Sara Bareilles’ current single, “Bottle It Up,” opens with the line, “There’ll be girls across the nation that will eat this up.” And she knows the music biz is presently marketing two categories of young female singers: Sexy playthings like Rihanna or Ciara, and earthy chanteuses like Corinne Bailey Rae or Colbie Caillat. Without falling into either camp, Bareilles sounds like the next logical step forward, which is probably why her 2007 debut, Little Voice, has sold more than 800,000 copies. Her melodies are catchy, but also undeniably complicated and mature. Onstage she’s charming and youthful, but her material has an old-soul feel. Sometimes compared—wrongly, I think—to Fiona Apple, Bareilles tackles fraught topics like love with a fresh, undeniably West Coast sensibility. There are none of Apple’s moody bathtub ruminations to be found. I recently caught Bareilles’ show in New York (on her first tour as a headliner), and there’s no doubt she’s become a seasoned live performer. A note to fans who’ve worn out Little Voice: Bareilles has avoided the trap of touring with only one album by adding some intriguing new covers. Finally, to settle all discussion, her last name is pronounced “bar-ell-is.” Marc Broussard and Raining Jane open. Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., 467-5510, www.themoore.com. 8 p.m. $29–$35. FRANK PAIVA

Wed., Oct. 15, 8 p.m., 2008