Just when it looked like Target Field would not host any concerts this year, the Twins' home-field team is sliding one in like a Jhoan Duran fastball. And for the first time, the performance is taking place after a game, and not on an off night.
"Chillin' It" country music hitmaker Cole Swindell — who previously played on the Twins' turf as one of Kenny Chesney's openers in 2015 — will return there to perform after a matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 4. His set will last around 75 minutes and is free to everyone who buys a ticket to the game, which falls on a Thursday night.
A Twins representative explained that the stage and speaker system will essentially be set up on trailers and rolled out onto the field "within minutes" after the game ends.
"Twins baseball and country music on a summer evening at Target Field is a fantastic combination," Twins President Dave St. Peter said in a statement.
Since that 2015 appearance as a newcomer, Swindell has racked up a solid batting average at country radio, with other hits including "You Should Be Here," "Ain't Worth the Whiskey" and "Single Saturday Night." He has also played similar MLB ballpark gigs like this one. The Georgia native was last in town to play with Thomas Rhett for the NHL Winter Classic pre-party this past New Year's Eve at Xcel Energy Center.
Target Field proved a popular site for concerts again last summer when a sold-out crowd welcomed the Hella Mega Tour there with Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer. Like all the other big shows at the Minneapolis ballpark since its 2010 inauguration, though, that one fell during a week the Twins were on the road.
