Kane Brown Brings Granger Smith And Danielle Bradbery To The Corbin Arena

I saw a picture posted from the Corbin Arena staff at around noon on the day of the show and there were already fans waiting at the doors to get in. That’s usually a great indicator of how the night is going to go. When tickets went on sale a few months ago the show sold out in just a few hours and even with a lengthy traffic delay (almost an hour, not the Arena’s fault, but due to a traffic accident) every seat in the house was full! Not just full but full of enthusiastic and loud fans!

As I mentioned there was a lengthy traffic delay and I, of course, got caught in it, unfortunately, I missed Danielle Bradbery’s set. I was told that she put on a great set, just wished I’d been there to capture some images.

Granger Smith was next up after a longer than normal break between sets to allow all the folks stuck in traffic to get in the building. When he did make it to the stage he hit it full throttle! With some very cool covers “Free Fallin” and “Ain’t Goin’ Down (Till The Sun Comes Up) mixed in with his original songs “Backroad Song” and “They Were There”. “ They Were There” is also the title track from a soundtrack album ‘They Were There, A Hero’s Documentary’ which is also the title of a documentary that Granger put together and can be seen on his YouTube channel below. The documentary honors the lives of five fallen soldiers. Give it a watch. He, well I should say his alter ego Earl Dibbles Jr., closed out his set with “Country Boy Song”, and the Corbin crowd ate it up!

Oh but what this crowd was really after was about to take the stage! Kane Brown released his first EP ‘Closer’ in 2015 and it seems his music has connected with country music fans in a very big way! I realized just how much that connection was when I stepped into the standing room only pit around the stage that doubled as a photo pit for this show. I’d forgotten my ear protection in my truck and I wasn’t about to walk out to the back 40 to retrieve them, (I know, you’re thinking what’s this got to do with Kane Browns fans, I’m circling back to it) so I figured the decibel level wouldn’t be as high as most of the shows I photograph and I was right, what I didn’t count on was the female fans that I was surrounded by in that pit. The squealing and screaming for Kane Brown when he took the stage was something I had never heard before. Was this what it was like for The Beatles?

I don’t know what the ratio of male to female fans in attendance was but I’m guessing it was high on the female side, and as I said earlier he’s connecting with his fans in a big way! “What ifs” was his first #1 hit and he thanked the crowd for making that happen just before he sang his hit song. He was also the first artist to have simultaneous number one songs on all five of Billboards main country charts. The future looks nothing but bright for Kane Brown! If you’re into modern country, you best catch him now in these smaller venues, because larger arena stadium shows are just around the corner.