Kane Brown, in a Patrick Mahomes jersey, throws rollicking house party at Silverstein

The young country artist Kane Brown topped the bill of an extraordinarily ebullient concert in Independence on Thursday.

Featuring energetic performances by three amiable artists, the show resembled a massive house party. Musicians frequently toasted the 6,000 fans at the sold-out Silverstein Eye Centers Arena by raising drinks in plastic cups. Booming hip-hop songs between sets enhanced the celebratory atmosphere.

Brown, 25, released a pair of chart-topping albums in the past two years. Rather than pushing boundaries, his straightforward sound recalls the familiar output of predecessors like Alabama, Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn.

The artist from the Chattanooga, Tenn., area carries himself in a correspondingly composed manner. The Patrick Mahomes jersey he wore Thursday suited him. Brown is as cool-headed as the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback. Yet life hasn’t always been easy for Brown, who is biracial.

“Growing up in Georgia I dealt with a lot of racism,” recalled Brown, whose mother is white and father is part Cherokee and part black. He was raised by his mom. “I was called the n-word and was chased through the woods by four wheelers.”

The painful recollection served as his introduction to the biographical “Learning,” a song about forgiveness. Brown’s repertoire is filled with compositions extolling wholesome values.

The gentle “Good as You,” a song that praises a woman for “the way you’re taking care of your momma,” is as American as a Norman Rockwell painting.

A rendition of “American Bad Dream” was the outlier in Brown’s 85-minute set. His condemnation of societal ills including school shootings was intensified by his resonant baritone voice and the appropriately dissonant backing of his six-piece band.

Accompanied only by an electric guitar, a version of “Work,” a song he said he wrote for his wife, showcased Brown’s ample emotional range.

Lacy Cavalier joined Brown on the pop-oriented “Lost in the Middle of Nowhere.” Cavalier filled in admirably for the absent RaeLynn in an engaging 30-minute opening set. The Louisiana artist’s giddy enthusiasm set the tone for the evening.

Granger Smith performed 45 minutes of rugged country-rock. Rendered in the guise of his hilarious alter ego Earl Dibbles Jr., outrageous interpretations of “Don’t Tread on Me,” a parody of patriotic jingoism, and “The Country Boy Song,” an over-the-top celebration of backwoods doctrine, highlighted the Texan’s outing.

Smith explained that “yee yee,” his high-pitched catchphrase, “means live life to the fullest.”

That’s precisely what Brown, Smith, Cavalier and their exuberant admirers did during Thursday’s rollicking concert.

Kane Brown set list: Baby Come Back To Me; What Ifs; Weekend; Used to Love You Sober; Good as You; Learning; Hometown; American Bad Dream; Homesick; Work; Saturday Nights; Live Forever; Short Skirt Weather; medley of covers (Give You Hell, Stand By Me, Beautiful Girls, Happier, Jump); Lost in the Middle of Nowhere; Found You; My Where I Come From; Pull It Off; Heaven; Lose It

Granger Smith set list: Stutter; Free Fallin’; Backroad Song; They Were There; Happens Like That; Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up); Don’t Tread on Me; If the Boot Fits; The Country Boy Song Lacy Cavalier set list: Every Time It Rains; Get Away With It; medley of covers; André; Cheating on U

This story was originally published January 18, 2019 at 9:33 AM.