Concert Review: Sara Bareilles delivers at a sold-out show despite feeling under the weather

Sara Bareilles
Dec. 9
The Hollywood Palladium

UCLA alumna and Grammy-nominated artist Sara Bareilles performed one of the last dates of her Kaleidoscope Heart tour at The Hollywood Palladium on Friday. The sold-out show drew a crowd of fans ranging from over-excited teenagers to married couples who came to see a good show.

They were not let down. Bareilles, who walked on stage in a bright pink dress, high bun stuck together with a butterfly clip and a necklace that shined bright enough for even the people in the balcony to notice, put on a show that also gave the audience a chance to learn more about her personality.

Once Bareilles took the stage and opened with “Kaleidoscope Heart,” the crowd welcomed her with screams and cheers that echoed throughout the venue. She then proceeded to the piano planted right in the middle of the stage to sing “Uncharted,” the song she said helped her through writer’s block when creating her album.

While the piano may be Bareilles’ forte, what helped the performances were the spotlights attached to the backdrop of her stage. While Bareilles spent most of her time either behind a piano or standing with her guitar, her band was spread out along the stage backed by flashing colored lights, which made the show more visually interesting for the audience.

Once Bareilles finished singing “Gonna Get Over You,” she explained to the crowd that she wasn’t feeling so well so they would have to help her by singing louder. She later explained that she woke up that day thinking she would have to cancel her show, but she couldn’t do that knowing she had sold out The Hollywood Palladium and had so many fans in Los Angeles who had come to see her.

Despite her being sick, Bareilles did an amazing job interacting with the crowd and maintaining a high-energy performance. Bareilles may or may not have surprised the crowd with her extensive use of profanity on stage, even though she said herself that she was completely comfortable with it.

Along with the amazing performances, Bareilles filled transition times between songs with jokes and interaction with crowd members. What might have been the highlight of the show, aside from having Holly Conlan and Laura Jansen join her on stage for a cover of Bon Iver’s “Blood Bank,” was when she passed out lyrics to a new song she would be performing for the first time that night. Bareilles brought out a few friends to help her perform “That Guy’s an Asshole,” a new song she wrote with fellow “The Sing-Off” judge Ben Folds that got the entire crowd singing out loud and swaying from side to side.

Bareilles did a great job interacting with the crowd and making sure the show wasn’t just her singing one song after the other. The night included Bareilles asking the crowd to assist her in looking at the latest lottery numbers and promising them that if she won, she would split the earnings with everyone in the room. She also had the crowd sing her “Happy Birthday” ““ her birthday was two days before the show.

While Bareilles warned the crowd at the beginning of the show that her voice could give out at any given moment, she did an amazing job with every song. Instead, it may have been more appropriate to warn the attendees about how amazing the show would be.