One thing many people know about me is that I have a wide variety of genres of music that I like and will listen to, but when it comes to country, it's all about the classics. I'm talking Reba, Brooks & Dunn, Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson, but the one country artist who tops it all for me is Garth Brooks! To me, he's known as Garth; no last name needed! I grew up on his music. He dropped his first single in 1989, and and has been pretty much making music from then on. And I have sung along with each of his songs since I was 6 years old. He went on several world tours throughout the years, but it wasn't until he came out of retirement a few years ago that he announced his 'Man Against The Machine' world tour, and I knew I just had to get to one of his shows. I didn't care if I had to go by myself. When we lived in Vegas, he had a residency at the Wynn/Encore, but I knew that his Vegas show was a stripped down, acoustic version; just him and his guitar. I never went to that show because, 1) tickets were $150+ each, and 2) if/when I went to a Garth show, I wanted his full concert experience. I passed up all those Vegas opportunities, and it was definitely worth the wait. When he announced his current world tour, he would only reveal a few cities at a time, so I never knew where he would be too long in advance. Then he announced eleven, yes, ELEVEN shows in Minneapolis last November, 2014. Only problem was that I was in Vegas! Then I found out that the majority of my family had scored hot tickets to his shows in MSP. So as you can imagine, I was suuuper jealous of them. Robbie almost sent me to MSP to one of his shows for my birthday! I knew that the idea of him coming back to Vegas for a show was slim being he just ended a residency there, so my chances of seeing him were small! Then we moved to Southern California. That's when I started to follow him on Facebook after I found out he was posting to his page when new city's and dates were released. I kept checking his page on a regular basis like some kind of crazy stalker. I noticed a trend that he was starting to make his way west, St. Louis...Denver...Phoenix... Then it happened. He announced 2 dates in San Diego for November, the 7th and 8th! SCORE! He announced the dates on September 9th, and tickets were to go on sale September 18th. Right away when he announced his San Diego dates, I put a plea on Facebook asking if anyone would want to go with me. Robbie isn't a country music fan, and I would never ask him to come with me for something I know he wouldn't be into, and I wanted someone who would be equally excited about it as me. One of my friends in San Francisco showed interest, and I was seriously considering buying her airfare here for that weekend! I don't know many people here in the Temecula area, but when we moved here, I joined a BUNCO group, and so I posted my plea on that groups Facebook page, and I got a bite from Missy Daniels, a fellow BUNCO-ite! My childhood dream of 26 years was shaping up to become reality! The date of the ticket release was approaching and Missy had agreed to get the tickets as I had a prior obligation for that day. They released the tickets on Sept.18th at 10am on AXS.com, and so many people were trying to get tickets at the same time that the website crashed! Missy said a bunch of people supposedly had clicked the purchase button, but never got a confirmation page, so there was a huge mess, and people were in an uproar. Luckily Missy wasn't one of those people. The way AXS.com worked to buy the tickets is that you had to enter a virtual waiting room, and when it was your turn to purchase tickets, they gave you seats enough for however many were in your party, and if you didn't like where the seats were, you had to pass them up, go to the end of the line and start that process over. So, in all, they delayed the ticket release another week, so the site could get their kinks worked out. And when they were released the second time, Missy had to go through that whole process again. When her virtual spot came up to purchase the tickets, they weren't ideal seats, but she didn't want to pass them up and risk the show selling out in the mean time. So she purchased the seats, and we were officially going to see Garth in concert!!! Ahhhh, I was so excited and giddy! November couldn't get here fast enough! From the time ticket sales were released, Garth released 3 more dates/times for his San Diego shows, totaling 5! That's pretty good! There was to be a show on November 5th, 6th, a 7pm and 10:30pm show on the 7th, and one more on the 8th. We got the 7pm show on November 7th, our first choice of shows! Yes!
Fast forward to this past Saturday, Garth Day, time literally stood still, especially the hour before Missy was to come pick me up! I couldn't sit in one place for longer than a minute, and Robbie can attest to that! Missy came to pick me up that afternoon, and we were finally heading south to San Diego to see Garth! Missy used to live in San Diego, so she knew exactly where she was going. It was nice to have an expert with me! :)
We got to the venue early, and decided to park the car in the lot, then walk to get dinner before the show. I had the task of finding a place to eat, and I chose this cute little place near the venue called Divine Pastabilities. The pasta they served there came stuffed into breadsticks, like a torpedo! If anything, I knew it would be a great and fun experience! And it was! We got a table outside to enjoy the San Diego evening and our Tor-pasta! After our meal, we walked back, and we were in the doors. Then I realized I was in the same building as Garth! Ahhhhhh!!
Our first item on the agenda was to buy merch! I went away with Garth's "The Ultimate Hits" CD, and little did I know that it is a 3-disc set! Best $15 I've ever spent. Missy went away with a t-shirt and keychain! Next, we found our seats and anticipated the start of the show. Our seats were behind the stage and to our right. We knew that we were going to be able to see the whole stage no matter what, though. There was a 5-minute warning light that flashed on the stage, and I still couldn't sit still. I was so fidgety!
Then, the venue went completely dark, and smoke appeared from the stage. It was happening! I pulled out my phone and hit 'record' on the camera as I was sure I wanted to remember this moment for a long time after! Take a listen, and yes that is my voice you hear behind the camera! It was priceless!
The amount of energy that Garth had throughout the whole show was unreal. He was running around the stage constantly, all while singing and not missing a beat! It just amazes me! I found myself out of breath after singing half of one of his songs and just bouncing up and down in one place! He totally has fun while he performs, and that is just another element to what makes Garth Garth!
Then he started singing Where Your Road Leads, and that was the cue that Garth's wife Trisha Yearwood, who is also a country singer, was about to join him on stage for her part of the duet to that song. Trisha was greeted with a huge ovation, and that duet was simply amazing! Then while Garth went backstage for a breather, Trisha started singing some of her classics like American Girl, She's In Love With A Boy, and Georgia Rain. On the song Georgia Rain, one of Garth's backup singers actually wrote that song, so Trisha invited her to sing a verse of that song. What a cool moment for her! I knew Trisha had a part in the show, but I was assuming she would open with a few songs. I should've known, though, that Garth doesn't have anyone open for him anymore. He has paid his dues and now deserves no one but himself on stage!
At that point, Garth had only about just a few songs left, and he saved his most popular til almost the end, Friends In Low Places! Friends In Low Places is a song any county fan would recognize by the first four chords. The crowd went absolutely nuts! The greatest thing about it was after he played the first 4 chords, the stopped playing and let us all revel in it! And of course he sang the 3rd verse!! It was one of the best moments of the night! Go ahead and have a listen! He also sang the 3rd verse of The Thunder Rolls. The 3rd verse to both those songs aren't well-known because they were never recorded for the radio version. But you better believe I knew all the words to each of those 3rd verses!
A few days before the concert, I checked the venue's rules and restrictions about camera requirements, and it turned out I was able to bring my big camera into the concert, which allowed for me to really zoom in on Garth! I beat the zoom requirements by 2 inches!
When the concert was over and the stage was empty, I just knew he would have an encore. I told Missy that I wasn't going to leave my seat until the house lights came back on! And sure enough, he came back out for an encore, along with his band. He sang The Fever, and then they all left the stage again, but then came back up for a SECOND encore! I've been to a lot of live concerts in my life and never have I seen anyone come back for 2 encore's! But then again, it's Garth, so I should've expected it. :) During his second encore, he sang a few more of his classics like Standing Outside The Fire, and 2 of his songs off his newest album. Then he saw a sign that someone had in the crowd that said "Night Moves." So he started doing covers at that point. He sang Night Moves, and Piano Man by Billy Joel! It was awesome!! I would've just come to see him sing covers! Haha! Then he left the stage for good, but not before a standing ovation that I swore lasted 10 minutes! I know that my hands started getting tired from clapping so much!
What a night! I am so glad I waited until the true concert experience. One of the great things about seeing artists from Garth's generation is that if we do go to one of those artist's concerts, they will sound good. They didn't have auto-tune in the Garth-era, and he is not the type of artist who would manipulate his sound for the radio. I could've closed my eyes at his concert and heard the exact same sound as when I listen to him on the radio. Seeing Garth fulfilled a 25 year dream of mine, and I am so glad I was able to see him live! Patience is a virtue! Hat's off to you, GARTH!
"True country music is honesty, sincerity, and real life to the hilt." -Garth Brooks
