ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A decade ago, when Florida Georgia Line was riding the wave of its "bro-country" sound, it sounded inauthentic to both real country and real hip-hop fans, despite its popularity.
These days, Kane Brown is showing country fans what real hip-hop sensibility sounds like — and spreading country to hip-hop fans.
And Brown's concert headlining Allentown Fair's grandstand Friday showed not only that it's real enough to connect with fans of both genres, but really good, too.
Not that any confirmation was needed — given that in just the past 10 years, Brown has had a staggering 38 gold and platinum hits, 13 of which hit No. 1.
Which will lead to the main criticism of a really good show — more about that later.
Brown fit the part Friday — dressed in a white hat, camo pants and a sleeveless T-shirt that showed his heavily tattooed arms.
In a pretty big production, Brown rose out of the stage to open with "I Am," a song from his latest album, this year's "The High Road," which accounted for six of the show's 18 songs.
Backed by a six-man band, with a stage full of smoke, flames and a half-dozen pyro blasts, even when the songs were pretty much pure country — such as "I Can Feel It," a gold hit from his current album, they had a hip-hop sensibility to them.
And the third song, "Fiddle in the Band," also from the new album, had more authentic country and rock elements than Florida Georgia Line ever had.
Large crowd, lots of reaction
The audience — by far the fair's largest of the year, perhaps approaching 9,000 — already was dancing along by the second song, and ecstatic by the fourth, the 2022 platinum "Like I Love Country Music," on which Brown even added a twang to his voice.
The crowd reaction rose even more when Brown offered one of his biggest hits, the 2017 10-times-platinum hit "What Ifs," with the crowd cheering its opening notes and singing along to its fast-rapped lyrics.
Brown thanked the crowd for making that song his first No. 1 hit, then further engaged them by talking about the looming football season — "What are ya'll? Penn State?" he asked, to cheers — before the 2018 triple-platinum hit "Lose It."
Brown also showed his ability to slow things down — still with a hip-hop delivery — on the more emotional (and quadruple platinum) "Be Like That."
He sang the similarly slow, triple-platinum "Homesick" sitting atop the high ramp he came in on, and in classic country style — and well. The audience also sang loudly along.
And he tread familiar country ground when he closed the song saying, 'Hey, God bless the USA and everybody that fought for it, baby."
His guitarist joined him atop the ramp for a rocking-but-still-rapping "Haunted."
The best of the night
The concert's mid-section was its best.
Brown started his biggest song, 2017's 11-times-platinum hit "Heaven," asking, "See if you know this one," and the crowd immediately sang loudly, showing they did. And he paid them back by performing it well.
His latest No. 1 hit, "Backseat Driver," seemed deeply felt, as he introduced it with a story about his youngest child (and first son.)
He brought out opening act Kameron Marlow to sing "Famous Friends," his triple-platinum hit with Chris Young; played his new single, "2 Pair," which is even more chanty hip-hop (it ended with a shot of sparks); and asked the crowd if it was ready to dance on his 2019 quadruple-platinum hit "Good As You."
But a clear highlight came with his quadruple-platinum hit "Thank God."
He told the audience that his wife, Katelyn, with whom he duets on the song, "couldn't make it tonight," and asked them to sing with him instead.
But moments into the song, Katelyn Brown strode out on stage to sing it, and it was the best performance of the night.
The couple got engaged at a 2017 Philadelphia show, and Katelyn Brown asked the Allentown crowd, "Can I claim you as my home?" before kissing her husband.
Short show misses many hits
As if to bring all the elements of his performance together, Brown wound down his set with the more country-rock 2023 platinum hit "Bury Me in Georgia," then the more hip-hop, five-times-platinum hit "One Thing Right."
And the crowd sang along on both.
Brown closed the show with "Miles On It," last year's double-platinum hit with DJ Marshmello — very country, but fun, with Brown taking off hit T-shirt to reveal a white beater shirt, which he also took off as the crowd danced and confetti rained on the dancing crowd.
All of it as authentic and genuine as it can get.
There was no encore, and with such a show, the main criticism was its brevity. At just an hour and 10 minutes, it was shockingly short.
And while 38 gold and platinum hits are too many to play in one show, Brown skipped some significant hits: His 2015 double-platinum breakthrough "Used to Love You Sober," the double-platinum "Thunder in the Rain" and, especially, the quadruple-platinum "Saturday Nights."
Opening act could headline
Opening act Marlow's set helped make up for that.
He played a strong 12-song, 45-minute set that opened with the nice country rocker "Tennessee Don't Mind," displaying a strong voice that was better than most country singers today.
Much of Marlow's set was rocking country, from his 2021 first single "Sober as a Drunk," through 2020 Top 40 hit "Burn 'Em All," an appropriately burning country rocker, to his cover of Big & Rich's 2004 hit "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)," on which he cut loose and the crowd gleefully sang along.
His recent single "Seventeen," an upbeat rocker, and the brand new, unreleased thumper "Fire on a Hillside" both were OK.
Better was his 2021 platinum hit "Giving You Up," which he said changed his life, but ironically was more mainstream country.
Marlow did better by covering Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (the Angry American)," which of course is a great song, but was better than most artists' tributes to Keith, which have been prolific this summer.
"God bless America, God bless our troops out there tonight and God bless Toby Keith one time," Marlow said.
He closed his set with his 2020 Top 40 hit "Girl on Fire," and last year's chart hit "Strangers."
Marlow also was very authentic, and different enough that he already is headlining shows.
Allentown Fair continues through Monday, Sept. 1. Headlining the grandstand tonight will be rockers Ace Frehley, Great White and Quiet Riot.
Tickets remain available at the fair website and likely will be available at the box office tonight.
