Kane Brown Concert Review

Story posted November 14, 2021 in

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - On Saturday night, Kane Brown graced audience members at the Bryce Jordan Center (BJC) with a spectacular performance on his Blessed And Free Tour. Brown’s performance was a warm welcome back to the BJC for Penn State concert-goers, and Brown music fans alike.

Fans of all ages were present at Brown’s concert ranging from children, Penn State students and older individuals.

From the first step into the arena up to his final performance, the energy among the audience members did not falter in the slightest.

In preparation for the pre-show, the anticipation was built in the atmosphere by the DJ, who seamlessly played all the right songs and remixes to get the audience’s energy up for the evening.

Later, it was revealed that the DJ is Brown’s newfound brother, confirming that musical taste and talent surely run strong within the Brown family.

The pre-show kicked off with a lively performance from the country band Restless Roads.
This up-and-coming band recently released their first EP in February of last year.
They formed in season 3 of the X-Factor in 2013, where they met Kane Brown, who was also auditioning at the time.

After seeing a cover of his song “Good As You” by Restless Road band member, Colton Pack, Brown got in contact with the band and offered them a record deal under his label imprint.

The Nashville natives performed some of their most popular hits including “Bar Friends” and “Hometown”, along with their collaborative cover with Brown, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (Johnny Denver).

As new and upcoming artists, the band proved that the only way is up for their careers as they impressed the audience, priming them well for the performances that were to follow.

They captured their final moments on stage in the BJC with a TikTok, having the entire audience illuminate the stadium with their flashlights.

The second pre-show act, Jordan Davis, was greeted by cheering from the audience, who seemingly anticipated his appearance.

Davis’ set continued amping up the energy in the arena, with a performance of one of his most popular hits “Detours”, along with his remixed-cover of Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” remixed with Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”, which had the audience joining in to sing the chorus composed of Lipa’s lyrics.

For his final number, Davis revealed to the audience the three things he values most in life–faith, family, and friends–in his song “Buy Dirt”.

Finally, as the main event of the night got closer to coming out on stage, the audience grew to peak excitement as the screen flickered visuals of the country singer on the stage jumbotron.

After several moments, Brown was flown on stage in front of the visuals wearing a No. 1 PSU football jersey to join in the celebration of the victory of the Nittany Lions in Maryland just an hour or two before.

His baseball cap which read “family” was very fitting for the theme of the concert, as he shared both heart-wrenching and heart-warming stories between his childhood and current life.

“Learning” was the first song to follow the first couple of stories which were about the neglect Brown experienced growing up with an abusive stepfather, getting bullied over the color of his skin, coming up with humble beginnings and losing many of his friends to drugs and gun violence.

Despite the pain of the past, Brown has found many things to celebrate in the last couple of years. He spoke about the letter he received from his father that revealed his siblings he never knew about, one of them being the phenomenal DJ who started off the night.

Heartwarming images flashed on the screen behind him, displaying himself with his wife and 2-year-old daughter, as he performed “For My Daughter”. Despite growing up without his biological father – who has been locked up since Brown’s childhood – he pledges to be the caring and loving father he never had.

This touching number was met by an uproar of applause around the entire stadium, with tender feelings for all in attendance.

There was a moment in the concert where Brown performed a couple of covers, which transformed the concert into a party scene with multi-colored strobe lights racing over audience members.

The audience became an animated chorus with his covers of “Beautiful Girls” (Sean Kingston), “Hot Girl Bummer” (Blackbear) and “Crank That” (Soulja Boy).

A remarkable thing Brown did consistently throughout the entire concert was express gratitude.

He thanked his grandmother for recognizing his pain as a child and getting him out of his abusive situation.

Just before the blackout between different sets, he said ”thank you”, and before performing his final number, which was the first No.1 chart-topping hit, “What If’s”, he explicitly thanked his fans for listening to his music and supporting him through his journey.

Brown also took a moment to show appreciation for veterans in the stadium that night, acknowledging that it is their fight for the USA that allows him to have the freedom to continue living his dream.

“Heaven”–talk about building up anticipation in a set. With each pause between lines at the beginning of that set, every single audience member was on the edge of their seats eager for the country singer to continue.

Finally, when he did, he was accompanied by the voices of fans, which was the loudest the audience got that night, as it is another one of his hits that topped the Billboard Global 200 charts.

With each blackout the audience grew excited about his return to the stage, cheering for the show to continue, in fear that the concert was over each time he disappeared.

Despite the stereotypical assumptions being that Brown is predominantly a country artist, music-lovers across all genres could find many things to enjoy on Saturday night. 

The atmosphere, the music, the message on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, the BJC, was the place to be, to witness Kane Brown on his tour, Blessed and Free.

Blessed And Free Setlist
“Riot” (unreleased)
“Short Skirt Weather”
“Be Like That”
“Learning”
“For My Daughter”
“Cool Again”
“Hometown Proud”
“Lose It”
“Blessed And Free Interlude”
“Ol’ Red (Black Shelton)”
“Beautiful Girl (Sean Kingston”
“Stand By Me (Ben E. King)”
“Crank That (Soulja Boy)”
“Hot Girl Bummer (Blackbear)”
“Memory (ft. Blackbear)”
“Famous Friends”
“One Thing Right”
“Heaven"
“What-Ifs (ft. Lauren Alaina)”

Abigail Chachoute is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email axc6070@psu.edu