Live at Empty Bottle: Astrid Sonne & Samba Jean-Baptiste

The room was packed. With only an acoustic guitar and a mounted microphone, the crowd listened, just a few voices talking loudly at the bar, as Samba Jean-Baptiste performed. My friends and I only caught the last 15 minutes of his performance, but what we heard was beautiful, to say the least. His folky, raw guitar sound and soft vocals set the perfect mood for the small, dark room with minimal lighting, rain outside, and the smell of beer lingering in the air.

You could tell he was a bit nervous. To offset it, he’d talk between songs, even cracking a few jokes. At one point, he paused and said he’d only just realized how segregated Chicago is, noting the stark differences he’d seen between the North and South sides. His banter reminded me of Earl Sweatshirt’s: sarcastic and straight to the point. He closed his set with an unreleased song, and the crowd cheered for him. I couldn’t think of a better artist to open for Astrid Sonne.

Composer and violist Astrid Sonne walked out shortly after, joined by cellist Emma Barnaby. They began with an instrumental piece, playing together while holding long gazes—communicating entirely through their eyes. The chemistry between the viola and the cello wouldn’t have been possible without the chemistry between Sonne and Barnaby. It felt like the crowd was interrupting something private, and it was magical to witness.

The music itself was a mix of industrial, experimental, and ambient textures. It was delicate, and moved in waves, at times feeling like a soft hum beneath the surface, other times accelerating into something more tense and cinematic. The crowd was still and listened carefully. It left me in a bit of a trance. I remember standing there, not thinking about anything else, just absorbing the sounds.

Astrid’s movement on stage captured the essence of her music in a way that felt almost choreographed. Every shift in posture or glance was carried out with intention. The whole show was intimate and incredible, easily one of my favorite performances of 2025. I took a few pictures on my cheap digicam, and to my surprise, Sonne posted the photo I took of her and Barnaby on her story. I’m glad I was able to capture the performance well and do it the justice it deserved.

By the end of the set, I felt inspired, like I wanted to go home and make something, even if I didn’t know what that something was. For a rainy night in Chicago, the performances from these artists couldn’t have been more fitting.