Kelsea Ballerini Shines During Sold-Out Nashville Show

Kelsea Ballerini took her Unapologetically Tour to Nashville‘s Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday night, performing a sold-out Valentine’s Day show in front of a hometown crowd that had nothing but love for the singer.

Supporting Ballerini’s sophomore album, Unapologetically, the show took the audience through the project in order, with Ballerini dividing the album into three sections — loss, life and love.

A screen behind the singer reflected those themes with various imagery throughout, and the 24-year-old’s infectious energy kept the audience engaged as she moved through the album, performing both with her band and acoustically.

“This record is a story,” Ballerini told the audience. “It’s the story of my emotional journey the last three years.”

Each of the three sections were marked by a change in music and design, with Ballerini including the break-up songs on Unapologetically during the loss portion, as the heart behind her remained dark.

The life section saw her explore themes including self-discovery and growing up, with songs like “In Between” and “High School.” When she got to the third segment, the heart lit up in pinks and reds as she performed her love songs, which included the wonderfully contradictory “I Hate Love Songs” and the album’s title track.

Despite having the flu, Ballerini’s voice was strong, and she added plenty of flourishes and phrase changes to keep the audience guessing. She also took a break from her regularly scheduled show to duet with husband Morgan Evans, marking their first time performing on stage together with a love song written by the Australian singer.

After concluding the album with current single “Legends,” Ballerini returned for an encore, performing all four singles from her debut album: “Peter Pan,” “Dibs,” “Yeah Boy” and her debut single, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” her last song of the night, concluding with Ballerini stepping away from the microphone for a true singalong with fans.

“I want it to be me and you because it’s always been me and you,” she told them. “Is that cool?”

Judging by their reaction, it certainly was.

Photo Credit: Getty / John Shearer