Kelsea Ballerini sheds tears at sold out hometown show in Knoxville

Kelsea Ballerini returned to Knoxville for a hometown concert Thursday night, and emotions ran high.

Ballerini shed tears and had to stop mid-song during the acoustic portion of her sold out show at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, which is a part of her “Miss Me More” arena tour.

She was singing “High School,” a personal track from her sophomore album, 2017’s “Unapologetically,” where she reflects on her time attending Central High School in Knoxville and then leaving town at 15 to move to Nashville and pursue her music dreams.

After pausing for a moment with the crowd cheering on, Ballerini finished the song.

Kelsea Ballerini brings energy, emotion

That emotional moment was a microcosm of the entire show. Last week, Ballerini told the News Sentinel in an interview that she and her team built her “Miss Me More” Tour around her Knoxville concert because of the magic that’s felt whenever she plays here.

KELSEA BALLERINI:Why Kelsea Ballerini planned her 'Miss Me More' tour around Knoxville concert

“It means the world to me to be able to come home and come to this room and see all your faces and know that I can always come home, and you’re going to be there for me. Thank you,” she said on stage.

She was exactly right. From the moment Ballerini stepped on stage to the show’s confetti-filled ending, energy and emotion filled the room.

Ballerini and her songs channeled a range of emotions from sassy and defiant to reflective and lovestruck during her one and a half hour set, and she said she wanted her fans to feel it all.

“… so it’s really important to me that we make each other a couple of promises just right off the bat,” said Ballerini. “First and foremost, we forget about the day of the week. It’s the weekend in my book right? Second, tonight is all about love and most importantly, it’s all about having as much fun as we possibly can have under this roof together tonight. Promise me that.”

Ballerini sang several tracks from “Unapologetically,” including sassy anthems “Miss Me More” and “Get Over Yourself” and her more reflective tracks “Machine Heart” and “Legends.” She also performed songs from her first album: “Dibs,” “Love Me Like You Mean It” and “Peter Pan,” and closed the show with an energetic performance of “This Feeling,” a pop song she and the Chainsmokers collaborated on.

Kelsea Ballerini reflects on Grand Ole Opry

While Ballerini spent most of her time singing, dancing and at a few points playing the drums, she took several breaks to talk to the audience. She reflected on the dreams she’s achieved so far including hearing herself on country radio and singing at the Grand Ole Opry.

“… and cooler than that, this week I got inducted as the newest and youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry, which is out of all the things that have happened, which have been beautiful, I think that might be my favorite one so far, and also up there with hearing myself on the radio and singing at the Grand Ole Opry, there was this one other massive thing on my bucket list,” she said.

“And that was to do an arena tour, and because of you, now we get to cross that off, so I don’t really feel like saying ‘thank you’ up here is enough, so I just want to get a little bit closer and say ‘thank you,” she said before walking through the audience and singing “Love Me Like You Mean It.”

GRAND OLE OPRY:Kelsea Ballerini comes full circle at Opry, thanks to Carrie Underwood

Kelsea Ballerini shares life lessons with audience

She also went beyond talking about her own life and situation. Much of the audience on Thursday night consisted of young girls and women, and I think Ballerini understands they make up a huge part of her fanbase. She took the time to give them some advice from lessons she’s learned over the years, lessons that she wrote about on “Unapologetically.”

“…I think the thing about growing up especially if you move away from somewhere at a younger age, sometimes when you go back home you realize that a lot of things change. A lot of things don’t,” she said.

“And I think one thing that I’ve learned is that if you’re something that changes, whether it’s a hometown or whether it’s from someone else in your life or a chapter in your life or season of your life, that’s OK. You’re allowed to grow. You’re allowed to change as long as you remember the season of your life that you’re leaving behind and always know how to get back to it.”