Country star Kane Brown certainly knows how to make an entrance.
His massive stage, covered with a scrim, went dark Friday night at Minneapolis’ Target Center as Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff” started booming out of the speakers. (It was the censored version, perhaps in deference to the surprising number of kids at the show.)
After some blockbuster movie-style music, pyro and belches of stage fog, the scrim fell away to reveal the 30-year-old Tennessee native perched atop a lighting rig far above the stage. He stayed there for the rousing opening number “Bury Me in Georgia,” the 11th of his (so far) 12 chart toppers on country radio.
But Brown’s definition of country is far broader than most in Nashville and he aggressively encompasses any number of styles, from arena rock to hip-hop to glossy pop.
To wit, his second song was “One Thing Right,” his 2019 collaboration with EDM giant Marshmello that hit the charts around the world. After a brisk run through 2017’s “What Ifs” — “This was my first No. 1 song,” he gleefully yelled to the crowd — the green lasers came out for “Grand.” With its heavy guitar, heavier synths and rapped delivery from Brown, it came across like a long-lost Post Malone single from 2016.
Brown loves to collaborate and Friday’s set included several of his high-profile matchups. And he’ll work with anyone and everyone, from fellow country star Chris Young on “Famous Friends” (openers Parmalee and Tyler Hubbard filled in for Young) to rapper/songwriter-to-the-stars blackbear on “Memory” (with prerecorded vocals from blackbear). The latter is one of five of his songs that crossed over to the Top 40 pop chart, which he noted from the stage with some pride.
The biggest collaborator for Brown has got to be his wife, Katelyn, with whom he’s produced a pair of daughters with a son on the way. The couple also make music together, specifically the 2022 chart-topper “Thank God.” While Katelyn has joined him onstage at some recent shows, she wasn’t in the house Friday. While the song is a fairly generic ballad, Brown has said he has already worked on more music with Katelyn. Presumably, the results will show up on his highly anticipated fourth album, which at one point he said was “about to come out” and then quickly corrected himself to say “it’s gonna come out.”
The audience roared for “I Can Feel It,” Brown’s most recent No. 1, and sang along to the samples of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” that anchor the song. But, really, the capacity crowd roared for pretty much all of the briskly paced show that clocked in at a mere 75 minutes.
Midway through, Brown took to a secondary stage to croon his way through the Hoagy Carmichael standard “Georgia on My Mind.” Brown’s a huge golf fan and it turns out the Masters asked him to cover the song to use during the tournament. He was so happy with the results, he said it’ll likely show up on his next record. While Brown’s not afraid to play with special effects and mannered delivery with his vocals, he sang “Georgia on My Mind” in a straightforward and powerful manner. The guy has some impressive pipes, which explains his pre-career attempts to land on “American Idol” and the like. (He actually made it onto “The X Factor USA,” but left after producers told him they wanted to place him in a boy band.)
Near the end of the show, Brown played “Haunted,” a widescreen power ballad about depression. He said it was supposed to be his next single, but his plans recently changed. Still, there’s no way it won’t show up on the next album and, judging by Friday’s show, Brown has big plans to get even bigger with his next move.
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