On Wednesday night, Sara Bareilles brought her Amidst the Chaos Tour to the Xcel Energy Center and she captivated those in attendance. Her beautiful voice and low key performance had the audience in their seats early and they stayed there throughout the concert.
Opening for Bareilles was Emily King, who has been singing since 2004 and was a Grammy nominee for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2007. The 30 something King’s voice was powerful and emotive. King has performed in Minnesota before and she said she was glad to be back and glad it was a lot warmer than her last visit. The audience was even warmer than the temps, applauding King loudly after each song. King had a great performance and was a wonderful opener for Bareilles.
The main stage was set up behind a curtain, which King performed in front of. So downtime between King and Bareilles was relatively short. The curtain lifted with a set in the background that consisted of sheet music in a huge funnel shape that tapered to a few single sheets of paper at the piano, which was front and center. The Pop-turned-Broadway star took turns at the piano and guitar, while singing songs mostly from the new album “Amidst the Chaos”. In between was a few oldies sprinkled in the set. But the Xcel Center was anything but Chaos – it was as orderly and calm as any concert I have been to. The audience seemed fixated to Bareilles every word and note. It seemed like a very intimate show, even in the Xcel Energy Center – just Bareilles and a few close friends. Overall, very entertaining and very relaxed, just what I needed on a mid week evening amidst the chaos of an otherwise hectic week.