Kelsea Ballerini Soars at Philly Show After Eagles Super Bowl Win

The show at Wells Fargo Center was the single biggest headlining jaunt of Kelsea's career

*Kelsea Ballerini [Matt Bishop/Pop Vulture]*

Fly, Kelsea, Fly!

Last night in South Philly, Kelsea Ballerini took the stage at Wells Fargo Center. The energy in the building was wildly palpable due to the circumstances surrounding the show. The gig is part of Kelsea's first full-fledged arena tour, which sees her playing the biggest venues of her career. The Philadelphia stop - according to Kelsea - was in fact the single largest crowd she's ever performed for as a headliner.

The icing on the cake? Just 24 hours earlier, the Philadelphia Eagles crushed the Kansas City Chiefs to become Super Bowl Champions. As the capacity crowd began to roll into the Wells Fargo Center, it was a sea of denim jackets, cowboy hats, and Eagles jerseys. Kelsea herself even traded in one of her signature sparkling dresses in favor of a Jalen Hurts jersey. The whole thing really couldn't have been scripted any better.

"When I got the tour schedule and saw Philly on a Monday, I thought, 'Oh man, that's gonna be rough,'" Kelsea stated, eluding to the fact that Monday nights aren't really ideal for going out to a concert. "But, as we got closer, and I realized it was Philly on the Monday after the Super Bowl, I thought - 'Oh boy.'"

And the crowd erupted.

Kelsea proceeded to treat the capacity crowd to a hefty 23-song set that spanned her entire career. Mostly, though, the pushed her latest GRAMMY®-nominated album, Patterns. She performed 10 of the album's 14 total tracks, not wanting to rely solely on her past hits.

Speaking of hits - after opening with "Patterns," the title track from her latest effort, and "Baggage," another fan favorite from the record, she was quick to pull out one of her breakout songs - "Love Me Like You Mean It."

"Philly, do you wanna go way back with me," Kelsea asked before she launched into the throwback track.

Other highlights included "If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Down Too)," "Hole in the Bottle," "First Rodeo," "Miss Me More," "Peter Pan, "and "Cowboys Cry Too," her duet with Noah Khan that was recently recevied a GRAMMY® nod for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

It's truly been remarkable to watch the trajectory of Kelsea's career. While not necessarily meteoric, her steady climb to the top has made you root hard for her. Back in 2015, I covered Kelsea's first New York headlining show at the Gramercy Theater. This past fall, Kelsea returned to the Big Apple to headline the World's Most Famous Arena - Madison Square Garden - to celebrate the release of Patterns and re-introduce herself as an arena act. Throughout the last decade, Kelsea has created a more commanding stage presence while still maintaining her sweet, care-free demeanor that everyone has grown to know and love.

Earlier Ballerini hits like "Love Me Like You Mean It" were cute and catchy. Since then, we've seen her mature as a songwriter with tracks like "We Broke Up" and "Penthouse." She arrived on the scene at a pivotal time in any person's life, and she's grown up on tape and on stage along with her fans. Now, she's on the biggest headlining run of her life, selling out arenas around the globe.

Next stop - hopefully stadiums.

Kelsea's current tour runs through March 22, wrapping up at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

"This ain’t my first rodeo (but it is my first arena tour!)," Kelsea said in a social media post announcing the run. "I genuinely can’t wait to be back on the road with you in 2025 and sing our lil' hearts out together."

The trek is supporting her latest LP Patterns.

"Patterns is an album about taking inventory of self and life as it is, moving through the things that need changing, and celebrating the wins along the way," Ballerini said in a statement. “Writing this record really was just one big beautiful conversation with myself, Alysa (Vanderheym), Karen (Fairchild), Hillary (Lindsey) and Jessie Jo (Dillon). That is what I want to bring into my show…a night (well, a lot of nights) where we come together and have the greatest night dancing while unpacking all of it. With confetti and costume changes, of course."

Kelsea Ballerini's last album was 2022's Subject to Change. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200, and No. 3 on Billboard's Top Country Albums Chart. In the UK, Ballerini scored a No. 1 hit on the Country Albums Chart.