North Carolinian country artist, Kameron Marlowe, performed his songs to an incredibly resilient crowd. On Sunday, Jan. 21, fans waited outside The Bluebird Nightclub, shivering in line as they waited to be let in to attend the show, which is part of the Kameron Marlowe: I Can Lie Tour.
Marlowe first entered the public eye when he was a contestant on Season 15 of NBC’s “The Voice” in 2018, where he made the Top 24 but was later eliminated. Although he did not win “The Voice,” his passion for music did not fade. He continued to work on his music and ultimately released his debut single, “Giving You Up,” in 2019 which now has over 91 million streams on Spotify.
The Kameron Marlowe: I Can Lie tour began in November of 2023 with different opening acts. Sunday’s performance included the two upcoming country artists Laci Kaye Booth and Logan Crosby. The tour has shows in Canada, Australia and in 19 states across the United States.
The doors opened early at 6:50 p.m. and fans began rushing inside to escape the cold. They showed their IDs, tickets and held their wrists out to receive stamps for the show. By 7:25 p.m., the venue had reached half capacity with fans of all ages.
IU senior and California native Kelly Robles said she has been a fan of Marlowe’s for about 3 years. A friend of Robles sent Marlowe’s music to her and when he began to show up on her TikTok page, Robles immediately took interest as a fan of country music.
“I love his music, he just gives good vibes,” Robles said. “When his album, ‘We Were Cowboys,' came out, I was so pumped up.”
Robles said she was excited to see Marlowe and hoped to sing along to her favorite songs, “Steady Heart” and “Take Me Home.” The song that spoke to her the most was “Girl on Fire.”
“I love how he talks about the woman in the song,” Robles said. “It’s like this girl just lights up his world and I think that's really cute.”
Audience members Cheyenne Owens and Kaila Cantillas traveled to Bloomington from Ohio just to see Marlowe in concert. They said they’ve been fans of Marlowe’s since 2018, when he was still in the early stages of his career. Their favorite songs were “Tennessee Don’t Mind” and “Giving You Up.”
“Giving You Up,” is about Marlowe letting go of an ex-girlfriend who broke up with him weeks before he was going to propose to her. Owens and Cantillas explained the reason why “Giving You Up” spoke the most to them out of Marlowe’s music.
“Exes,” Owens and Cantillas explained.
At 8 p.m., Texas native Booth opened the show with laid-back, dynamic vibes by performing her songs “Cigarettes” and “Damn Good in a Dive Bar,” which many fans knew. When Booth heard them singing along, she held her hand to her heart.
“Y’all gon' make me cry,” she said, “I’m getting all emotional seeing y’all sing along.”
She received a round of applause and cheers from the crowd as she finished her act.
Around 8:30 p.m., Fans began to crowd around the stage as Crosby, the second opener of the night, sang his song “Run Away With You” followed by “Everybody’s Drunk.” Crosby also sang a country rendition of Bruno Mars’ song “When I Was Your Man” that fans sung along to.
Crosby’s performance was interrupted by two fans arguing, which resulted in security being called by Crosby from the stage. One of the fans, who refused to calm down, was escorted out by security as Crosby started to perform “You Should Leave” by Chris Stapleton.
As he finished his performance, Crosby gave his guitar pick to a fan in the crowd and thanked them.
“This has been the best show this week,” he said. “Thank you, Bloomington!”
The stage lights went off and fans cheered as the band got into place and picked up their instruments. The beat of the drums and the bass filled the club with loud vibrations. The intro to “Over Now” began to play as Marlowe came out from backstage and started to sing. The crowd went into a frenzy, jumping up and down screaming Marlowe’s name.
Marlowe continued his performance singing “Tennessee Don’t Mind,” “Steady Heart,” “Sober as a Drunk” and other songs from his album “We Were Cowboys.” He also performed a cover of “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” by Big & Rich which electrified the crowd to sing along and raise their drinks in the air.
As the evening came to an end, Marlowe performed his last two songs of the evening, “Girl on Fire” and “Giving You Up.” The crowd joined in, singing the lyrics at the top of their lungs. When he finished his performance, he said he would come back to Bloomington every night if he could.
When Marlowe exited the stage, the crowd did not seem to want the night to end. One fan began chanting for an encore, prompting everyone in the crowd to join in to get Marlowe back onstage. Marlowe came running back onstage and performed “Burn ‘Em All.”
Cole Cooper traveled from French Lick, IN to see Marlowe perform. He said he’s been a fan since 2019 and has seen Marlowe in concert before, but at a smaller venue. He said at the last concert, Marlowe didn’t have the same energy as this performance.
“My favorite part of tonight was the atmosphere,” Cooper said. “He had a lot more energy this time.”
The next stop on the Kameron Marlowe: I Can Lie Tour will be at 8 p.m. on Jan. 26 at The Hall in Little Rock, Arkansas.
