Being born in the late 80s and having parents that regularly listened to country radio in the car, I grew up on 90s country and Garth Brooks. When the Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences box set was announced it immediately went on my Christmas list. So when Vickye asked if I could cover this show, there was no hesitation to say yes.
Nashville singer-songwriter Karyn Rochelle opened the show to a large, enthusiastic crowd. Rochelle played a short four-song set which could have easily been six or seven if she didn’t talk as much between every song. Two stand-out songs from the set were “Red High Heels” – Kellie Pickler’s debut single which Rochelle co-wrote – and “Summers Like That”. The latter could be written off by some as too cliché or checklist driven since it is based around the titles of other country songs, but coming from Rochelle it felt genuine. It seemed like these were really the songs she grew up listening to and had an impact on her growing up. I was surprised by how comfortable Rochelle was performing in front of an arena with a stripped down band (guitar, bass, and Cajon) until Rochelle mentioned that she was also a member of Garth’s band. Although Rochelle mentioned having an album available, it wasn’t clear if she was opening because she wants to be a solo artist or because she happened to be a member of the band. Either way, the crowd was receptive to her performance.
After a short intermission, Garth’s show opened with theatrics. Lights were raised above the stage while crew members walked around the stage checking equipment. A couple of the crew members acted like something was wrong with the lights before running around the stage frantically. One of the crew members stopped in the front-middle of the stage before smoke blew in his face and he threw his baseball hat into the crowd – which I happened to catch. The theatrics were all just a distraction before the band began playing “Man Against Machine” and Garth appeared on stage.
While the theatrics were just beginning, the “new music” portion of the show was already ending. With the constant reminder of GhosTunes scrolling across the screen before the show and during the intermission I was a bit worried about how much new music Garth was going to play. I’ve never opened the GhosTunes site – and honestly didn’t know it was still a thing – so I haven’t heard the new album. After “Man Against Machine” Garth told the crowd that when he went to concerts he “went to hear the old stuff” and there would be plenty of old stuff during the set. If my notes were correct, it was all old stuff for the rest of the night.
The first part of Garth’s set included “Rodeo”, “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House”, “The Beaches of Cheyenne”, “The River”, “Two Pina Coladas”, “Papa Loved Mama”, “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)” and plenty of Garth and the band running all over stage. The band got a short break while Garth performed acoustic versions of “Unanswered Prayers” and “If Tomorrow Never Comes”.
With the band back on stage, Garth performed “That Summer” and “The Thunder Rolls” before Trisha Yearwood joined in on “In Another’s Eyes”. With Yearwood on stage, Garth got to take a break while she performed “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)”, “How Do I Live”, “PrizeFighter”, “Broken” – a cover of the Lifehouse song recorded for the TV musical The Passion: New Orleans – and “She’s in Love With the Boy”. Before performing “PrizeFighter” Yearwood took a moment to talk about her mother’s battle with breast cancer and participating in walks to support cancer research. Garth joined the band on the last couple of songs, playing acoustic guitar and standing toward the back of the stage allowing Yearwood to have the spotlight.
The main set concluded after four more songs from Garth and the band: “Shameless”, “Callin’ Baton Rouge”, crowd favorite “Friends in Low Places”, and “The Dance”. Garth and the band left the stage briefly before returning for an encore performance of “Fever”. During “Fever” Garth and his fiddle player took turns running across the stage on travelators. There were a few close calls, but Garth managed to stay on his feet – unlike some previous shows.
Going to as many concerts as I have the last few years, I have a general rule of thumb: the concert isn’t over until the house lights come on and/or the equipment starts coming off the stage. Garth’s show was no exception to that rule. After performing “Fever” and leaving the stage again, some fans decided to leave. Those that stuck around saw Garth return to the stage, appearing to be exhausted but continuing to put on a show for the fans. He mentioned multiple times through the night that he would keep going as long as the crowd kept him going. With just an acoustic guitar, Garth walked around the stage looking for fan signs with song requests on them, performing parts of “Your Song”, “That Ol’ Wind”, “The Change”, “Wild Horses”, and “The Storm”. Between “That Ol’ Wind” and “The Change” Garth talked about Merle Haggard’s recent death and performed a cover of “Fightin’ Side of Me”. The band joined Garth back on stage closing out the show with “We Shall Be Free”, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” and “Standing Outside the Fire”.
Garth sets the standard for arena shows, mixing the theatrics and entertainment needed to keep an arena full of fans into the show, with the right amount of intimate moments where the real connection is made. It’s easy to see how two shows turned into six. Some may say Garth was the start of pop-country but I’ll take Garth-country over today’s mainstream country. Jason Aldean may have won the award, but Garth should be considered country’s entertainer of the year.
Originally posted here.
