Ryan Beatty Brings a New Bravado to House of Blues
Article and Photos by Max Moroz
Ryan Beatty has never been a musician in a hurry. The California native cut his teeth as an unofficial member of Brockhampton, contributing to the hip-hop boyband's chaotic sprawl before his solo debut, Boy in Jeans, in 2018. It wasn't until Calico in 2023, though, that Beatty established himself as a master songsmith, known for razor-sharp lyricism and meticulously restrained arrangements. Soon after, Beyoncé tapped him to co-write four tracks on Cowboy Carter, a collaboration that earned him a Grammy. Now, off the back of his new LP, Sweet Fortune, Beatty trades some of Calico's austerity for lusher, more classically structured songs rooted in traditional folk storytelling, without losing the intensity that's become his signature.
Opening the night was Girlsweetvoiced, an Ottawa-based singer-songwriter who built her following the old-fashioned internet way: singing into a webcam. Her breakout was the single, “Tonight,” a tender track built around a sample of the mountain dulcimer from Joni Mitchell's “California” (personally cleared by Mitchell). Her debut album, Lovesweet, arrived this past July, and onstage she leaned into the same intimacy that made her early videos resonate, performing in over-ear headphones rather than in-ear monitors; an echo, whether intentional or not, of Beatty's own in-studio style staging on his last tour. The set was brief, but it charmed the already packed room.
Beatty took the stage soon after, opening with "Secret Language," the lead single from Sweet Fortune. He was framed by an impressive band and towering red set pieces. Compared to his 2024 headline stop at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall, something in him has loosened. He still retreated to a chair for a handful of songs, keeping his distance from the lip of the stage, but elsewhere he found a new confidence, arms outstretched, gaze fixed directly on the crowd. Between songs, he offered general adoration for Chicago, its beauty, its hot dogs (“Portillo’s!” he exclaimed out of nowhere) and joked that this show’s purpose was to announce his move here. However, he may be an unreliable narrator when it comes to non-California cities, as he sings in “Dust,” “I love New York / I hate New York.”
Primarily playing cuts from his last two albums, Beatty wove through themes of love, heartbreak, and loneliness. Each time the crowd recognized which song was next, the sea of concertgoers locked eyes with their friends or lovers. On hearing the opening notes of “Ribbons,” the crowd emitted shrugs and groans, which, for the modern-day concertgoer, is a way of saying they love a song almost too much to hear it. “Virtuoso” was another highlight. Beatty stepped aside to let his band play a heightened, twangy intro while he twirled around the stage before stepping into one of the album’s more up-tempo tracks. The band swelled as he sang, “Letting go of what you hold holds you just the same.”
Beatty’s last song, before the customary will-he-won’t-he encore game, was "Phantom.” It’s the opening track of Sweet Fortune, but here it served as a musical theater-esque finale with its dramatic strings and full display of Beatty’s impressive vocal range. For a musician who has depended on restraint and mystery in previous years, this new show from Ryan Beatty does not feel like a departure so much as an expansion of the same intimacy that got him here. The Arms Over Armor tour continues, with stops ahead in Toronto, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, and Nashville, plus a festival slot at All Things Go.
