I will tell you right-off-the-bat if you are on the fence about attending a Cole Swindell concert. BUY. THE. TICKET. Before we jump into the meat of the bone, let’s get a little back story on Swindell for those that may be unfamiliar with him. Swindell broke into the country music scene in 2007, but not as a singer or songwriter like most do. He started selling tour merchandise for country music powerhouse Luke Bryan. They met at Georgia Southern University as they were both in the Sigma Chi fraternity. Bryan ended up bringing Swindell on tour and he started working on his songwriting skills while he was the merch guy. (Side note: One of my favorite country artists also went to that school, Gavin Adcock. That school produces some excellent talent.) Swindell would then go on to write for many artists which included Scotty McCreery, Thomas Rhett, and his mentor, Luke Bryan himself.
After six years polishing his writing skills Swindell finally released his debut single “Chillin It” in 2013. This song was a hit and gained a lot of attention which caught the eyes of Warner Bros. Nashville which then offered him a record deal. As of this concert Swindell has released four albums with his fifth album Spanish Moss slated to release on June, 27, 2025. Swindell has had eight singles hit number one on various country radio charts. One of his biggest hits “You Should Be Here” which was released in 2015 as a tribute to his late father and is absolutely a tearjerker letting us dive into Swindell’s deeper side of his writing abilities aside from his feel-good anthems. One of my favorite tracks is “She Had Me at Heads Carolina," which won Song of the Year and Single of the Year at the 2023 ACM Awards. This is a song that has made him a well-known name in country music.
Swindell’s latest album will drop an impressive twenty-one tracks. Be sure to check it out because I have it on constant rotation after the performance I just witnessed. A handful of tracks have already been released, and you can stream them on your favorite platforms. I am currently loving “We Can Always Move On” and “Bottom of It.” Go take a listen!
So yesterday afternoon-yes, afternoon-the show kicked off at Indian Ranch in Webster, Massachusetts. Indian Ranch is located on the shores of Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (this is not my child smashing the keyboard, I promise). This venue is very unique. Not only offering locals to concerts on weekend afternoons but it’s literally on a lake. You can pull up your boat and enjoy the show or sit in the tiered amphitheater-type seating. It’s a very laid-back venue and you feel more like you are at a campground, because you are. It’s known as "New England's Home of Country Music" and it’s just that. You can find many well-known country artists sliding through this little Massachusetts town. Names in the past have been Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Willie Nelson, Blake Shelton, and Brad PaisleyI have had the pleasure of attending a few shows at this venue and I absolutely love it. It somehow feels small seating 3,000 people while feeling intimate. It’s got a laid-back, small-town feel but with big-name acts, which is actually pretty sick for a place in central Massachusetts. Oh, and they let you tailgate a few hours before the show starts. So you know it’s going to be a party.
If you came to this venue expecting an arena-type production, you left disappointed, although the production did consist of a few screens, a fog machine, and stage lighting. This is the first time I have seen screens used at this venue, so it did add a bit of a different vibe to this daytime show. However, if you came to this show expecting great country music with an intimate get-to-know-you-type vibe, then you left feeling serenaded. The concert was everything I expected it would be. Knowing the history of Swindell, I was getting what I expected, and being there in person exceeded even those expectations. There is just a feel-good experience while attending a show of a quality artist. You are in a shared space with others all on common ground of loving that artist. It’s a unique experience. This was no different and lived up to the hype.
First up, taking the daytime stage first was Frank Ray. Admittedly, I had not heard of Ray till this concert came up. Talk about some energy! He came out swinging! Perfect choice for Swindell to choose him as his opener. He did exactly what a support act should provide: energy. The band accompanying Ray was fantastic. They were crisp and sounded awesome. Frank Ray has a new fan in me, and I am looking forward to seeing him grow his career and hopefully headlining his own tour down the road.
After a brief switchover, it was time. The main event. The sold-out crowd was ready. Don’t forget you can tailgate so the crowd, which was an average mix of concertgoers. You could tell there were people that had a season pass to all the shows being a bit on the older side; you had your bro-country group, I’d say between 25 and 40, and then we had a sprinkle of younger fans. It was a perfect mix with an older generation leading the way. Swindell came out with “Flatliner,” which is probably the perfect song in Swindell’s catalog to open with. The energy was out of this world and not even close to flatlining the pulse of this crowd.
By the fourth song, “Single Saturday Night,” the crowd was even more locked in. The whole place was swinging their arms in the air back and forth in unison. Continuing down the setlist, Swindell talked about his new album and played “Forever To Me,” a song about his wife. Swindell told the fans to grab their loved one if they came with them and slow dance to the song. A lot of the crowd obliged, especially the ones walking around the concourse. Smack dab in the middle of the song, an older gentleman got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. Swindell caught the whole thing from the stage and addressed it right in the middle of the song. The crowd went nuts for it! Some unexpected entertainment. Swindell began to tell us about it being his 1st wedding anniversary and how they are expecting their first child. Swindell wished the couple good luck before closing out the song.
Having been to many concerts of very popular artists, I have heard my share of crowds singing along. I don’t know if it was because of the size of the venue or what, but this was one of the loudest I have heard a crowd sing. I was pleasantly surprised, given the crowd was seemingly of an older generation. I was impressed and found myself right along with them sharing this shared experience that can only be duplicated at a live music event. You could see that Swindell and the band were feeding off this energy. I picked up on the smile on Swindell's face as this was happening.
The concert wasn’t without jokes. Swindell joked a few times about being surprised by the crowd being this into the show during an afternoon broad-daylight concert. Swindell expressed that he was going to keep coming back to this venue. This was his second time playing Indian Ranch, although his first show was in the evening, so he never experienced the daylight shenanigans.
Swindell took the turn into a more dramatic moment with “You Should Be Here.” On Father’s Day, this was the perfect song to play. This song tugs on all the heartstrings of anyone that lost a father. I had an older gentleman two rows in front of me who was bawling his eyes out. What a touching moment that was. Anyone who witnessed that man felt that pain right along with him. Swindell slid right into the next song after addressing the loss of his father. He expressed his connection with Massachusetts because he wrote “You Should Be Here” in the parking lot of Gillette Stadium. Up next was “Dale Jr.” He gave us a bit of a backstory about meeting Dale backstage at a show and sharing a few Bud Light heavies with him.
Closing the show out with “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” had the crowd exploding. The audience had me fooled. I honestly thought prior to the show that there was going to be a lack of emotion due to the older fans. I was wrong. Completely wrong, and I was elated that I was. The concert was as perfect as a show can be. As far as production, we got more than expected from Indian Ranch. The performance from the band and Swindell was perfect. No missed chords, no off-key notes, no missed cues. No flaws. Swindell had the crowd screaming, singing, and crying all in one afternoon. If that isn’t a show, then I don’t know what is. Like I said right from the top. Buy. The. Ticket.
