Kelsea Ballerini's PPG Paints show was worth the wait

Country star Kelsea Ballerini postponed her February show in Pittsburgh after contracting the flu, to the disappointment of fans. After the rescheduled show at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night, those patient fans left grinning — and the most infectious thing was the joy that she spread from the stage.

Tennessee native Ballerini has had a handful of singles reach No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. Since the beginning of this year, she’s served as a coach on the NBC singing competition show “The Voice.” In the past decade, she’s released five studio albums, including “Patterns” in late 2024.

She’s also seen a recent meteoric rise in her career. At Saturday night’s sold-out show, she was emotional about how much her crowds have grown since her last Pittsburgh stop. She went from playing for 2,400 people at Stage AE in March 2023 to a screaming mass of 13,000 concertgoers at PPG Paints Arena.

The two performers who opened for Ballerini were a study in contrast. MaRynn Taylor was a ray of sunshine in a silver fringe top and ripped jeans, with a voice like sweet-but-strong iced tea on a summer afternoon. Her country-tinged tunes, including “Season 2 of Friends” and “same girl same,” earned cheers of approval from the crowd.

On the flip side of the coin was Sasha Alex Sloan, the second opener. She felt more like a hybrid of Kacey Musgraves and Billie Eilish, with a darker, more aloof stage presence. Her willowy voice lent itself well to melancholy songs such as “Kids” and “Dancing With Your Ghost.”

As the hour for Ballerini to take the stage approached, Shania Twain’s massive 1999 country pop hit “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” was pumped in loud through the speakers. It was the perfect choice to whip up the heavily female, cowboy-boots-and-sparkles-adorned audience.

Ballerini donned boots and sparkles of her own, rising to the stage in a short-sleeved metallic orange dress and matching sparkly boots to kick the set off with the title track of “Patterns.” Through several costume changes, the theme of glitter and boots remained; whether she wore a high-necked sleeveless green jumpsuit or a strapless black bodysuit, the spotlight made her outfits shimmer.

Though she was playing to a large crowd, Ballerini made the show feel intimate with plenty of between-song monologues. Saturday’s show was the second-to-last stop of the tour, which she said gave her a lot more freedom.

“I just want to say, to anyone who originally was going to be here two months ago that is still here tonight, from the bottom of my entire heart and soul, thank you for showing up tonight. I really appreciate you being patient,” she said the audience.

“It’s such a joy to just be able to watch you. I don’t know, I’m just having a moment, I guess,” she confessed.

She looked relaxed, too. During the flirty rock-pop tune “Love Me Like You Mean It,” she flipped her long blonde ponytail, grinning slyly and casting sideways glances at the audience as she strutted the thrust stage. The show had plenty of tricks up its sleeve. The first plumes of fire showed up during the upbeat-but-secretly-sad “hole in the bottle” — and Ballerini never missed a beat.

“Tonight it’s about you, so I want you to get out of the show whatever you need,” she said.

She also shared her struggles with mental health before singing the hectically paced “Future Tripping.” The strobing lights, frantic beat and stutter-start lyrics all echoed the mind-race feeling of chronic anxiety.

The atmosphere inside PPG Paints Arena glowed with sunshine and community, and Ballerini talked about hoping that everyone was there with the people they love, including their best friend. One of her most pure country songs is BFF anthem “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” and friends all throughout the building threw their arms around each other and sang along.

While her discography covers a wide range of emotions, Ballerini has gained acclaim for her confessional songs about breakups, especially those on her 2023 EP “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat,” which chronicles her divorce from country singer Morgan Evans. Songs from that album and others about broken relationships dotted the set list, and “Blindsided (Yeah, Sure, Okay),” “Mountain With a View / Interlude” and “Miss Me More” were special highlights.

But she noted, during an acoustic segment of the set, that the emotions behind those powerful songs don’t apply these days for her. “I will always write about matters of the heart, but the truth is, it’s a bit of a juxtaposition to be playing those songs and not be in that phase of my life anymore. … I actually really do believe in love, and I’m very much in it.”

She sang a song, she said, for the last time this tour: “To the Men Who Love Women After Heartbreak.” After stopping and starting because emotions were choking her voice with tears, she sang and played the tune until tearful sniffles could be heard all throughout the audience.

She kept things acoustic with “Beg For Your Love” and hit song “Peter Pan,” adding to the intimacy of the moment by taking some time to sit down and sing on the very end of the light-edged thrust stage.

Taking a breather to examine the signs held out by audience members near the stage, Ballerini talked about her dog, Dibs, who was diagnosed with cancer back in August. “They gave him four months, you guys. … He’s still kicking. I think that he knew that Mom needed to get through tour and for him to be OK so we could have some time after this.”

Devoted to exchanges with her adoring crowd, she accepted friendship bracelets from a young girl and even agreed to do a tequila shot at the urging of a fan.

Bringing the pep back, she finished out the regular set with the wistful and bubbly “Muscle Memory,” another friendship-oriented mashup of the playful “I Would, Would You” and Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” and the girlish and honest first-date-after-divorce ode “How Do I Do This?” The song ended with a puff of smoke and a rain of golden sparks at the back of the stage before she disappeared — temporarily.

The lone encore song found her under a spotlight, accompanied by a pianist, performing “Penthouse (Healed Version).” The evolved iteration of a song from “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat” brought together the sad and joyful parts of the whole night.

As if to hammer the point home, Ballerini ended with thanks, grins and tears. “Please be so safe getting home, and we’ll be back so soon, yeah?”