Garth Brooks Concert Review

On Saturday, November 7th, 2015, I went to a Garth Brooks concert for the first time. It was in San Diego, at Valley View Casino Center (formerly the San Diego Sports Arena). I had never seen Garth perform live before, so this was my first exposure to him of any kind in-person. 

As you can imagine, I had high anticipation and expectations of how he would be and what I would see. After all, he’s won multiple Entertainer of the Year awards at the CMA and ACM Awards, and is widely considered an exceptional performer and entertainer—one of the best in country music history, and perhaps even all musical genres.

Well, he definitely didn't disappoint. My friend Valerie and I did have two 6’5” football players in the two rows in front of us, which limited our view and allowed me to see Garth only about half the time, but aside from that, the concert was awesome.

The most notable element of the show, which made it and his performance stand out the most, was the energy. I’ve been to a lot of shows, and seen almost every famous live act in country music, including possibly all of the nominees for Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs and ACMs in the last five or 10 years, and I have never seen anything quite like this. Garth Brooks had more consistent and nonstop energy and enthusiasm than anyone I’ve ever seen. And don’t worry, he only played for two hours, this being the third show in as many nights, with another one coming up the next night, AND one more THIS SAME NIGHT AFTER MY SHOW!! It’s not like he needed to conserve himself or anything…

Seriously, it was very impressive. And it wasn’t just him either. I’ve never witnessed an audience so loud and consistently electric. Everyone in that building was cheering during every song, knew all the words, and stood almost the entire time, even though they all had seats. Obviously it helps that he has so many well-known songs and hits (he is one of the most successful artists in music history), and that he is touring for the first time in 15 years and was visiting San Diego for the first time in 19 years. But all of that notwithstanding, it was an audience response that was exceptional.

And to his credit, he encouraged it and took advantage of it. Audience interaction and involvement, at least in my opinion, is a key element to what makes any artist a great live act and entertainer. Garth did plenty of that. He let us sing choruses, sing verses, held a cheering competition between sections, and yelled and cheered during every other song, further energizing us, which in turn further energized him. He even pointed it out early in the show, saying that he had to do so many shows in so few nights, so we would have to carry him. And carry him we gladly did.

Another thing I loved about him was his song choice. Though he left a few out that I would’ve liked to see (“If Tomorrow Never Comes”, and “Beaches of Cheyenne”, to name two), he was smart in that he stuck almost completely to his old stuff. In fact, he only played ONE song off his current album (in comparison to which everything else is “old”, since this is his first studio album of all-new material in almost 15 years). And he knew what he was doing—he stated early in the show that when he goes to shows, he goes for the old stuff. 

Adding to the uniqueness of the show was his band and crew. He thanked his crew member (John was his name) every time he handed him a guitar between songs. And among his band (background singers included; and he introduced everyone extensively), every single member has been with him for 20+ years (one of the funny moments of the show was when he introduced “the rookie” of the band, who has been with him for 21 years I believe). That’s astounding. Granted he took the last 15 years off of touring, so assuming he wasn’t omitting those years, that statistic is a little skewed. But at the same time, the fact they they would all come back and tour with him again after all that time away is surprising and impressive. Another cool moment was when his wife Trisha Yearwood introduced one of his background singers, who she said was a songwriter as well. Trisha performed one of her songs, and had her come out and sing part of it center-stage by herself. She (the background singer) was clearly very appreciative, and it was a really cool moment to watch. 

In closing, I want to mention that Garth and his team market his shows as “The Garth Experience”. Prior to the show, I figured that was just a creative and more-or-less meaningless slogan. But after seeing his show, I can attest that it is definitely an accurate expression and description. It was unlike any show I’ve ever been to. Unbridled and consistent enthusiasm from both Garth and the fans for two hours. I don’t know how much of what he does is an act or is scripted, but however much of it is or isn’t genuine almost doesn’t matter. I mean I hope it’s genuine, and I wouldn’t want to see exactly the same show the next time I see him, but regardless, he gets that energy and enthusiasm from somewhere (I don’t know where), and I believe he truly enjoys it (at one point in the show he said something to the effect of being very happy and thankful that he got to do this earlier in his career, and now again 15 years later). So even if some of what he does is a bit scripted or manipulative in order to get the crowd into the show, it’s almost like who cares? His job is to perform and entertain, and he clearly does that.