It was Kelsea Ballerini that had fans lining up outside hours before her show on a cold, windy, Boston night. Royale Nightclub didn’t take long to warm up, however, as the intimate location filled with girls and boys of all ages. With no bad spot in the venue, all fans were going to be in for a treat.
Around 7 o’clock, Country 102.5’s Lori Grande took the stage to prep the crowd for what was to come. Before Kelsea could take the stage, it was time for opening act Hailey Steele to be front and center. With her long, loose curls, the bubbly blonde opened with ‘Diamonds,’ a song off of her self-titled EP from 2014. Dressed in a white, long-sleeve dress, The Voice Season 2 contestant rocked the stage with her acoustic set. Steele was quick to let the Boston crowd know it wasn’t her first time playing in their city, showing her appreciation for the Commonwealth. The witty singer was sure to give her home state of South Dakota a shout out as well. “Anyone from South Dakota? We may be related,” Hailey said, making the crowd laugh.
Steele showed us she never took the easy route to the country scene through her stories of trials and tribulations within her music. “I moved to Nashville eight years ago y’all, and I thought I was gonna be the next Carrie Underwood and it didn’t happen,” she giggled. “So I wrote a song about it.” ‘Lazy River (Take Me Down)’ was her message during a tough time in her career. Those tough times have led to better moments, of course. Hailey got the opportunity to write with Marcus Hummon, the writer of Rascal Flatts’ ‘Bless The Broken Road.’ The result? The beautiful tune, ‘Another Like You.’
The next song was a familiar one to many, as Hailey gave the history to ‘Boyfriend,’ a song made popular by RaeLynn. Co-written between Steele and fellow Voice contestants, RaeLynn and Nicolle Galyon, Hailey put her spin on her song by announcing she would be doing the second verse her way. Regardless of which way it was sang, ‘Boyfriend’ was easily a crowd favorite. As her time on set wound down, Miss Steele announced she would be signing and meeting fans throughout the intermission, where a line quickly formed at the merchandise table. Hailey was the perfect prelude to country music’s biggest sweetheart, who was getting ready to take the stage.
The anticipation rose during the down time and fans pushed towards the stage, packing in to get the best view of Kelsea Ballerini. Shortly after eight o’clock, Ballerini was seen descending from the stage left stairs, merely a shadow emerging from her dressing room. Blue, red and purple lights lit up the stage as Kelsea kicked off her time with the powerful ‘Sirens.’ Putting a twist on the tornado-like tune, she mixed ‘Miss Independent’ with the song off her debut album. “Let’s have a good time together,” Kelsea said as she got the crowd going. Before addressing the mass again, ‘Yeah Boy’ was up on the set list. “Hey Boston, what’s going on?” she acknowledged. “You can learn a lot by the meet and great. You showed up with books and signs and nails, so I already love you.” With an exciting announcement, Kelsea shared that her latest single, ‘Dibs,’ just cracked the Top 10, which “is super cool” for the 22-year-old. Of course, the most recent success was showcased through the crowd singing right along.
The fans of Ballerini were lucky in Boston, hearing every song off of her album, ‘The First Time.’ In recent interviews, she made it clear that the next song was one of her favorites to sing. “How many of you girls know a guy who didn’t know how to grow up?” she laughed, as the ladies in the audience agreed, singing ‘Peter Pan’ as loud as they could. One who is known to interact with her fans, the Knoxville, Tennessee, native took a second to reflect on her success thus far. “All I ever wanted to do was write a record and stand on stage and sing to you guys,” she exhaled. The song, which carries the album title, played on cue. ‘First Time’ can be a teaching ballad for many, not just for the singer herself. “I was learning the lesson when life shuts the door, you just gotta lock that monster.” More news was on tap for Boston, but not before she sang one of her country favorites, Rascal Flatts’ ‘What Hurts the Most.’ It was the perfect segue into announcing her “fun fact” for the evening. “I announced today I’m going on tour with Rascal Flatts,” Kelsea gleamed. “The cooler part about that is that we’re coming to Boston!” The crew heads to the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA, on August 12th this summer.
“Now that I know you can sing, my next question is can you dance?” In what may have been the night’s biggest dance party, Ballerini compiled every 90’s kid’s dream into one big mashup. Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, NSync and Beyonce were just a few of the songs in the mix. The night wouldn’t have been complete without more songs from ‘The First Time,’ so ‘Square Peg,’ ‘Underage,’ and ‘Xo’ were the ideal sing-alongs. Hailey Steele’s moment wasn’t done on stage, as Ballerini exclaimed, “I am so proud to be a female in country music right now.” The two beautiful blondes serenaded the crowd with Massachusetts-native Lori McKenna’s song, ‘Girl Crush.’ Fans understood their time was winding down with the entertaining singer, but knew one song had yet to be played. You guessed it- ‘Love Me Like You Mean It’ rounded out the Friday night show, as every person in the audience helped her sing her certified-Gold song.
This concert was highly anticipated for months, and as usual, Kelsea Ballerini delivered. Always a good time when “country’s next queen” comes to town, Ballerini left nothing behind.
This was written by Lauren Rose, contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter here.
To see more photos from this concert, click here.