Some country fans ‘can’t stand’ this breakthrough star. He’ll pack a Boise arena anyway
Kane Brown is not your parents’ favorite country singer.
Like the tattoos that cover his body, this is by design.
He’s the kind of crossover country star who has amassed more than 5 million TikTok followers and nearly 12 billion career streams. The kind who draws young, massive crowds of fans — many who love pop and hip-hop.
After performing for nearly 9,000 Idahoans last fall at Nampa’s Ford Idaho Center, the 28-year-old plans to return in 2023 to conquer Boise again.
Bringing along openers Dustin Lynch and LoCash, Brown will headline the Idaho Center arena on Sunday, April 23. The show, which starts at 7 p.m. (doors at 5:30), will be part of his Drunk or Dreaming Tour.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at fordidahocenter.com for $40.50-$90.50, not including taxes and fees. A Ford Idaho Center Insiders presale starts at noon Thursday, Sept. 8.
Attendance at Brown’s 2021 show in the Treasure Valley was impressive — 8,950, officially. But could this one be even bigger?
One of The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2018, Brown just keeps growing in popularity.
Last year, he was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world.
And this is after Brown admitted to the Evening Standard in London that some old-school country fans abhor him. “There are people who are, you know, ‘red dirt country,’ who are still on Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash, and they can’t stand me,” he said. “My fans love all genres of music.”
This past weekend, Brown “made history,” according to a press release, “as the first male country artist to perform on the MTV Video Music Awards.”
It’s probably worth noting that his song had absolutely nothing to do with country music. More on that in a sec.
Brown “has ascended from social media notability to become one of country music’s most accomplished mainstays with eight chart-topping singles to his name,” according to the release.
His third studio album, “Different Man,” will hit stores Sept. 9. It’s already spawned two No. 1 country hits: “One Mississippi” and the ’90s name-dropping “Like I Love Country Music.”
A video for “Grand,” the third single from Brown’s soon-to-be-released album, hit the internet recently. He performed the song at the VMAs. It has all the makings of a smash. Just not on the country charts. If “Grand” is any indication of Brown’s future, mainstream pop might lure him farther away from Nashville.
It also could bring him even more fans. OK, maybe not your mom and dad.
