Live Review: Kelsea Ballerini @ TikTok Entertainment Centre, Sydney

Saturday night, 40-degree weather, and crowds of knee-high cowboy boots flocking to the heavily air-conditioned TikTok Entertainment Centre (formerly ICC Sydney Theatre). Though the weather outside may have been enough to melt the rhinestones off the freshly bedazzled outfits, the packed-to-the rafters theatre was full of people eagerly waiting for a night of Kelsea Ballerini.

Adelaide-based solo artist Aleksiah began the three-act night. A frequent sound of triple j - with her oldest released only in 2022, her songs brought a fresh sound of indie rock to the stage. Though her newness to crowds of this size may have seen some slight nerves in the beginning, she quickly found her comfort and took to performing to this international crowd like it was her second home.

Following closely behind to help open the night, North Carolina-born Carter Faith quickly took to and took over the Sydney stage. With a contemporary country sound and “cowgirl hippie” look, it was clear why she had been chosen by Ballerini. Performing songs new and old, Faith exuded the aura of someone who could have been the main act. Though just 25 years old, her crowd work and stage presence had everyone feeling like she’d been doing it for decades.

As the clock struck 9 pm, it was time for the main act to make her appearance. The seats and floor were filled for the first sold-out show of the tour – from the 8-year-old attending her first concert to the row of 60-year-olds out for the first night in a long time, everyone had come together to hear the country-pop sounds of Ballerini.

In a pitch-black theatre, the show started with a giant, heartfelt message (literally a giant heart, walking right across the screen) reminding us all to take a moment to be kind and look after those around us. Then, after the classic Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman, the room filled with colours and visuals of the story Ballerini was about to take us through.

With a passion for thematics, Ballerini’s songs often follow the flow of reflection and anticipation; this opening was not different. Beginning her set with the song Patterns - the title track from her most recent album, Ballerini began the night with the “self assessment” song, to remind us to look at who we are and the patterns we’ve created in ourselves.

Ballerini drove down the stage in her mixed metal outfit - silver knee-high boots and a gold fringed dress – following up with Baggage, another hit track from her Patterns album, before throwing it back to 2015 with the song Love Me Like You Mean It.

Sharing a well-choreographed moment with her backing vocalists, Ballerini performed the song like it was a fresh release, her mature sound adding an extra layer of depth to the decade-old track. She continued the trip down memory lane with tracks THE LITTLE THINGS and IF YOU GO DOWN (I’M GOIN’ DOWN TOO), the top songs from her 2022 album SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

After reminding us of the hole in the bottle, Ballerini brought the audience into a dark time in her life story. Blindsided (Yeah, Sure, Okay) – one of the hit songs from the album Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good)- had the audience chanting the lyrics as if they were part of a script, their own emotions giving greater meaning to what had once been a personal struggle. Though this album was created as a release for the pain Ballerini had experienced, the performance Saturday night had a proud feeling behind the words she was singing. No longer was she held onto by the writings of her struggles; these songs had a new power, their pain now more of a memory to the pop country artist.  

In a twist of events, though the timing couldn’t have been more perfect, Ballerini performed a mash-up of her song Emerald City – released on her most recent EP, Mount Pleasant, and the iconic I’m Not That Girl from Wicked. As the Elphaba of the night, Ballerini’s songs were like chants from the Grimmerie; each lyric had a power over the audience that moved them in their own individual ways.

Having released music for over a decade now, Ballerini has taken us on her journey of rumours, love, breakups, and growth. As she evolves, her lyricism continues to have the depth and rawness of the heart. She lets her words reveal what she feels, allowing the audience to take it in and experience the vulnerability she is willing to share with the world. This tour is a healing moment for her, as much as it is for the audience who have been so moved by her work, ending a chapter of her life as she closes off the year.

Ballerini started to wrap up the night by throwing in her Chainsmokers collaboration This Feeling – and gave the audience a treat with a never-heard-before verse. She took us back through the Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good) times and ended it all with an encore of Penthouse (Healed Version), the perfect conclusion to her healed story.