The Hollywood Palladium welcomed singer songwriters Sara Bareilles and Joshua Radin to its stage on Friday night. The atmosphere was classy and kind of jazzy, filled with the sold out crowd—mostly college-aged women and their reluctant boyfriends.   

Joshua Radin kept it simple on stage, starting out with just his guitar and playing songs from his newest album, “The Rock and The Tide.” Though it seemed as though some in the audience weren’t quite familiar with him or his music, Radin played a solid, yet much too short, set.

But the star of the show was truly Sara Bareilles. 

The fog onstage cleared to reveal her and her piano, and Bareilles looked radiant in a short pink dress, declaring, “They may make me wear fucking glitter on TV, but I'm going to show my crotch to my fans.” The cheers were almost loud enough to cover the opening notes of her first song, “Uncharted”.

Despite having laryngitis and tweeting her fans “Tonight might be a shit-show. Get ready for some fun! Even if it's silent,” her voice was gorgeous as ever.  

Though the singer-songwriter atmosphere is usually pretty mellow, everyone was moving and swaying to the beat, and tipsy couples danced/stumbled? to the melodies. 

“I love you so much, I'm so happy we’re here," she told everyone. 

Her next song, “Gonna Get Over You,” picked up in pace; somehow her voice still rose above all of the snapping and clapping from the crowd. Those who didn’t know the lyrics wanted to sing along and even the most initially unenthused male was moving in some way. 

Someone joined her on the same piano to cover “Always Something There to Remind Me,” originally by Naked Eyes. Midway, she forgot the words, exclaiming “Aw fuck", but coming from her it actually made the performance more fun and genuine. 

Bareilles then thanked Joshua Radin and his “band of thieves” for touring with her, explaining, “They’re the band of thieves because they stole my heart,” and commanding that “Someone write that down!” so she could remember it later. 

Her next songs, “Many the Miles” and the slower, “Hold my Heart,” stole the audience’s hearts along with “Basket Case” and the gorgeous “Bluebird.” 

While backup singers joined her on stage for the next song, she passed out song lyrics to audience members. 

“This is a brand new song, so don’t fuck this up,” she yelled, and for the next several, glorious minutes hundreds of people joined together to belt out “That guy’s an asshole, that girl’s a bitch.” 

She kept up the energy with “Love Song,” one of her bestsellers that most everyone in the room knew by heart. She then sped up the pace with flashing lights and “Bottle It Up,” featuring four people on two pianos. 

Everyone finished the night singing “King of Anything” together, as she split the audience into two harmonizing teams. 

“You’re trying, it’s cute!” she teased. 

Overall, the show was great. Bareilles was charming and hilarious, and made it seem like it was not only a concert but a comedy show.  She was a brilliant performer, involving the audience; somehow managing to give this sold out show an intimate feel.

Not only did the audience seem to be in love her performance, but by the end of the night everyone was in love with her.

Bareilles has just released a new Christmas single, “Love is Christmas,” currently available on iTunes. She’ll also be back in California on January 7th for a show in Santa Barbara; visit her website for more info. 

Reach Noelia Callejas here.