Kane Brown brought his Blessed & Free Tour to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Thursday (Jan. 13). The show also featured performances from special guests Chase Rice and Restless Road.
Over the course of his 75-minute headlining set, Brown took fans on a journey through the highs and lows of his life while performing some of his biggest hits. His connection with fans is unmatched and truly makes for an unforgettable concert experience.
Kicking the sold-out show into high gear right off the bat, the superstar made his grand entrance dropping in from high above the stage, singing his unreleased new song, “Riot.” Fans roared with applause as Brown began to make his way around the massive stage, which ran nearly half the length of the arena floor.
Exuding confidence, the 2021 CMT Artist Of The Year honoree had fans in the palm of his hand throughout his 20-song set, which included performances of songs such as “What Ifs,” “Heaven,” “Cool Again,” “Lose It,” and his latest single “One Mississippi.” (see his full set list below). Fans didn’t sing along to just the radio hits though. At times, it was difficult to differentiate the radio singles from the deep cuts as his dedicated followers appeared to know every word to every song he performed.
In the midst of Brown’s electrifying set, the country hitmaker took a moment for what he called “story time” and a four-song acoustic performance. The intimate moment allowed fans to see a different side of Brown as he spoke about his family and his sometimes difficult childhood.
“This song is called ‘Learning’ and for some of the newcomers or some of the people that just heard my songs on the radio and have no idea about this song, this is like the most important of any song I’ve ever released because it shows you how I grew up,” Brown said.
He went on to share some of the hardships he faced as a child, being the first biracial person on his side of the family.
“None of my family accepted me,” he bravely revealed, adding, “Other than my Mother, she was 18-years-old, and she was straight out of high school.”
He shared stories about living in a car, attending school wearing clothes that were too small, and how his Nana eventually came to accept him. Hoping to inspire others who may face similar situations, Brown delivered a message of encouragement.
“I just wanted to let every kid here know, or everybody that’s going through problems with their clothes, it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, you can do whatever you want,” he assured fans. “Look at me, I’m up here. Y’all are here, thank you guys from the bottom of my heart.”
After performing “Learning,” Brown made it clear that the most important things to him were his fans and his family. He even paid tribute to his wife, Katelyn, with a performance of “Worship You” and their two daughters, Kingsley Rose and Kodi Jane, with a special performance of “For My Daughter.” During the performance of the heartfelt tune, adorable video clips of his family were displayed on the giant screens behind him.
Fans were excited when Chase Rice and Restless Road returned to the stage to collaborate with Brown on “Famous Friends,” a duet that originally features Brown and Chris Young. The Philadelphia 76ers mascot, Franklin The Dog, also joined in on the fun as he danced and used a cannon to shoot t-shirts into the crowd. The fun-filled performance made for a memorable moment in the show.
After a brief dance party, the energy-filled crowd erupted into arena-wide singalongs of “One Thing Right” and his fan-favorite hit, “Heaven,” before Brown launched an encore of “What Ifs.”
Boasting top-notch production with stunning visuals like lasers, vibrant lighting, and a giant video wall, Brown’s Blessed And Free Tour is a must-see. The full-throttle show was a perfect example of just how far Kane Brown has come as both a vocalist and entertainer, and it’s clear the time has come for Brown to receive the coveted Entertainer of the Year nomination that he most certainly deserves.
Chase Rice served as direct support on the bill. The 36-year-old North Carolina native kicked off his performance with “American Nights,” a track from, The Album Part 1.
He went on to perform songs such as “Break. Up. Drunk.,” “Do It Like This,” “Ready Set Roll,” “Everywhere,” before giving an acoustic performance of an unreleased track called “Key West & Colorado,” which is expected to appear on an upcoming album.
“Last year… I just lived life like it’s meant to be lived outside of music,” Rice said before performing the unreleased tune. “You’re not trying to entertain, you’re just trying to live your life and find stories and stuff to write about and that happened to all of us last year and this song came out of that, so I’m very grateful for it. This is going to be on my next record.”
Rice then revealed that after this run of shows with Brown, he will be going into the studio to “record an entire record.” He went on to share that the project is the “first record fully, that I’m going to put out since five years ago. So, this song’s kind of speaking to the heart of the record.”
The singer/songwriter ended his performance with back-to-back chart-topping hits, including his first-ever No. 1 as an artist, “Eyes On You,” and his latest hit, “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.,” both of which prompted roaring singalongs.
“What’s up Philadelphia, I know it’s a Thursday but are you ready to party?” Restless Road said as they entered the stage at 7 p.m.
The fast rising country trio, comprised of Zach Beeken, Colton Pack and Garrett Nichols, opened the show with performances of “Hometown Tonight” and “Took One Look At Her Momma.”
After performing “Take Me Home,” a collaboration that originally features Brown, Restless Road got fans out of their seat with a medley of cover songs that included Jason Aldean’s “Big Green Tractor,” Josh Turner’s “Your Man,” Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been A Cowboy,” George Strait’s “Check Yes Or No” and Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
Throughout their 25-minute set, the group showcased their star power with a confident performance.
In addition to performing several of their fan-favorite hits, Beeken, Pack and Nichols, gave fans a taste of their new music with performances of their unreleased rowdy drinking anthem, “No Can Do,” and “Growing Old With You,” a sentimental love song destined to be a hit, which will be released on January 21.
Beeken, Pack and Nichols ended their set with an energy-filled performance of “Bar Friends.”
Kane Brown’s Blessed And Free Tour Set List
1. Riot (unreleased song)
2. Pull It Off
3. Be Like That
4. Short Skirt Weather
5. Cool Again
6. Hometown
7. Lose It
8. Learning
9. Worship You
10. For My Daughter
11. Good As You
12. One Mississippi
13. Mashup (Sean Kingston, Ben E. King, Soulja Boy, Blackbear)
14. Memory
15. Famous Friends (w/ Restless Road, Chase Rice & 76ers Mascot Franklin The Dog)
16. Rodeo
17. Homesick
18. One Thing Right
19. Heaven
20. What Ifs
Kane Brown
Chase Rice
Restless Road
