The last time Kelsea Ballerini hit the road was the summer of 2023 on her “Heartfirst Tour,” which had a stop in Utah at the Sandy Amphitheater.
The tour was in the midst of Ballerini’s massive rise to a wider music fanbase, after she released her emotionally packed divorce EP, “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.”
A few things have changed since then.
Ballerini, a bonafide country music standout (and one of four coaches on this season of “The Voice”), released her fifth studio album, “Patterns,” and is currently on the road for her first arena tour, which has 36 dates across the United States.
Other things have stayed the same, though, like Ballerini’s penchant for digging into her own emotions.
“Rolling Up the Welcome Mat” was a body of work that unlocked a new level of music exploration for Ballerini, one that she continues in “Patterns.” On the album cover, she sits on top of a mountain of baggage that she unpacks for listeners in the 15-track record.
“For me, every album has a bit of juxtaposition, a bit of push and pull to it, because it’s just kind of how I operate as a human,” Ballerini said in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. “I’m always in conversation with myself or people in my close circle about love, or growing up, or whatever it is. There’s always two sides to every feeling, so I like to explore all of it.”
That exploration also helped Ballerini curate her setlist for her ongoing tour, which rolls into Delta Center on March 29. Fans can expect to hear their favorites, like the powerhouse track “Penthouse,” while also anticipating a few surprises.
“There are certain songs that I’m dusting off that were never singles or anything like that,” Ballerini said. “They’re just songs that I know people really enjoy.”
The production and planning side of the tour has been one of her favorite things to do this time around.
“I’ve always loved the element of surprise and being able to change the mood, scene and all that,” she said. “That’s just super amplified on this tour, and it’s kind of sectioned off into three sections, and each one has some moods [and feelings] attached to it.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kelsea Ballerini performs during her ‘Heartfirst’ tour at a sold-out show at the Sandy Amphitheater in 2023.
Ballerini embarked on her nationwide tour Jan. 21 with plans to make the East Coast setlist different from the West Coast setlist. She hopes people will come to the shows without looking up the setlist beforehand so they can truly be surprised.
“The thing I love about arenas, and I say this as a fan going to arena shows my whole life,” she said, “is you’re really able to play with the production to create this whole different atmosphere and world for people to step into and share together for a couple hours.”
This tour isn’t the first time Ballerini has played the songs from the new album for a live audience. She had a one-night-only album celebration at one of the world’s most famous concert venues, Madison Square Garden, right after the album was released last October.
At that show, she played 26 songs — the entire new album and some of her bigger tracks from recent years.
“I was kind of able to see which songs really work live, and then which songs maybe are just better as songs that live on the record,” Ballerini said. She took that setlist, redid it, and sprinkled in songs from all over her discography.
During Ballerini’s last tour stop in Utah, she encouraged the crowd to embrace their feelings, both the good and the bad. That call remains the same for her new tour.
She also sees how her fans experience catharsis through her music, no matter the song.
“When I watch tour recaps or when I get on TikTok after a show, I love being able to see people that are screaming and jumping around to ‘Baggage,’” she said, “but then also crying to ‘Peter Pan.’”
Ballerini is now halfway through her tour and will release a deluxe version of “Patterns,” featuring five new songs, on Friday.
“I never knew if I would ever get to a place where I could tour arenas as a headliner,” Ballerini, who has always dreamt of performing in the “big rooms,” said. “So I want to really live in that and be present in that.”
Tickets to Ballerini’s Utah show are available on Seat Geek.
