{"id":130657,"date":"2025-08-09T02:53:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T02:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/130657\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T02:53:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T02:53:14","slug":"a-vulnerable-teddy-swims-wins-over-san-diego-with-soul-and-sincerity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/130657\/","title":{"rendered":"A vulnerable Teddy Swims wins over San Diego with soul and sincerity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Teddy<\/a>Teddy Swims in concert at Gallagher Square. (Photo by Donovan Roche\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let all the face tattoos fool you: Teddy Swims<\/a> is every bit the big-hearted teddy bear his name suggests. The Atlanta-bred crooner (real name Jaten Collin Dimsdale) brought warmth, vulnerability, and powerhouse vocals to a sold-out Gallagher Square at Petco Park.<\/p>\n

Swims adopted his stage name as a fusion of a childhood nickname and an acronym for \u201cSomeone Who Isn\u2019t Me Sometimes.\u201d The moniker reflects his musical versatility, but on this balmy San Diego night July 31, he wasn\u2019t playing roles. From the first note to the final bow, Swims was disarmingly real \u2014 gracious, emotional, and deeply caring.<\/p>\n

He kicked things off with the swagger of \u201cNot Your Man\u201d and the slow-burn intensity of \u201cHammer to the Heart.\u201d Backed by an eight-piece band, all clad in custom Padres jerseys, Swims completed his comfy look with cutoff jean shorts and matching pink sunglasses and socks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After \u201cApple Juice,\u201d he paused to thank the crowd and take in their adoration. He appeared visibly touched, as if unsure he deserved such a reception.<\/p>\n

That emotional undercurrent runs through much of his work. Across the 32-year-old singer\/songwriter\u2019s first two full-length albums \u2014 2023\u2019s I\u2019ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 1) and this year\u2019s (Part 2) follow-up \u2014 Swims has carved out a space for raw, heartfelt songs about toxic relationships, lost love, personal struggles, self-acceptance, and healing.<\/p>\n

Known for his genre-blending style, Swims jumped from the old-school R&B of \u201cWhat More Can I Say\u201d to the gospel-infused rock of \u201cDevil in a Dress.\u201d He also performed his catchy new country song \u201cFree Drugs\u201d (from I\u2019ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Complete Edition) released in June), and soulful single \u201cGod Went Crazy,\u201d his answer to Prince\u2019s \u201cThe Most Beautiful Girl in the World.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early in the 105-minute set, Swims asked the audience to repeat the phrase, \u201cI will stay with it.\u201d It served as a mantra to not only keep themselves together, but also to look out for one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As it turned out, there were two incidents warranting security\u2019s intervention; one of them an apparent scuffle. After pausing to ensure everyone\u2019s safety, Swims asked what most of us were thinking: \u201cWho gets in a fight at a Teddy Swims show?\u201d<\/p>\n

On a lighter note, during the lovely \u201cShe Loves the Rain,\u201d Swims spotted something in the crowd. \u201cAre you engaged?\u201d he asked a couple. After they confirmed, he patted his heart and beamed, \u201cThat is so cool!\u201d Once again, the thought of a newly engaged couple finding special meaning in Swims\u2019 music appeared to genuinely move him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But nothing stirred the new father quite like singing \u201cSmall Hands,\u201d a tender tribute to the baby boy he welcomed in June with partner Raiche Wright. Sitting on a stool, backed only by acoustic guitar, Swims fought to finish the lyric: Oh, I never loved myself \/ Until the day I held \/ These small hands. The crowd met his vulnerability with cheers.<\/p>\n

While the full band brought energy to up-tempo numbers, Swims\u2019 vocals occasionally got muddied in the mix, like on \u201cBad Dreams.\u201d The show\u2019s real highpoint came during a stripped-down set that began with \u201cSmall Hands\u201d and included tender versions of \u201cAll That Really Matters,\u201d his 2022 collaboration with ILLENIUM, and \u201cSome Things I\u2019ll Never Know,\u201d accompanied by just a piano. With minimal instrumentation, the focus was on Swims\u2019 extraordinary voice; confident yet unsure, strong yet fragile, heartbroken yet hopeful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To the delight of nearby fans, Swims autographed upwards of 25 items, from ballcaps to sneakers. At first, it came off like a generous gesture (who else does this?). Though he did an incredible job of holding the mic, Sharpie, and keepsakes while signing and singing, as during \u201cFuneral,\u201d the novelty wore thin. By the third song, with Swims on autopilot, it felt more like a distraction pulling focus from his performance.<\/p>\n

Swims\u2019 meteoric rise in popularity over the past two years might seem like \u201covernight success,\u201d but he paid his dues playing in numerous Atlanta-based bands from 2011-2018. As his musical diversity reflects today, during those formative years he experimented with everything from alternative rock, soul, and R&B to post-hardcore and hair metal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He first attracted the world\u2019s (and Warner Records\u2019) attention in 2019 by posting covers on YouTube, from Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cRock with You\u201d and Bonnie Raitt\u2019s \u201cI Can\u2019t Make You Love Me\u201d to Marvin Gaye\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On.\u201d He spent the next few years releasing EPs and singles, until his 2023 breakthrough album cemented his sound.<\/p>\n

To decide which cover he would perform tonight, Swims incorporated a clever \u201cjukebox\u201d segment, letting two people choose a letter and number. The pair landed on D1, selecting Shania Twain\u2019s \u201cYou\u2019re Still the One\u201d (his YouTube video<\/a> has racked up 226 million views).<\/p>\n

Swims wrapped up his set with \u201cLose Control\u201d \u2014 the first song in history to spend 100 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 \u2014 followed by an emotionally charged three-song encore that served as a final reminder: Strength isn\u2019t about toughness; it\u2019s about being brave enough to bare your soul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Donovan Roche is a longtime music writer and frequent contributor to Times of San Diego. Send your story ideas to\u00a0droche617@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Teddy Swims in concert at Gallagher Square. (Photo by Donovan Roche\/Times of San Diego) Don\u2019t let all the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,5356,1582,276,21200,78771,2290,3549,7264,79495,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-130657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-atlanta","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-concert","13":"tag-gallagher-square","14":"tag-review","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-teddy-swims","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114996550256795390","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}