Tag Archives: Kane Brown

Super Bowl LIII Was The Perfect One for a Country Halftime Show…

We’re just days away from Super Bowl LIII. Our New England Patriots will be facing the Los Angeles Rams at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on this coming Sunday evening. While I’ll be watching for the game, many others tune in for the commercials and many others tune in for the halftime concert. And this year will be no different. But the NFL had the chance to do something they hadn’t done before for a Super Bowl halftime show- country music.

There are very few NFL stadiums in the heart of American where country music lies supreme. Obviously, Nashville is number one. But behind Music City, Atlanta probably is next in line to be home to an NFL franchise AND have thick roots in country music. And Nashville will probably never host a Super Bowl. No offense to Maroon 5, Big Boi or Travis Scott, but c’mon NFL, pay homage to country music for once. Atlanta was the perfect Super Bowl host to do it- unless you decide to play with Mother Nature again and grant Nashville a Super Bowl- which is unlikely.

And who could the NFL have tapped from country to put on one helluva Super Bowl… Well, we’ve been lobbying for Kenny Chesney to play the Pepsi Halftime Show for years. He is one of the few artists of any genre who can headline and sell out NFL stadiums across the country every summer. And let’s face it, he may already have plans to be in the building as he has strong ties with Robert Kraft and the Patriots organization. He was seen in Mr. Kraft’s suite in past Super Bowls.

But there’s also a plethora of Georgia born and bred country artists that would put on a great show. Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt are two icons that come to mind. And we know the argument will be that traditional country would struggle on national television because a lot of people don’t like country. But guess, what!? A LOT OF PEOPLE DO LIKE COUNTRY.

And if that is the argument, we can all be real here. Country music as played on country radio today definitely straddles the genre lines with influences and sounds of pop, rock and hip hop. So why not take modern country artists who flirt with other genres!? Again, the list artists from Georgia who are ruling in the modern country world but can appease the masses is pretty long. Artists like Cole Swindell, Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett, Brantley Gilbert, Kane Brown, Kip Moore, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan, to name a few. Hell, throw Florida GEORGIA Line out there with Bebe Rexha to perform their 2018 smash hit, ‘Meant To Be.’ Give us SOME country music.

The last time that the NFL had a halftime show that exclusively featured country artists, it was 1994. Yes, 25 years ago. Seems like long enough. That show featured Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Clink Black and The Judds. And only fittingly, that Super Bowl was also in Atlanta! So 25 years later, we’re back in Atlanta for a Super Bowl…

Nearly every year, the NFL has pop stars playing the halftime show. Let’s change it up. If there was any Super Bowl to feature some of country’s biggest stars, it was this weekend. Here we are 25 years later, we’re back in Atlanta for a Super Bowl. What better year could it have been to have had a country halftime show.

The truth is… the NFL dropped the ball here. Pun intended.

Kane Brown, Cam, LANCO and WKLB Take Over Lansdowne

It was a warm June day as the sun beamed over Fenway Park and the surrounding area. A line of 8,000 strong had nearly completely wrapped around Fenway Park as it was time for what has become the annual party on Lansdowne Street known as the Country 102.5 Street Party. It’s one of the few days that the popular street is more crowded than on a Red Sox-Yankees game. And this past Sunday, June 3rd was no different as country fans came to see Kane Brown, Cam, LANCO, Brown & Gray, Stephanie Quayle and New England favorite Timmy Brown.

Timmy Brown kicked off the day with fan favorite ‘Lil Bit’ and of course a performance of ‘Sweet Caroline’ with the stage peering right at the fabled Green Monster. Following Timmy’s set was a couple rising acts including Stephanie Quayle who delivered an energetic set that included her single ‘Selfish’ and Brown & Gray who have been all over the airwaves with ‘Top Down.’

The energy continued when LANCO took the stage. The guys were fresh off an airplane from St. Louis where they had just played a show on Dierks Bentley’s 2018 tour the night prior. Their set consisted of ‘Troublemaker,’ ‘Long Live Tonight,’ ‘Pick You Up,’ and their current single ‘Born To Love You,’ which had fans singing along. They continued with ‘Singing At The Stars’ before playing the song their most known for, ‘Greatest Love Story,’ which included a crowd singalong. It was a quick day for LANCO in Boston but one that they took full advantage of as the crowd was buzzing after they left the stage.

Next up was the sensational Cam- one of our favorite artists because of there powerful vocals and badass attitude. The California artist started her time off with ‘Road To Happiness’ and ‘Mayday’ before telling the crowd a story about a guy who she had an ‘adult relationship’ with and the next day, he didn’t talk to her or show her any respect. She later explained on social media, “Once upon a time a boy treated a girl with zero respect. So she learned from her Half Broke Heart and started talking with other women about how to handle situations like this. And she lived happily ever after.” With that story, she performed ‘Half Broke Heart.’ Her day continued with ‘Hungover on Heartache,’ ‘Palace,’ ‘Cold in California,’ ‘Sweet Dreams,’ and ‘Village’ before playing the song we were most excited to hear live- ‘Diane.’ Cam’s powerful vocals echoed beautifully down Lansdowne Street and fans were singing and dancing along to the raucous performance of this jam. Ending her day, Cam performed ‘Burning House’ before waving to the crowd and retreating backstage.

Ending the day was the ever so popular Kane Brown. Throughout the day, Kane would make his way to and from backstage to the radio room at House of Blues which would cause the crowd to start screaming when he walked by. It was apparent that the majority of the crowd was there to see Kane as the bass’ were cranked up and the crowd screamed even louder when he took the stage saying, “BOSTON! How we doing!?” He started off with ‘Found You’ and ‘Hometown’ which were massively popular with the crowd as it seemed they were singing every word back to him. And it only continued with ‘Used To Love You Sober’ and ‘What’s Mine Is Yours.’

The day continued with upcoming single ‘Lose It,’ ‘Better Place’ and ‘Cold Spot’ before Kane and his guitarist Alex gave the crowd an acoustic set that included a cover of Billy Currington’s ‘If I Fall.’ Brown would continue with a mash up that included covers of ‘Billionaire,’ ‘Ms. Jackson,’ ‘Over My Head’ and his own ‘Location.’ His day in Boston would continue with ‘There Goes My Everything,’ ‘Heaven,’ ‘Weekend,’ ‘Learning’ and ‘Closer’ before a two song encore that started with ‘Pull It Off’ and his Number One single, ‘What If’s.’

It was a great day in the Fenway as Country 102.5 always knows how to throw a great party. And if you missed this Street Party, don’t fret- they announced on stage that their fall edition would return on September 23rd. Lineup and details will be announced in the future- and we’ll share all the details when we have ’em!