“Oh, you came to sing!” Garth Brooks laughed to an enthusiastically cheering crowd between lyrics.
“Oh, you came to sing!” Garth Brooks laughed to an enthusiastically cheering crowd between lyrics. Refreshed and ready from his recent Entertainer of the Year win at the Country Music Awards, Brooks bounded, stomped and cheered his way through his set Friday night, Veteran’s Day.
And after 19 years of waiting for Garth’s return to Virginia, his fans–a packed house in the Richmond Coliseum–came ready to party.
The first of four shows Brooks and wife Trisha Yearwood booked in Richmond that weekend, Friday was bound to be the kickoff for a no-hold-barred series of performances. Ticket sales for the shows surpassed Brooks’ previous record for the Coliseum, and by the time he was ready to take the stage, there looked to be no seat unfilled.
Anticipation grew Friday night as concert-goers drifted back and forth from their seats, grabbing beers and snacks. Nashville singer-songwriters Mitch Roselle and Karyn Rochelle opened the show, saluting veterans for their service and debuting material from each of their latest albums.
As the stands and seats filled, though, it was clear what people had come for.
A roar went up through the crowd as the “countdown to Garth” began. Finally, the screens obscuring the stage lifted. Two woman in the stands held a sign reading “3 DAYS 3 SHOWS 2 GIRLS 1 GARTH” high, and amid the cacophony of enthusiastic fans, the band blasted into “Man Against Machine.”
Brooks knew what his audience wanted, and was happy to deliver: “When I went to concerts, I wanted to hear the old stuff!” A cheer went up through the crowd–it’s ”old stuff” the crowd wanted, and it’s the classics they got.
The crowd cheered and danced, holding their lighters and cellphones up for their favorite songs. Brooks beamed and clapped along with his fans, at one point hoisting a camera off its stand and pointing to the crowd, at another, climbing the elaborate LED cage that housed the band’s drummer.
“It ain’t going down–til the sun comes up!” Brooks shouted, stomping into the song of the same name.
Ultimately, the sun did come up–or at least, the lights did. But Brooks ended on a high note with “Standing Outside the Fire,” and delivered a show that left fans exhilarated and ready for three more.
