Call it a valedictory performance.
Sara Bareilles wound up her supporting tour for
Amidst the Chaos with an epic concert at the Hollywood Bowl, playing for nearly two hours on a cold November night.
Bareilles came to the Bowl with an enormous amount of support, bringing in a cast of guests who helped her emphasize differing aspects of her music.
T-Bone Burnett graces "Orpheus,"
Butterfly Boucher duets on "Bad Idea,"
the Milk Carton Kids harmonize on "Someone Who Loves Me,"
Emily King shows up for "If I Can't Have You"; in other words, a wide range of musicians who all orbit
Bareilles' tuneful, classicist pop.
Bareilles tends to de-emphasize the splashier aspects of her melodicism -- "Love Song," her breakthrough hit, winds up concluding with a jazzy breakdown -- so she can sustain a sense of drama, a move that is effective over the course of 21 songs. The length of the concert does consign
Amidst the Chaos: Live from the Hollywood Bowl to the category of fan favorites, but the album nevertheless stands as a testament to the breadth and accomplishment of
Bareilles' songbook. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine