LIVE REVIEW: Rachel Platten in Cambridge, MA (04.27.25)
The last time I was at Sonia was the last time Rachel Platten played there—eight years ago, in 2017. This time, on a Sunday night in late April, a sold-out crowd packed the venue, including many young girls in the audience with their mothers (and a few girl dads). The stage ke someone’s cozy living room with plants, floor lamps, rugs, and big pillows. Platten chose to tour smaller, more intimate venues on this tour. She performed a tight 90-minute set, always appreciated on a Sunday night.
The lovely, charming singer/songwriter has a knack for singing about darker, serious topics with inspiring, hopeful melodies and an overall upbeat energy running through. That’s her appeal. Her pop/folk songs are about overcoming and achieving, not wallowing. That’s what draws people to her music and her shows. At a Platten show, you’ll feel understood, supported. This was my fourth time seeing Platten perform. I first saw her in 2011 at Berklee College of Music’s Cafe 939. Platten is a gracious, generous performer. I consider her shows warm embraces. I’m never disappointed.
“I’m happy to be in my hometown,” the Newton native and Buckingham Browne & Nichols graduate said. “I’m sad I left. Sad my parents moved. I love being in the place I grew up.”
Many high school classmates and childhood friends were in attendance. She called out a few of them. Occasionally, Platten would jokingly use a Boston accent, like for the song “Mercy,” she mentioned that a high school friend didn’t believe she wrote it herself. She noted, in a Boston accent: “I wrote it myself. I’m really talented.”
Although challenging to be engaging while performing at a piano, Platten turned to the audience often and stood up and walked around to share anecdotal stories. She also played guitar on a couple of songs.
Platten graduated from Trinity College in Connecticut and then moved to New York City’s Greenwich Village. She self-released the album Trust in Me in 2003. Many years later, Platten achieved success through Be Here, which was released in 2011. She signed with Columbia Records and released Wildfire (2016), which generated a big hit with “Fight Song,” debuted at number 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and became certified gold. Waves was released in 2017. Last year I Am Rachel Platten was released on her independent label, Violet Records.
In introducing “Girls,” Platten said she recognizes the impact of the song. “What I wrote for my daughter is standing for all the daughters. I wanted something that lifts us as women.” The tear-jerker song, particularly for the moms in the audience, played for a quiet, rapt room.
“I went through a hard time, and it was important for me to be vulnerable and share,” Platten said. One tool she finds particularly useful for depression and anxiety is breathwork. For the slower, introspective song ‘Bad Thoughts,’ Platten offered cues for breathing– several times during the song, Platten whisper-speaks, ‘breathe in/breathe out.’
Platten told a story about writing a song with Michael Bolton, humorous in hindsight. When Bolton arrived at her house, Platten had forgotten the meeting and hadn’t showered in a week as she was in the throes of postpartum depression. Bolton said he was unfazed, since he’s a grandfather. Bolton brought her a few lines he wrote back in the 70s and didn’t do anything with– “like a cold glass of water in the desert sun…” which they turned into the song “Caroline” on her latest album.
She brought out her opener, Ben Abraham, to play acoustic guitar on the pretty, slower song “Surrender.” She said, “Surrendering sometimes takes more strength than fighting and pushing–this from the Fight Song girl.” Platten wrote “Better Place” for her sister, who was convinced she’d be single forever. She sang the emotional song at her wedding. Several women in the audience said it was their wedding song. The set ended with a super catchy and energizing “1,000 Ships.” The two-song encore included the powerful, inspirational “Fight Song” with audience members tearfully and triumphantly singing the chorus.
