Country

In 2018, Kelsea Ballerini headlined a show at Nashville’s approximately 2,300-seat, revered music venue the Ryman Auditorium for the first time — and soon after, made a promise to herself that she would not headline in Nashville again until she could sell out the approximately 20,000-seat Bridgestone Arena, located just blocks away.

The country singer-songwriter triumphantly reached that goal on Friday night (Jan. 31), when she headlined Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to a sold-out crowd of admiring fans, as part of her Kelsea Ballerini Live on Tour 2025 trek.

“I cannot believe we are at a sold-out night at Bridgestone Arena,” Ballerini told fans early in her headlining set. “One thing about me, I’m not gonna play it cool at all. I’m going to freak out hopefully alongside you all evening. I’ve been in this room a million times. As a fan, this is the room that I’ve seen my favorite artists. I’ve been in here for the CMAs and the CMTs and so many things and this room means so much to me.”

Not only have the past seven years seen Ballerini cement her headliner status as an artist, but the five-time Grammy nominated artist further established herself as a multi-media presence, hosting awards shows, snagging a brand deal with CoverGirl — and further establishing herself with perhaps her biggest television look to date: a role as a coach on the television series The Voice, which launches Monday. Ballerini brought a bit of that television extravaganza to the Bridgestone, as fans lined up across the Bridgestone’s concord for a chance to sit in the famed red coach’s chair from The Voice.

But during her performance, it was Ballerini’s heart-connecting songs and strong rapport with her fanbase that were at the heart of her vivid, high-production arena spectacle. She proved again that she’s as adept at crafting grand-scale anthems as veering toward bone-cuttingly vulnerable ballads. Women have continued to rule pop music over the past few years, with artists ranging from Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter each offering up their own unique brands of songwriting and storytelling to narrate their own perspectives on life and love and everything in between. Ballerini serves up that same ethos in the country music sphere, to much fan acclaim.

The all-women lineup commanding Friday night’s sold-out Bridgestone Arena show also featured openers MaRynn Taylor and Sasha Alex Sloan opening for Ballerini.

Ballerini launched her headlining set with the self-aware ballad “Patterns,” the title track from her October-released album, which debuted atop Billboard’s country albums chart, and at No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Seated atop what looked to be a pile of luggage evoking the image from her album cover, Ballerini asked the crowd, “Are you ready to begin unpacking?”

From there, she led the largely female audience through an emotional and musical whirlwind, chronicling her journey from a wide-eyed newcomer on songs such as “Love Me Like You Mean It” to world-wisened artist who has navigated heartbreak and hard-earned lessons to emerge with a stronger sense of self and a new-found freedom. She also proved her prowess as an engaging and effervescent entertainer as she crafted a show tailor-made for both a fun night out, interspersed with heart-on-her-sleeve, soul-pouring moments.

“We have songs for the girlies, your best friends, your ride or die and love songs,” she said, sailing through songs including the girls’ night out anthems “Hole in the Bottle,” and “If I Go Down (You’re Goin’ Down Too).”

The show had all the accoutrements of a full-throttle country-pop show: massive video screens, a catwalk stage through the middle of the audience, lights and pyro, as Ballerini traversed through an array of spangled outfits throughout the evening, from red bodysuits to sparkly dresses and elegant gowns.

A set equally filled with rancor and romance, with wholehearted love songs (“Heartfirst,” “Love Me Like You Mean It”) and serrated heartbreak songs. But towering above either of these were a bedrock of song threaded with empowerment (“I Miss Me More”), personal growth and friendship (“I Would, Would You”). Her brand of pop-minded country, with songs that trace the diaristic details of Ballerini’s zeniths and lows over the past few years. Her choice to leave those details bitingly intact on projects such as her pivotal Rolling Up The Welcome Mat and its successor Patterns have cemented Ballerini who has evolved as an artist and writer unafraid to reach into the depths, even on songs she dresses up in the shiniest of melodies and sparkliest of stage productions.

And for Ballerini, not always “playing it cool” has been a key element in how she build her strong rapport with her fans — her willingness to share the messy, confused, despairing, and questioning moments alongside those of supreme confidence. Even small moments when the show didn’t go perfectly as planned — a minor outfit mishap that led Ballerini to sit down onstage and fix her shoe, and elsewhere a missed cue — came off as simply the kind of all-too-human moments that have made Ballerini the relatable artist she is.

Ballerini’s exuberant voice, paired with a willingness to tear down emotional barriers between artist, the songs and the fans, have earned Ballerini an ardent fanbase. Reflecting on her decade-long journey from her 2014 breakthrough songs such as “Love Me Like You Mean It,” Ballerini told the crowd, “I made my first four records so honestly, and I really did my best to write songs about my life. When I was writing ‘Dibs’ and ‘Love Me Like You Mean It’ and ‘Peter Pan,’ that was truly, that was the identity of a 19-year-old girl, for sure. But there was part of me that rounded the edges on these songs, because my true want as an artist… I wanted to make music for literally everyone — mainly the girls and the gays,” eliciting rapturous cheers from the audience.

She added, “My way of doing that was I left out the sharpness because I wanted it to be absorbable. And then I made Rolling Up The Welcome Mat and I didn’t do that at all. It was the first record that I made it for me and it changed my life. When I was trying to make Patterns, all I wanted to do was make sure that I didn’t go back to being scared of having edges. I didn’t want to be scared of saying hard truths. I wanted to keep down the path of that.”

Prior to performing her 2016 song “Peter Pan,” she addressed the young girls in the room with the steady assurance of a wiser, older sister, “I want you to know that you are worth of steady, good love.”

The AEG Presents-promoted tour will wrap April 9 in North Carolina.

Below, we look at five top moments from Ballerini’s Bridgestone Arena show.

A Friendship-Celebrating Singalong