It was a busy night in Boston as fans were lined up along Lansdowne street waiting to get into the House of Blues Boston for Corey Fest featuring none other then country star Cole Swindell. Fans lined the street wearing Corey Fest shirts, and hats to support Corey Fest.
Tonight’s show was sold out and it was for a good cause. Fans were packed into a sold out House Of Blues Boston to support Corey Fest. This is a foundation to benefit Corey C. Griffin who passed away tragically in 2014. Since his passing his close friends and relatives started the foundation in order to help improve the lives of primarily Boston area kids through strategic partnerships throughout the educational and healthcare institutions, with an emphasis on faith based initiatives. There are dozens of carefully selected partnerships with children spread across the Greater Boston area. “Known lovingly as ‘Corey’s Kids’, it is through these children that Corey Griffin’s legacy will live on forever.
Before the doors to the venue even opened Country Star Cole Swindell played an acoustic set for the sponsors, family and friends and VIP’s. As the doors to the venue opened and fans started entering the first band was set to play.
First up was country singer from Statesboro, Georgia Dylan Marlowe. Even thought he started getting into music late in life he moved to Nashville to pursue his country career and it has been on a fast pace ever since. He wrote a song this year that singer John Pardi cut and made into a hit song “Last Night Lonely.” He has written some of his own stuff as well such as his new single “Why’d We Break Up Again.” He played a short set but got the crowd energized and were really into his fresh new sound. He played a mix of some of his songs he has written. Dylan is the real deal and if you have a chance to see him you definitely should. He brings a lot of energy and a crowd pleaser.
Next performer of the evening was country singer from Parkland, Florida Ashley Cooke. Growing up as a kid Ashley moved around a lot and music was the only thing that was a constant in her life. She started writing music at an early age and used writing music as a coping mechanism. She has a love and passion of writing poems and lyrics.
As soon as she came on stage the crowd cheered loudly as she was wearing a Boston Marathon t-shirt to support Boston Strong. She played a new song for the crowd which the fans seemed to enjoy. She went on to play a few more songs and then played a mashup of songs from the 90’s which included songs from Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, and Shania Twain. She came to the mic and introduced a new song “Drink My Beer,” stating it was a song about a toxic relationship she was in.
She came back to the mic and did a monologue of her first concert which was Hilary Duff. She stated how that concert impacted her life through High School, College, and graduating college. She will make her Grand Old Opry debut in less than 1 week. She has a new hit single with Brett Young called “Never Till Now,” which she played for the fans. She played one last song and then introduced her band and said goodnight to the crowd.
Before the final performer of the night, family, friends and sponsors of The Corey C. Griffin foundation came to the stage to make a presentation to explain about the foundation and to give an update on how tonight’s show impacted the foundation. They explained that they raised 1.7 million dollars. They wanted to thank each and every person in the building tonight for their support in the foundation. They stated that if you don’t know Corey you will by the end of the night.
Corey’s brother and sister each made a speech about how their brother impacted the lives of others and how the foundation was hopes to keep his memory alive and through the foundation they will be giving back in his honor.
They played a short video of the kids that have been impacted by this and who are a part of “Corey’s Kids.” The video showed how the progress of the foundation has helped kids in the community and how it is impacted their lives today. They stated to the crowd that since the foundation started 8 years ago they have raised a total of 20 million dollars. They mentioned that if they raise 25,000 then someone will match that donation.
Corey’s sister mentioned that in 2019 Cole Swindell played their benefit show and wanted to come back to Boston to play again and help raise money for the foundation. The crowd cheered and clapped to show support for the foundation.
The final performer of the night was country artist from Bronwood Georgia Cole Swindell. He released his debut single “Chilling It,” in 2013 and he released his self titled debut album in 2014. While in college he met fellow country star Luke Bryan and the two became good friends . In 2014 he went on to tour with Luke Bryan for his That’s My Kind Of Night tour. He went on to write songs for Luke and other country stars.
As soon as his band members came on stage the crowd went crazy. He came out to “Down To The Bar.” He went on to play a few more songs and then came to the mic and did a short monologue of how he grew up in Nashville and that he wanted to be behind writing songs. He played songs before he got a record deal.
He played a mashup of songs “Gimmie Some Of That,” Old Beach Roller Coaster,” This Is How We Roll,” and then ended the mashup with a Boston song.
He brought high energy and interacted with the fans whenever he could. He During his set he had Dylan back on stage to sing a duet with him for the song “Flatliner.” He played a few new songs and the fans were loving every minute. He went on to play a few more of his hit songs and then invited Ashley back on stage to sing “Never Say Never” Through his performance he made reference to the reason he was there to pay tribute to Corey Griffin. He told the story about how he played in 2019 and wanted to come back to play again for the Boston Fans. He ended his set with a 90’s medley his newest hit single “Heads Carolina, Tails California.” This was an amazing night to support a great foundation. If you havent seen any of Cole’s shows you should try and go to one. He puts on an amazing show and is a talented artist and song writer.
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