Sara Bareilles was very good. The place was full, mostly of people around my age – looks like I finally fell into an appropriate slice of popular culture – though skewed towards women, I guess not surprisingly. Of the guys there, it seemed divided between those dragged out by their girlfriends and willing to stand motionless for two hours for the sake of not having that look, and those who were actually there of their own volition – many of them just with their mates, or themselves.
It wasn’t a terribly long show – hour and half or so, plus thirty minutes or so of the opening band, the name of which I cannot remember but whom were themselves pretty good – but then, they only have one album out thus far. They did play one or two new songs. What was quite nice was Sara’s commentary, ranging from random rambling to introducing the band members (two or three times each over the whole show) to talking about her inspirations for some of her songs. That part was particularly good – added a lot of depth to them. e.g. ‘Between the Lines’ is about loving someone that doesn’t love you back, ‘Fairytale’ was inspired by the end of Cinderella where she rides off for her honeymoon, without apparently a suitcase or any idea where she’s going – so the song’s from thinking about what comes next. And while she didn’t explicitly say it, it sounds like ‘Love Song’ was inspired by more or less the event it describes; she credited that whole crappy affair with launching her to stardom. And the new song, the name of which I didn’t catch, came from her thinking back to the time she walked in on her then-boyfriend cheating on her.
So yes, good stuff.
Note to self, also: if you’re going to a concert and haven’t listened to the band’s music in a few weeks, the drive up would be a really great time for a last minute cram. :)
Again, I liked the venue – sound was good, place was hot but not claustrophobic, and the music was good. I initially passed up Jimmy Eat World when I noticed them a month or so ago, but now I see they’re at the Fillmore and I regret not buying a ticket. They’re sold out now. :/
I’ve also come to suspect the wisdom of browsing the iTMS the morning after a concert; the ringing is gone now but everything still has that dull sound. But then, probably for the best, given I managed to scrape together another $70 of stuff anyway. Hooray for credit cards and flippant financial management! ;)
