Sara Bareilles who’s one of Humboldt County’s favorite hometown celebrities headed back home to Eureka for a free concert on Sunday at Halvorsen Park on October 16th.
“I’m on the edge of my seat, to be honest-I’m so excited and a little overwhelmed.” She said this on Friday afternoon. “I just want it to be wonderful. It’s a great experiment. My team has been working really hard: the city and the police department and the fire department and the Coast Guard and everybody has been on calls for months and months trying to make this a wonderful event. I just have my fingers crossed that it’s all going to go smoothly and that we make it a great day.”
The excitement in Humboldt County is intense. The city of Eureka has said in news, “reservation capacity for the event (filled) up in only the first few days of availability. Thousands are expected to attend.”
The opening acts for the show are Mario Matteoli and Huckleberry Flint who both have local ties and both impressed Bareilles.
“I grew up with Mario and the Matteoli family. We all went to church together. And so, when I was thinking of having a couple local bands, Mario was at the top of my mind for me. I’ve known him forever, and he’s really talented.”
She was asked around with some friends who live locally because she’s “not as plugged in” and Flint was brought up highly recommended. She checked out a couple of videos and mentioning that they were “super talented.”
Matteoli and Mario often played during Eureka’s Arts Alive and expanding genres of musical styles during the concert.
The Eureka event came along while Sara was in San Fransico having an event that was a fundraiser for a charitable organization called Good Tidings. She performed on Saturday before heading to Humboldt County.
“The man who runs (the event) his name’s Larry and he helps sort to spearhead a renovation for the Boys and Girls Club in Eureka.” She mentioned. “He has this incredible foundation working to build out music spears for kids, and he’s done it with Jazon Marz down in San Diego.”
While Sara balances work on Broadway she plans to work on a new album, also a new season of Girls5eva.
“This next chapter in my life is too big. I realized after the pandemic slowed down my life so much that I have a tendency to just too much on my plate and I think that I will have a better chance at thriving if I slow down and be a little more intentional about how much I’m doing at any one given time.”
But she really loves what she does. “We have fingers crossed, another season of Girls5eva to shoot, and that show is a glass of champagne to me. It is so much fun and so joyful. I love going to work so that one really fills my soul in a really good way. It’s comedy; it’s a music; it’s really silly. We laugh so much on stage, and they haven’t made one yet. So, I’m gonna write a strongly-worded letter.”
Bareilles can’t be more thrilled about Saturday.
“I just feel so excited to come home and share music and we’ve just got fingers crossed for some dry skies.”
-Information about the event-
What: Sara Bareilles in concert with Mario Matteoli and Huckleberry Flint.
When: Gates open at 1pm and music starts at 2:30pm.
Where: Halvorsen Park on the Eureka waterfront.
