In the rush to enter St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center, girls clad in cow-print, glittering chaps and hot pink LED cowboy hats shuffled along the crosswalks, coatless in four degree weather — all to see Kacey Musgraves, the Grammy award-winning, East-Texas indie-country-popstar, sing about her divorce.

Alongside the fringed and sequined twenty-somethings were small-town folk, young teens and their parents who drove hours to be here, sporting flannel and unironic mullets. Despite the evident differences between members of her fanbase, all welcomed Musgraves’ unfettered outpouring of emotion fully in the opening night of her first arena tour. Steadfast in their dedication, they were all here for Kacey.

Musgraves began her star-crossed: unveiled tour at Xcel Energy Center with MUNA, the electro-pop trio responsible for the bubblegum gay love song “Silk Chiffon feat. Phoebe Bridgers,” and genderqueer indie pop-rock icon King Princess (Mikaela Straus) as the openers.

MUNA kicked things off with an electric alto as the trio bounced around the stage, belting impeccable harmonies with little effort. They debuted an unreleased song with a country twang, and owned the stage with works from previous albums like “I Know a Place.”

Finishing off with “Silk Chiffon,” lead vocalist Katie Gavin said, “This is a gay love song, hope you enjoy it,” to the utter delight of the audience. King Princess followed, bringing a similar but more aggressively sex-positive energy, moaning and gyrating to jams such as “Pussy is God” and “Talia.”

As roadies slowly revealed an elaborately lit, heart-shaped main stage, the air buzzed with excitement. A bass-y cover of Prince’s “When Doves Cry” ramped up the energy leading up to the main event. Musgraves emerged from behind an elegant, elaborately embroidered velvet curtain, revealing a metal heart sculpture roaring with fire. The Spanish guitar of “star-crossed,” the album’s title track, sent the audience into a joyful uproar as Musgraves began.

Musgraves’ warm soul, her holding-nothing-back vulnerability and cuss-word-sprinkled conversation created a sense of coziness among the odd 9,000 gathered together, making the trek worthwhile.

Musgraves’ calm, sleek exterior matched the poise of her performance, with a slicked back high-pony and a bespoke lightly bedazzled black suit. The theme of the night was hearts, fully aflame and broken ones, as Musgraves sang ballads of love lost and happy memories from “star-crossed,” her fifth album released late last year.

Musgraves seamlessly transitioned between tracks from her 2018 album, “Golden Hour,” invigorating long-time fans and newbies alike with her acoustic rendition of the title track as the audience’s light-up wristbands sent a golden glow across the crowd. “Butterflies,” “Lonely Weekend,” and others from this album followed, each with their own color coordination.

Though nervous at times, Musgraves had an air of bliss, even as she poured out her pain for all to see with “Space Cowboy.” Facing slightly away from the audience, she sang, “You can have your space, cowboy/ I ain’t gonna fence you in … ‘Cause I know my place, and it ain’t with you/Sunsets fade, and love does too.”

She had no trouble energizing the audience with her gentle grace, captivating all without moving much beyond a sway. Her band’s verve was enough to transform even the slower songs into intoxicating melodies. Doting fans didn’t hesitate to let out screams of “I love you,” and it felt like Kacey loved us too, providing a space to feel the pain of these past few years.

“We have some small town people here, right? Like, really fuckin’ small,” Musgraves said before moving into “Merry Go ‘Round,” sending the tweens begging her to “play the oldies” into an uproar. Musgraves barely had to sing here — nearly every audience member did it for her with shocking accuracy and equal passion.

Musgraves also performed a soft country cover of TLC’s “No Scrubs,” selected by an audience member from a scroll of options for “Kacey-oke,” and finished with a stunning acoustic rendition of Mercedes Sosa’s “Gracias a La Vida,” following the bursts of rainbow confetti throughout the electric “there is a light.” The encore featured “Slow Burn” and “Rainbow,” giving the audience a warm hug and a few more tears for the road.

“Tonight we can be sad together, we can put our feeble ’lil broken hearts back together​​,” Musgraves said after the first few tracks from her newest album, apologizing for the heartbreaking subject matter.

Musgraves didn’t need to apologize. On that frigid cold winter night, those ballads that burned with passion are what the cowboy hat clad concert goers come to the X for.