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Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025 (Day 3, 24th August 2025)

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

The first time in 2025, the Sound of Nashville Open Air featured all three days of the weekend. Thus, will the country music fans be already a bit of tired on the third and last day in Cologne? Or will there be a party banger at the Freideck in the German city? Here is my Sunday concert report.

This posting comes with 692 major size pictures as part of the concert gallery.

 

Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025, Day 3 – About The Artists

With Florian Fox, the only German speaking artist on main stage opened the third day at the Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025. I featured the Swiss artist already in February 2025, when he supported Drake Milligan in Cologne. Apart from his musical career, he is professionally as a lawyer. In February 2025, he released his most recent EP, True Love.

I was really looking forward to the second artist, Gareth. I featured him in a Spotlight interview during his Country To Country 2025 appearance in Berlin. He is originally from Northern Ireland, but in the meantime lives in Nashville. He majorly grew by releasing covers, but nowadays also has a major set of originals. In May 2025, he released the EP Steal Your Thunder.

Thereafter, Cologne hosted the Crowe Boys. In June 2025, Ocie and Wes Crowe released their debut album Made To Wnader. According to their website, they are redefining the boundaries of country music and New Orleans music.

Charles Wesley Godwin closed the festival. He is originally from Morgantown in West Virginia. So far, he has released three albums, the last one being the 2023 Family Ties. In February 2025, he released the album Lonely Mountain Town.

 

Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025, Day 3 – The Shows

Florian Fox did not miss any Swiss punctuality and stepped on stage right in time at 16:55. His 45 minute set was a mixture of originals like the opener Swiss Guy and cover songs like Elvis Presley’s Burning Love or Luke Combs’ 1, 2, Many. This continued with songs like Blueberry Mountain Train and Johnny Cash’s Get Rhythm or Ring of Fire. Fox’s style is a mixture of country and rockabilly vibes. Even though the crowds started a bit of slow, he more and more heated up Cologne. He closed with one of his biggest hits, Georgia.

Gareth was comparably late, at 18:08. Already at first sight, you felt sorry for the Northern Irish, who was obviously not in a healthy state. The more you have to praise him for doing an energetic 47 minute set. Even though he excused for his condition, he showed an overall strong vocal performance on stage. Some of his songs were Born Yesterday or Changing Seasons. However, he also played some of his cover songs, like Iris (Goo Goo Dolls) or Stick Season (Noah Kahan). His set closed with Last Thing I Do.

 

Two strong Closing Acts

Two brothers, a guitar, a mandolin and a kick drum – that’s all the Crowe Boys needed in Cologne. The crew caught up most of the delay in the intermission, so that the act entered the stage just about two minutes late. Their set closed in time and thus almost filled the sixty minute scheduled time. They opened with Leather Wallet, but also gave their very own version of Willie Nelson’s On The Road Again early in their set. They spread a lot of spirit and enjoyment to perform for the Cologne crowd on stage. Their version of Chasing Cars was another special part of their show. Closing with Where Did I Go Wrong and Boot Straps, they definitely won some German fans (including myself) on that Sunday.

With a few minutes delay, Charles Wesley Godwin closed the Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025. Songs like the energetic opener Cue Country Roads drove an energetic show at the beginning. However, there were also rather emotional moments with songs like Dance In The Rain or She Don’t Love Me Anymore. His list of originals closed with Hardwood Floors. The very final song of the festival was Take Me Home, Country Roads, though. What could be a better one than the John Denver classic?

Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025, Day 3 – The Gallery

Here are 692 major size pictures of the show. They are located in the concert gallery:

 

Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025 – My View

The Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025 was a major evolution step compared to the debut event in 2024. The biggest upgrade was definitely changing it into a small three day festival. The in-fact off day on Saturday in 2024 was a major issue, especially with the gamescom trade fair in Cologne in parallel (which leads to massive hotel prices in the region). Overall, the line-up was a big step forward, with a mixture of promising acts and really great performers like Cameron Whitcomb, Liam St. John or Charles Wesley Godwin. But also more intimate acts like the Saturday songwriters’ round or the Crowe Boys on the final day lead to good memories from this event.

More than that, though, there was the community. The Sound of Nashville Open Air 2025 felt like a family reunion, the relaxed atmosphere at the Freideck lead to many chats and fun among the audience. Sound of Nashville organized a great event, which is hopefully establishing in the German country music calendar.

 

Postings with Gallery 2025

Here are postings coming with a major size photo gallery published in 2025:

 

Spotlight – Flyctory.com Interviews 2025

Here are all postings of my interview section Spotlight, released in 2025:

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“Sound of Nashville” in Cologne (6th March 2019)

Thompson Square (5th September 2019, Cologne)

T.G. Copperfield (12th April 2025, Hagen aTW)

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