Review: SARA BARIELLES GOOD GRIEF TOUR at Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis

Sara Bareilles brought her Good Grief Tour to Minneapolis' Orpheum Theatre on September 30, giving fans a set that mixed newer songs with plenty of favorites from throughout her career.

The show opened with “Wind Is the Weather,” followed by “Home” and “Still Crying.” From the beginning, Bareilles' songwriting was the focus. The songs have plenty of feeling behind them, but the evening never felt weighed down by it.

“Just a Kid” was one of the more personal moments of the night. Bareilles wrote the song for the late Chad Joseph, and performing it on his birthday made the performance especially meaningful.

The set moved through “A Love Story,” “Hands Off My Body” and “Armor,” followed by “Heartland,” which featured Saint Honesty. “Ladies in a Line,” “Capsize Me,” “Many the Miles,” “Nervous Breakdown” and “Idiot Heart” continued the first part of the show, giving fans a chance to hear some of Bareilles' newer material alongside songs that have been part of her catalog for years.

“Gravity” was a standout. It's a song that has remained a favorite since its release, and hearing Bareilles perform it live in the Orpheum was a reminder of just how strong the song remains.

The crowd got more familiar territory with “Forever,” “Love Song,” “Uncharted” and “King of Anything.” These were the songs many longtime fans came to hear, and they fit naturally into the larger story of the evening.

“Brave” brought the main set to another high point. It remains one of Bareilles' biggest crowd favorites, and it was followed by a fun change of pace: a cover of Whitney Houston's “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).”

The encore brought another connection to the theatre world with “She Used to Be Mine,” Bareilles' signature song from Waitress. For a BroadwayWorld audience, hearing the song in the Orpheum was an especially nice part of the evening. Bareilles' work on Waitress has become an important part of her career, and the song still has the ability to stop the room and put the focus squarely on the words.

“Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” and “Let the Rain” closed the night.

Bareilles has always had a knack for writing songs that feel personal without making them difficult for an audience to connect with. That came through throughout the Minneapolis show. Her music can be intimate one moment and turn into a full-theatre sing-along the next.

The set also showed how naturally Bareilles moves between her different worlds. There were the pop songs that made her a household name, the newer material from Good Grief, and the musical-theatre connection that has become such an important part of her career.

For longtime fans, there were plenty of songs to revisit. For Broadway fans, “She Used to Be Mine” was a welcome reminder of Bareilles' theatre work. And for anyone seeing her live for the first time, the evening offered a pretty good introduction to everything that makes her music distinctive.

By the time Bareilles finished “Let the Rain,” the Orpheum had heard songs about love, loss, growing up, finding your voice and moving forward. It was a fitting collection for a night that showed just how much ground Bareilles has covered as an artist.

All photos by Jared Fessler

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