Brandi Carlile at Bridgestone Arena, 8/29/2026
From her place in the spotlight at Bridgestone Arena Saturday night, Brandi Carlile told the nearly sold-out room she was anxious. And I don’t think she was joking. Despite her stature as an Americana powerhouse who’s played Nashville often, this headline date on the Pacific Northwest songsmith’s Human Tour — a headliner at our friendly neighborhood Enormodome — was her biggest show yet in Music City. But she didn’t let the feeling of unease linger long.
“I don’t know why I was nervous, because we are Bramily,” said Carlile, invoking the nickname for her fans. She was sporting red socks, a well-tailored black suit that gave her plenty of room to move during her kinetic rock ’n’ roll show, and a big smile.
Gregory Alan Isakov at Bridgestone Arena, 8/29/2026
Before her own set, Carlile made her way out to join opener Gregory Alan Isakov. The singer-songwriter — a Colorado resident by way of Philadelphia, who was born in Johannesburg — hasn’t released a full-length since 2023’s Appaloosa Bones, having taken on a big project in running the Boulder-area Starling Farm. But Isakov has released some singles. His recent collaboration with Sylvan Esso on a cover of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” matches the tone he set at the ’Stone: broody, moody and somber, a fitting contrast to Carlile and company’s live-wire vibe. Isakov and Carlile go back decades, to when both artists performed at significantly smaller venues in Nashville like 3rd and Lindsley.
“It’s majestic to get to sing in here,” said Carlile, onstage with Isakov. “We used to say we would never play arenas. Secretly, I was hoping we would play one. When we made the decision this year, it felt really good.”
After Isakov wrapped up, the lights dimmed and Carlile came roaring back, bellowing out “Returning to Myself,” the titular song from her latest LP, which was released in October. She followed that with “Only Human,” another Returning to Myself song, but her set of more than 20 tunes criss-crossed her releases over the past decade.
Brandi Carlile at Bridgestone Arena, 8/29/2026
“It’s a fucking cool honor to stand on this stage,” Carlile said during a pause. “I’m so lucky. I never went to Nashville when I was a kid, but I wanted to go to Nashville like some kids want to go to Disneyland. I never got to Disneyland either.”
Since she and her bandmates got established as a dynamite touring act and broke out of rural Washington State, they’ve become frequent visitors to Middle Tennessee. (The group onstage Saturday included a pair of Carlile’s longtime collaborators, twin brothers Phil and Tim Hanseroth, as well as Nashville-area string aces SistaStrings.) Before COVID lockdown in 2020, Carlile headlined a sold-out six-night residency at the Ryman. She’s also headlined Ascend Amphitheater and has wowed the Bonnaroo crowd on multiple occasions.
At the beginning of what she declared the longest show of the tour, Carlile allowed the audience to have a say in the set list. While she wouldn’t take requests for covers like The Avett Brothers’ “Murder in the City,” she played deep cuts from her catalog like “Pride and Joy” and “If She Ever Leaves Me.” The latter is a song on which Carlile takes the lead from the phenomenal 2019 supergroup album The Highwomen.
Sadly, none of her fellow Highwomen (Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires) was able to join in Saturday’s show. Carlile’s children Evangeline and Elijah did make an appearance, though, bouncing on the stage and dancing to “Hold Out Your Hand.” Carlile told the crowd: “They said, ‘Mom, we can’t miss the Nashville show!’” (It turned out to be a Nashville family weekend for Carlile: Later that night, she and wife Catherine surprised fans by joining them for karaoke at The Lipstick Lounge.)
Brandi Carlile at Bridgestone Arena, 8/29/2026
Country music and humanitarian icon Dolly Parton’s death at age 80 earlier in the week profoundly affected many, many people. That includes Carlile, who got to sing with Parton once. She couldn’t leave the Nashville crowd without paying her respects the best way she knows how.
“Listen, Nashville. I thought about what to do,” said Carlile, returning to the stage after a quick break to don a pink Western shirt. “I’ve done a lot of crying. I just thought, ‘You guys just wanna hear Dolly songs. I want to sing ’em.’”
Her tribute included “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.” Carlile’s performance with Parton was on “I Will Always Love You,” and a photo of the two of them singing appeared on the screen behind Carlile. She absolutely crushed her own rendition, which she introduced by saying: “She was a magical creature who touched the whole world. To have the whole world sing this right now is what Dolly deserves.”
The Spin: Brandi Carlile at Bridgestone Arena, 8/29/2026
With Gregory Alan Isakov
Brandi Carlile at Bridgestone Arena, 8/29/2026
