“Kelsea Ballerini is all of us,” fans commented on TikTok this weekend, when the country singer stopped her show to ask if anyone was keeping tabs on Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour on Saturday night (March 17) — while Ballerini was in the middle of her own performance.
“Can I just level with you for a minute?” Ballerini asked an Atlantic City, New Jersey, crowd. “Is anyone stalking The Eras Tour? Has it started?”
“I’m gonna stalk it after this,” she promised, “but I have one question. Is ‘Cruel Summer’ on the setlist?”
Fans of both artists — who must’ve had one eye on Ballerini’s stage and one eye on their phones, watching for live updates from Swift’s tour kickoff — delivered the good news: “Cruel Summer” is finally getting its time to shine on The Eras Tour. The Lover favorite had never before been publicly performed live by Swift, who last toured before the album was released. Swift debuted the song live at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“Wow,” Ballerini said in celebration. “That’s my Super Bowl, I gotta be honest.”
Billboard‘s review of the show notes that “Cruel Summer” got “the full, stadium-show treatment, complete with a raised platform, backup dancers and Swift unveiling a diamond-encrusted one-piece with matching tall boots. For both the fans in attendance and Swift herself, the song seemed to represent an exhalation — this tour was finally happening, and this immaculate song, three-and-a-half years old at this point, was finally being performed.”
Watch Ballerini’s “Cruel Summer” check-in via TikTok.