Last night Kim and I headed to the Paramount Theatre for our first concert there. We had been there one time before, but that was for a Warren Miller movie. Last nights entertainment consisted of Sara Bareilles, Marc Broussard, and Raining Jane. We had seen a similar show a couple of years ago when Bareilles opened up for Broussard at The Granada in Lawrence, Kansas. This time it was vice versa, with Broussard opening for Bareilles. Crazy to see what a couple of years can do.

We arrived as Raining Jane was finishing up their set, but were able to catch a few numbers from this all female group. The most interesting part of their band and show was the percussionist who mostly played what I’m thinking is called a cajón. If nothing else, the crowd really seemed into this band, who I was not at all familiar with prior to last night.

Broussard played second, a fairly quick set with the usual Calvin Turner and Chad Gilmore, but he also had a guy played keyboards and an electric guitarist with him. I was honestly shocked to find out that he had just released another album, as I hadn’t heard anything about it at all. From the few new tracks he played, it didn’t sound nearly as good as the old stuff, which the crowd clearly enjoyed more as well. Also, the performance wasn’t as full of energy as I remember from years past, but I guess that can be hard to do in a opening slot. I really hope we didn’t hear the best from Mr. Broussard years ago. I’ll have to check out the new stuff a little further.

On the flip side, Sara Bareilles was much better than I remember her being from a couple of years ago. I do recall liking what I had heard before, but I was amazed at how good she really was last night. She had a pretty talented band assembled with her, including the gentleman on electric guitar that we had seen her with years ago. Typically Kim is ready to leave a show anytime it gets after 10pm, but she actually wanted to stay and watch everything last night, and that was on less than six hours of sleep. It really was that good.