylvan Esso as well a headlining dates, in September, and ahead of that she was scheduled to support Pinegrove at Arrowood Farms Brewery on Sunday (8/22). That show was postponed because of the arrival of Tropical Storm Henri, so instead she announced a last minute, intimate show at Union Pool on the same day. It sold out right away, and was already overflowing with people when I arrived in the middle of opener Briston Maroney's set. He must have been the "surprise special guest" that Samia teased in advance, as he is definitely too big to be opening small club shows. The Manchester Orchestra collaborator's upcoming tour includes a show at the 600-capacity Music Hall of Williamsburg in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, and it's sold out 7 months in advance. He also reworked "Something in the Movies" for The Baby Reimagined, a collection of alternate takes on her 2000 debut LP The Baby.

Aside from livestreams, Samia said this was her first show back in front of an audience since the pandemic, but if she and her band were experiencing any jitters, they definitely didn't show it. She had the room in the palm of her hand, playing songs from The Baby, this year's Scout EP, and a few older tracks, and dancing and jumping around during breaks (she even said she'd taken up cardio during COVID to increase her stamina). The crowd, some of whom were masked, and all of whom had to show proof of vaccination at the door, eagerly sang along the whole time.

For Scout track "Show Up," which she said she wrote about missing her friends during COVID lockdown, Samia invited a bunch of them onstage to sing and dance with her. She later apologized, comparing it to being at karaoke with someone else's group of friends, but in this case, the crowd got to be in on the party.

See pictures from Sunday night's show below, and order The Baby on vinyl from the BV store.

Samia's next NYC show is at Bowery Ballroom on October 2, and it's currently sold out.