Live Bands Make a Difference: SiR and Arin Ray at The Observatory OC

The past few weeks, I fell in love with R&B and its comforting messages of admiration and love lost. Inglewood's own SiR captured my attention in 2015 with "Right By You" and "You Ain't Ready" off of Seven Sundays. Since then, I waited patiently until he toured. Back in mid-May, he announced a mini 5-day tour from NY to San Diego for June.As a reward for graduating from CSUF with a double major in Communications and Ethnic Studies, I copped tickets to see him on the 28th with my best friend. It was the best decision I ever made.https://soundcloud.com/freshselects/sir-right-by-youInstagram grazed my eyes with snippets of his NY show; I knew he had a live band which made me more ecstatic. For some reason, I thought the show was in the Constellation Room -- a smaller more intimate venue within the Observatory; but it was the larger space.https://soundcloud.com/arin-ray/i-1?in=arin-ray/sets/phasesWe arrived around 5:30 and were inside by 7:30 and Arin Ray took the stage by 8:30 and opened with "I"  from his Phases EP. This was the second time seeing him and his set was somewhat similar but it focused more on Platinum Fire singles"HMU", "Stressin'", "We Ain't Homies" and "Old School".The crowd exploded with excitement as SiR took the stage at 9:30. He knows how to work the stage and his band maintained an energetic atmosphere for the night. The Inglewood native gave us a little bit of all his projects. He jumped from "Love You" to  "Cadillac Dreams",  "Queen" and  "You Ain't Ready". I adored hearing "I Know" and "W$ Boi" live before he transitioned to "All In My Head", "Never Home", "Summer In November" and closing with "D'Evils".This show reminded me of the importance of a live band. They capture the crowd's energy and allow us to connect with the artist on a personal level. SiR was able to dance around while we sang word for word to "D'Evils". He was able to provide moving harmonies as we admired from afar.  For $20, this was way worth it and I would not have done it differently.