Garth Brooks Turns Nashville Opening Night Concert Into Hit-Filled Singalong

“We waited a long time for this city,” Garth Brooks told the sold-out crowd on Saturday (Dec. 9) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, as he launched the first of seven shows at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena that will wrap his three-year triumphant comeback tour, The Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood, which has already sold more than 6 million tickets.

Judging by the volume level of crowd’s cheers as he opened his set with “Let’s Lay Down and Dance,” “Rodeo,” “Two Of A Kind, Workin’ On A Full House,” and “The Beaches of Cheyenne,” Nashville has clearly been anxiously awaiting its turn to host Brooks’ record-setting tour, which marks seven years since his run of nine sold-out charity shows at the same venue in December 2010, following the Nashville floods.

Last month, Brooks earned his sixth CMA Entertainer of the Year honor, and with the zeal of an everyman prophet and the energy of entertainers half his age, the 55-year-old set about turning the next three hours into one big singalong, as the crowd sang every word to classics including “The River” and “The Thunder Rolls.”

“You gonna keep this pace up all night?” Brooks asked the crowd early in the evening. “All night? I’ll make a deal–you keep this up all night and we’ll play all night.”

Brooks and his longtime band members and background vocalists did more than just play. Consummate entertainers, they took the audience through a review of Brooks classic hits, and the songs wear well, sounding as fresh in 2017 as they did in the ‘90s. Further offering nods to his record-breaking world tours in the mid-‘90s, Brooks threw water bottles into the crowd, and climbed atop the revolving metal structure that surrounded the drum set center stage.

“Tonight, you treated the old songs like they were brand new, and you treated this song like it was the old stuff,” he praised the audience, as he performed his latest No. 1 single, “Ask Me How I Know.”

Pictured (L-R): Andy Elliott – Pearl Records, Glenn Noblit – Pearl Records, Hilary Hoover – Pearl Records, Lesly Simon – Pearl Records, Mitch Rossell – Songwriter, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Mandy McCormack – Pearl Records, Chris Waters – Pearl Records.

Earlier in the day, Brooks welcomed his team to celebrate the song, penned by newcomer singer/songwriter Mitch Rossell, who also opened for Brooks on his Nashville show.

After Brooks introduced wife and powerhouse singer Trisha Yearwood for “In Another’s Eyes,” Yearwood surprised both Brooks and Rossell with an arena-sized No. 1 party, celebrating the No. 1 song with confetti and a noble attempt at having balloons fall over the arena, though a technical malfunction prevented the balloons from falling in a timely manner.

Ever the professional, Yearwood was unfazed by the balloon malfunction, and launched into a string of her own hits, including “American girl (Xs and Os),” “How Do I Live,” “She’s In Love With The Boy,” and a gorgeously soulful turn on “Wrong Side of Memphis” featuring singers Vicki Hampton, Karyn Rochelle and Robert Bailey, that also showcased Yearwood’s scorching lead vocals.

“I think I broke a vocal cord on that one,” she quipped.

She wrapped with “She’s In Love With The Boy,” with the screen behind her turning into a “Kiss Cam,” catching couples in the audience. Appropriately, the song ended with Yearwood and Brooks on the cam, closing the song with a kiss.

Brooks, a well-known champion of songwriters, also used his Nashville shows to spotlight both Rossell and singer-songwriter Karyn Rochelle, who has penned songs for Trisha Yearwood (“Georgia rain,” “This is Me You’re Talking To”), Sunny Sweeney (“From A Table Away”), and Kellie Pickler (“Red High Heels”).

Brooks closed out the show with more hits, including “The Dance,” and a special rendition of “Friends In Low Places.”

As he reached the vamp before his “infamous third verse,” he told the audience, “We have not done the third verse on this tour, but that is going to change tonight.”

As the song wrapped and Brooks walked to each side of the stage, he thanked the audience yet again—but they weren’t ready for the night to end.

Perhaps the most potent display of Brooks attentiveness to his fans came when he returned to the stage to take audience requests—and the crowd was more than ready as signs went up around the arena.

He performed songs including “This Ain’t Tennessee,” and “She’s gonna make it,” and welcomed an 11-year-old who was holding up a sign letting Brooks know the opening Nashville show marked his first Garth concert. Brooks also performed two cover tunes “to play what I think country music is all about.” He paid tribute to the late Keith Whitley with “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” and George strait with “Amarillo By Morning,” before making the rounds to thank the rapturous audience again.

“This is the coolest opening night I’ve been a part of,” Brooks summed.

Judging by the crowd’s response, the feeling was more than mutual.