Review: Brandi Carlisle shows she still has the human touch in first arena tour
Brandi Carlile couldn’t get Minneapolis off her mind on Friday night.
“Tomorrow we’ll play a show for the state of Minnesota and for everything they just did for the rest of this country,” the singer-songwriter and activist said to a huge swell of applause at the sold-out Allstate Arena. She was referencing the recent announcement that her Twin Cities show Saturday would be turned into an audio and visual livestream benefiting The Advocates for Human Rights, with her show in Rosemont feeling like the warmup.
The messages were everywhere throughout the arena. Carlile shared that her Looking Out Foundation had already raised $25,000 for legal aid for those impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration campaign in Minnesota where Alex Pretti and Renee Good were fatally shot last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and encouraged attendees to also donate. On tables in the lobby, there were opportunities to write #Bramily (Brandi Family) postcards that would be distributed at the next tour stop, with the intention of providing love and encouragement to a fellow fan.
“The plight of displaced people, people who have left their homes in search of safety, of a better life, is the defining test of our humanity in this time and age,” she added in her speech, which elicited more voluminous hollering.
For Carlile, this is the essence of her Human Tour.
The star’s latest jaunt comes at an interesting time. It kicked off just days after she delivered a rousing performance of “America the Beautiful” at the Super Bowl, further putting her on the national stage with a message of unity. It also marks her first-ever arena tour.
“We have all these lights and fake fog and s---,” she joked of the high-def stage setup where she was joined by seven additional musicians, including longtime musical partners, “the twins” Phil and Tim Hanseroth, as well as the Milwaukee-based violinist and cellist duo SistaStrings that had also accompanied her at the Super Bowl. “It feels monstrous,” Carlile added, recounting the previous times she played the city at the much smaller Schubas, Metro and Park West.
In the years since, Carlile has racked up considerable creds: 11 Grammys, two Emmys and one Oscar nomination. She’s collaborated with her childhood hero Elton John, helped pull Joni Mitchell out of retirement, created her own festival (Girls Just Wanna Weekend) and become a producer in her own right. She’s an LGBTQ icon and beloved across genres from Americana to alt-rock, even working with her fellow Seattleites Soundgarden.
This tour could’ve been Carlile’s well-deserved diva moment — she just sold out two nights at the holy grail, Madison Square Garden. And even though she’s reached stardom, she has remained true to the principles that have always made her the people’s artist.
This perspective was apparent from the opening notes Friday night. As Carlile kicked off the two-plus-hour set with the title track from her new album, “Returning to Myself,” she did so in silhouette from behind a large curtain that displayed a giant orange orb, conjuring the image of a baby inside the womb. As the show rolled into “Human,” and the curtain dropped, the birth of the world via celestial images came into play, which eventually eclipsed her own visage.
The interplay of these two songs was key to the whole show — Carlile is not only questioning her place in her own life but life at large. It’s an introspectiveness she’s always put into her music and why she’s become so relatable in the process. It’s why her heart-wrenching music syncs at just the right moments in “Grey’s Anatomy” nearly 20 years ago led to the path she’s on now.
But the fame also gave her pause. “Returning To Myself,” released in October, is Carlile getting back to her roots after years working with icons and legends and becoming a wife and mother. With her family present in the arena, Carlile proudly played nearly every song on the album, which also revolves around midlife themes of losing time (“A War With Time”) and relationship battles (“No One Knows Us”).
Carlile also performed a few cuts from her 2025 collaborative album with Sir Elton, “Who Believes in Angels?” and covers including a haunting delivery of Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited” and a tearjerker take on Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time,” all of it done with her incredible storyteller wisdom and that soaring voice that rips into your chest and holds your heart.
By the encore, featuring a group effort including openers The Head and the Heart on Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida,” the takeaway was clear: Long live life, and long live performers like Brandi Carlile that add so much to it.
Brandi Carlile’s “Be A Human: A Concert For Minneapolis” airs at 7 p.m. Feb. 21 on VEEPS; find more info here.
Brandi Carlile set list for Feb. 20 show at Allstate Arena
Returning to Myself
Human
Mainstream Kid
Swing for the Fences (Brandi Carlile and Elton John song)
A War With Time
A Woman Oversees
Right On Time
Who Believes in Angels? (Brandi Carlile and Elton John song)
Hiding My Heart
Stay Gentle
You Without Me
The Mother
The Story
You and Me on the Rock
No One Knows Us
Sinners, Saints and Fools
Long Long Time (Linda Ronstadt cover)
The Joke
Hold Out Your Hand
Encore
Viva La Vida (Coldplay cover, with The Head and the Heart)
Church & State
Uninvited (Alanis Morissette cover)
A Long Goodbye