Kelsea Ballerini lit up the stage at Mohegan Sun on Sept. 7 while opening for Keith Urban on his Graffiti U World Tour. Ballerini is a country-pop singer who hit the stage in Connecticut for the first time.  

She opened her performance with the title track from her most recent album “Unapologetically.” The crowd sang along and danced within the first moments of her arrival onstage. Ballerini spoke to the crowd throughout her set and said she is a huge Keith Urban fan, and every night on tour she comes out to watch just like all the other fans. She also made sure to let the crowd know that Urban puts on an incredible show.

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Anna Downs

During her set,she spotted a fan’s mother holding a sign saying “My daughter wants to meet you Kelsea!” She found the daughter in the crowd and got a selfie with her.  Ballerini also dedicated her song, “Legends,” to the audience as a thank you for allowing her to live her dreams. She covered the song “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac to pay tribute to the songwriters who have inspired her along her musical career.

Her high energy and empowering lyrics and songs were inspiring. Even if you were not familiar with her music, she got the crowd involved with sing offs, because she said  Keith Urban loves a good sing-along. The stage design and lighting was so beautiful, it was impossible to look away.

Ballerini took the plunge to move to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 15 to pursue her music career, by writing songs. Now at 24, she sings to sold-out arenas night after night on the Graffiti U World Tour.  She took the opportunity to play her brand new single, “I Hate Love Songs,” before closing with her most popular song, “Peter Pan,” that had fans cheering as they sang along.