Opening weekend for Cole Swindell’s Down Home Tour kicked off in NYC on 11/11/15. I was lucky enough (and I don’t say that lightly…) to attend his Friday night show in Uncasville, CT in the very small and intimate Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino. I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard to get myself into a “first come/first seated” show with a maximum capacity of 350 people… total. For those of you who know who Cole Swindell is, you’ll know that he’s been playing sold out stadium shows with Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney to crowds of over 50 thousand. For those of you who don’t… he is the 2015 ACM New Artist of the Year and someone whom I’ve been a fan of for at least 2.5 years now if not more! He is currently being sponsored by Monster Energy on their Outbreak Tour featuring “emerging” artists. I put that in quotes, because Cole emerged in my world well over two years ago. 2015 is the first year that the Outbreak Tour has added a “country” artist, and I’m pretty sure that they have been overwhelmed with the positive response in their choice. Cole and his Down Home Crew have been making a name for themselves in both the country music world as well as the fandoms.

The intimate setting of this show is what made it one of my favorite Cole shows… up close and personal! Well that, and the reward for the amount of effort that I put into finding a guaranteed spot into the show and knowing that it was worth the 8 hour round trip drive! I was surprised with a Meet & Greet thanks to the awesome Cory Meyers from Country 92.5 in Hartford, CT! Going “backstage” at the Wolf Den was an experience in itself! Almost every inch of wall from the top of the stairs to the hallway and room at the bottom has been signed from each and every artist who has done a performance there. I was able to spot a couple other country artists… check out who! I’m sure there were many many more, and I hope that I’m able to get back there again just to browse and locate more signatures!

Cole was distracted during my meet and greet, I literally had to hold out my hand (for him to shake) and introduce myself since he didn’t introduce himself (not like I didn’t know who he was, but still). I think that the artists now are so used to these meet and greets being such a quick thing, that they are taken by surprise when someone actually wants to talk to them instead of just posing for a quick picture. He was polite, but didn’t seem to engage much with his fans. That disappointed me. How the hell is he supposed to fall in love with me if he barely even glances at me?!?! (Kidding. Mostly.) Check out all of the signatures on the wall behind us! (PS. I’ve counted 3 outfit changes so far tonight. That’s more than me in Vegas!)

There was a group of fans in the front row that spent the ENTIRE show waving around sharpies and photos and notes/papers for him to sign. Literally. Every time he walked toward that side of the stage. I could sense Cole was getting annoyed by this, and even stated at one point during the show, “You guys are a handful!” He ended up taking one of the things from them like he was going to sign it, then handed it right back. Artist these days really appreciate the fans that are being present, in the moment, not watching the entire show from their phone screens or continually waving things in their face to sign. I’ve been making an honest attempt lately to only record a few of my favorite songs and spend more time IN THE MOMENT as it’s happening. It’s hard for me, because so much of my life is based on recording memories and I’m naturally a photographer at heart. I love being able to relive the moment via video, but in 2016 I’m definitely making more of an effort to focus my full attention on the show and not on photographing or recording it!

Check out some of the photos that I took below: (my cell phone photos actually came out better than my camera!)

Set List:

Down Home Boys
Hey Y’all
Way You’re Loving Me Now
Brought To You By Beer
Get Up (On My Shoulders)
Hope You Get Lonely Tonight
Roller Coaster
Shutting It Down
Dangerous After Dark
Blue Lights
Let Me See Ya Girl
Kiss
She’s Ready
Get Me Some Of That
Should’ve Ran After You
My First Radio
Chillin’ It
Aldean/Chesney Medley
This Is How We Roll
You Ain’t Worth The Whiskey

Show date: 11/13/15