Watch Lady Antebellum Rehearse for Upcoming Tour
With just days to go before their You Look Good Tour takes off for 65 shows in six countries, Lady Antebellum are gearing up for the trek and also for the upcoming release of Heart Break, the Grammy-winning trio’s sixth studio LP, out June 9th. Taking newcomers Brett Young and Kelsea Ballerini on the road with them, the group’s Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley still remember what it was like opening shows for Martina McBride, an experience Scott likened to going to college. And when it comes to partying, the group has continued to cultivate that atmosphere onstage and backstage as well. Watch a teaser above.
“We want you guys to get out there and get the crowd fired up. So we try not to have too many restrictions when it comes to that,” Charles Kelley told Young and Ballerini during the tour mates’ behind-the-scenes conversation with Ashley Eicher for our Ram Report cameras. “It should be a party. And we have a lot of fun backstage. We aren’t one of those bands that sits on our bus all day. We pull out the ping-pong table, invite everybody in to have drink. I know we are working on some really cool moments to have these two come out on stage with us. So you are going to have to make sure when you get done, Brett, that you don’t have too many drinks so that you can last. I know Kelsea is responsible, but I don’t know about you.”
With several collaborative ideas brewing, the group plans to take advantage of the addition of a horn section onstage and hinted that they might bust out a cover of Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love.” They’re also floating the idea of a “dude” section, with Kelley, Haywood and Young possibly teaming up to collaborate. All of the performers recently came together for a stripped-down rendition of the classic Shania Twain ballad, “You’re Still the One.”
With the tour hitting major venues throughout the world, Haywood admits that finding ways to connect with concertgoers in the “nosebleed” section can be a struggle. “In the back of an amphitheater, the people in the back of the lawn should be having just as much fun,” he says. “So how do you find a way? Sometimes you can go out there physically, but how to you create those moments to keep those people involved, too? [It’s] always still a challenge.”
For Scott, the upcoming trek will be a little bit more down to earth, literally. “My heels are actually getting lower this tour…,” she says. “I’ve been wearing a lot of Nikes with dresses and I’m not going to do that onstage but they are definitely coming down in inches because I just can’t keep up with these two long-legged ones when I’m trying to run out to the B Stage and still keep my breath to be able to sing whatever the song is.”
Heart Break will be released June 9th. The You Look Good Tour launches May 26th at
Additional reporting by Ashley Eicher.