Sara Bareilles Opens Good Grief Tour With a Night of Healing at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway
Written and Captured By | Samantha Melanson
Night one of Sara Bareilles’ Good Grief tour began Wednesday night at MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, filling the venue with a crowd eager to see the singer-songwriter begin a new chapter. Despite performing in a large, sold-out room, Bareilles created an atmosphere that felt remarkably intimate. From the moment she stepped onto the stage, she had a way of making the space feel less like a concert hall and more like her own living room. She welcomed the audience into her world, sharing vulnerable pieces of herself while encouraging everyone in the room to feel comfortable doing the same.
Nearly seven years after the release of her last studio album, Bareilles is entering a different chapter of her life and career. Good Grief reflects a deeply personal journey of healing, loss, and self-discovery. Throughout the night, she shared stories about her own experiences with grief while also creating room for the audience to confront and share their own. Her concerts have always carried a sense of community, but this tour takes that feeling a step further. The show becomes a place where fans can be honest about what they have experienced, what they have lost, and the emotions they continue to carry.
Bareilles opened the night with “Home”, “Still Crying”, and “Just a Kid”, allowing the new material to establish the emotional foundation of the evening before transitioning into some of her older work. Between songs, the audience heard personal messages and stories about grief, reinforcing one of the show’s central ideas: grief does not follow a straight path. It can change, resurface, and exist alongside the person you were before experiencing loss.
That idea was especially evident in transitions such as “Hands Off My Body” into “Saint Honesty” and “Capsize Me” into “Many the Miles.” Rather than presenting grief as something that completely defines a person, Bareilles explored how it can become another layer of an already complicated identity.
Of course, some of the night’s most powerful moments came when Bareilles sat at the piano. Her performances of “Armor” and “Gravity” stood out, allowing her songwriting and lyricism to take center stage. With little more than her voice and piano, she was able to create some of the most emotionally resonant moments of the evening.
However, Good Grief is not solely a show about sadness. Bareilles understands that healing also includes laughter, celebration, and moments of pure joy. One of the most unexpected highlights came when she shifted from her heartfelt material into a spirited cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” The transition might seem surprising on paper, but in the room, it worked perfectly. The energy continued as she launched into beloved older songs including “Love Song” and “Brave,” giving the audience a chance to sing, dance, and celebrate together.
By the end of the night, Bareilles had made the message of Good Grief clear: grief is not something we simply “get over.” Instead, it is something we learn to live with, understand, and carry. For Sara Bareilles, sometimes the best way to move through it is to sing through it together.
