Kelsea Ballerini Brings Joy, Growth & Keith Urban to Homecoming Show in Nashville, Nearly 7 Years in the Making

Trying to find the words to describe Kelsea Ballerini's headlining show at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena last night (January 31) is no small task.

To have been there amongst the 20,000 or so fans, screaming along to every word of the nearly two-dozen-song setlist, was nothing short of magical.

The highly-anticipated date on Ballerini's 2025 tour was something of a homecoming show for the superstar, who moved from Knoxville to Nashville sixteen years ago to chase her dreams of being an artist. The night also marked her first headlining appearance in her adopted home town in nearly seven years.

"I could tell you that this night started ten years ago when I put out 'Love Me Like You Mean It.' I could tell you that getting here started 16 years ago when I moved to Nashville to try to figure out how to do this. I could tell you that tonight started when I was 12 when I wrote my first song. I don't know where it started to end up here tonight, but God, I cannot believe we are at a sold out night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee," Ballerini shared with the packed out venue.

"In 2018, I was doing a headlining tour called the Unapologetically Tour and it was my first time headlining the Ryman across the street, which is a dream on the bucket list. I remember walking off stage, looking at my team and saying, 'I'm not going to do another headlining show in Nashville until I can sell out Bridgestone Arena.' And I kept my word," she explained as roaring applause filled the room. "If you hear one thing out of my mouth tonight it is thank you."

Showcasing a little bit of everything from across her discography thus far–dusting off the glistening tunes from her 2024 album, PATTERNS, reaching all the way back for her debut single, 'Love Me Like You Mean It,' and bringing in everything from in between, too–it was a night that felt like a major milestone marker for the 'Penthouse' hitmaker who, after her standard ten-year journey in Nashville, has officially arrived as a country-pop superstar all her own.

In some ways reminiscent of Taylor Swift's larger-than-life Eras Tour, Ballerini and her dedicated fandom fostered ninety minutes of pure joy and love, both for the music and for the star herself, fit with customized luggage tags, hilarious wardrobe malfunctions, an impromptu game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with a fan, calls to "go absolutely feral" during 'IF YOU GO DOWN (I'M GOING DOWN TOO),' a stunning fan surprise during the vulnerable 'Beg For Your Love' and a performance of 'Blindsided' in the room that the song references in it's bridge.

Yet, it wouldn't be a Nashville show if Ballerini didn't have a surprise of her own up her sleeve, which arrived in due time.

"I fully intended to play the same setlist every single night on the east coast leg of this tour, because I like a plan. However, every single night, there's been a reason or a conversation or a city that has made me change my mind," Ballerini offered before telling the crowd about hearing a song that changed the trajectory of her life on MySpace nearly 20 years ago.

"There was this song called 'Stupid Boy' by Keith Urban and I just remember I had this visceral reaction to it. I hadn't gone through it, I was 12 or 13, but there was something about that song that made me in that moment in my bedroom go, 'Oh my god. I want to be a songwriter. I want to do exactly what this song makes me feel. That's what I want to do with my life.'" She continued, "One of the few times I've gotten to play this room was opening up for Keith Urban [on his 2018 Graffiti U Tour] and I thought, for little 12 or 13 year old me, it could be really special to sing that song that was on my friend's MySpace page."

As the Australian hitmaker emerged, acoustic guitar in hand, the crowd all but erupted as the pair traded off verses to his blockbuster 2006 hit, their voices ebbing, flowing and weaving together in perfect harmony as they sang about a boy who didn't know what he had until she was gone... we'll let you read between those lines.

Before the show, Ballerini dug up an old post on her Instagram from 2013, sharing on her story that she'd stayed after seeing a show to watch the crew break down the stage. Twelve years ago, the then-unsigned, hopeful songwriter promised herself that she would play there as a headliner one day.

"In some ways, tonight feels like my 'ten year town' story," Ballerini wrote. "In others it feels so so much deeper, like my 31 year story."

Ten years or 31, the Grammy-nominated hitmaker's Nashville show will forever remain timeless, carrying with it memories of love, laughter, growth and joy for the 20,000 people lucky enough to exist in it.

The same year of her last Nashville headlining show, Kelsea Ballerini celebrated her fourth No. 1 at country radio with 'Legends,' a song that looks back on a failed relationship with gratitude and reverence:

"We wrote our own story
Full of blood sweat and heartbeats
We didn't do it for the fame or the glory
But we went down in history
Yeah, we were legends"

Now, seven years later, it feels like those lyrics have taken on a whole new meaning, and there's simply no telling what's ahead in Ballerini's storied career.

For the full setlist from Kelsea Ballerini's show at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, see below:

Act I
Patterns (Lyrics)
Baggage
Love Me Like You Mean It (Lyrics)
HEARTFIRST
This Time Last Year
IF YOU GO DOWN
hole in the bottle

Act II
First Rodeo (Lyrics)
Blindsided
Miss Me More
We Broke Up
Two Things (Lyrics)
Mountain With A View
Interlude
WAIT! (Lyrics)

Act III
Cowboys Cry Too (Lyrics)
Stupid Boy with Keith Urban
Beg For Your Love
Peter Pan
MUSCLE MEMORY
I Would, Would You / Lean On Me (Cover)
How Do I Do This?

Encore
Penthouse

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For more on Kelsea Ballerini, see below: