Is there someone you have always wanted to meet? Or see live? Or have loved your whole life and just the thought of being in the same room with them gives you chills?
Well that is me and Garth Brooks.
Garth has been a big part of life. He is my all time favorite singer. I know everyone of his songs by heart and when they come on, they get turned up. I never get tired of them. When I think of my childhood, I think of him. When I found out he was going on tour, I just knew he would come to Dallas. Dallas is a big part of his life so I knew if I was just patient enough, he would come. My fear was he was going to come in the beginning of August when Brody was due and wouldn't be able to go.
The morning I got the email from Garth Brooks' people, telling me that Dallas was his next city and he would be here in September, I immediately told my family. Because like me, the love him too. My sister and Tim had traveled to Houston to see him in June for my sister's birthday so I was afraid they wouldn't want to go again but I was totally wrong! I asked Bobby if he wanted to go but he said he would opt out and let me have the night with my family while he stayed with Brody.
So come time for the tickets to go on sale. I was on my computer at 8am, refreshing Ticketmaster so come 10am, I could click 5 tickets and be done. Little did I realize that I wasn't the only one who loved Garth. Because come 10:00am, there was a 15 minute wait to see if you could even get them. I tried for 2 hours to get tickets for each night. He kept adding nights and as soon as I would find out, Ticketmaster would claim they were sold out. My heart sank. The man I have dreamed about seeing live was almost out of my reach.
A few weeks later, I was at my parents house in the pool and was complaining to my sister about not getting tickets. Tim knew of a different website where he could look for me. It's the place he got his and Kara's for Houston. The next day (which was Labor Day) I got a text from Kara asking me how much I was willing to pay and what was available. That Tim was able to find some for the Sunday night concert. About 5 minutes later, she text me back saying "Well Dani....you are going to see Garth!" I cried. Seriously I did.
A few fun facts about Garth before we get started:
*1988 is when his first CD dropped.
*His first big hit was Much Too Young (Too Feel This Damn Old) in 1989 which peaked at #8.
*He had almost no voice at the concert yet somehow found a way to sing for us.
*He claims he keeps his guitar on him to hide his gut.
*21 years- that is the person who has been with him for the shortest amount of time, and the fact he's been doing this for 27 years, that is saying a lot about this man!
*He likes to sing Happy Birthday to his crew with the help of the crowd.
*Gets the most emails about The Thunder Rolls
*Trisha Yearwood use to be his backup singer before she made it big herself. Many years later they fell in love and are now married.
*His first name is really Troyal, Garth is his middle name.
So here we are: 30 in 30: number 4: Garth Brooks
The day has finally come and I was told to be at Kara's at 4:45pm. We would go get dinner and then head out to the concert. I went through about 8 different outfits before I found the one I wanted to wear. The people who ended up going was me, Kara, Tim and my Dad. My mom said she would stay with Landry and Hayden, that she didn't really want to go to the concert! (Can you believe that?).
So we go to dinner and make our way to the AA center. Can I say how glad I am he picked the AA center over Jerry World. Everything about the AA center is better for a concert. And even when you are in the nosebleed section like we were, you can still see and hear really well.
He had an opening act and her name is Karyn Rochelle. I wasn't the biggest fan of her. She was just ok to me but I wasn't there for her. At 8:24pm, the 60 second countdown begin and you could hear the excitement in the crowd. Everyone screamed for the whole 60 seconds. And then there he was. Like I've always imagined.
I decided to write down each song in order of what he sang.
1) Man Against The Machine- The newest Garth song. After he sang this song, he made a small speech in which he told us that when he goes to concerts, he likes to hear the old stuff and the crowd goes wild! And off we go....I swear I felt like I was 10 again singing at the top of my lungs in my daddy's truck!
2) Rodeo
3) Two Of A Kind Working On a Full House
4) The Beaches Of Cheyenne- Fun fact about this song for me: When I was in the 5th grade, we had a fair like day at my Elementary school. The cop there was a singer and he loved Garth Brooks as much as me. We had planned on singing this song as a duet there. It never happened but I always remember rehearsing it. Oh and it has the word Damn in it and I was NOT allowed to say it.
5) The River- In my top 5 favorite Garth songs. "But with the good Lord as my captain, I can make it through them all".
6) Two Pina Coladas
7) Papa Loves Mama- So this song isn't a song a 10 year old should be singing about but Garth has a way of making his songs so catchy.
8) Ain't Goin Down Till The Sun Comes Up- So this song is the hardest song of Garth's to sing. It is so fast and took me years to master. I still get tongue tied on it if I think to hard about it.
9) Unanswered Prayers- So as this song is starting, my sister leans over to me and says that everytime she hears this song, she thinks of the babies she miscarried and how grateful she is for Landry and Hayden. And then the tears started rolling down my face. This is in my top 5 favorite song he sings. It always makes me think of things I never asked for and was given by God. "Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers. Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs. That just because he doesn't answer, doesn't mean he don't care. Some of God's greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers."
10) That Summer- Again, another song a child should not be singing. About a young boy and his older mistress who teaches him "lessons" in life. I had no idea what Garth was singing about till later and by then it didn't matter.
11) The Thunder Rolls- OK....another song a child shouldn't be singing about. About a man who cheats on his wife and she catches him and in the 3rd verse (if you are true Garth fan, you know he's notorious for his 3rd verses), shoots him. During this song I went and peed and got another drink.
12) Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)- "God bless Chris LeDoux" (only a true Garth fan will understand this)
13) In Another's Eyes- Trisha Yearwood comes out then and sings this duet with Garth. After this song is done, Garth takes a break and she sings a few of her most famous.
14) X's and O's
15) How Do I Live Without You- every time I think of Con Air and I love that movie!
16) Prizefighter
17) She's In Love With A Boy- My favorite Trisha song. Kara and I sing this song at the top of our lungs! "Momma breaks in, says don't lose your temper. Wasn't very long ago. When you yourself was a hay-seed plow boy, who didn't have a row to hoe. My daddy says you was not worth a lick. When it came to brains you got the short end of the stick. But he was wrong hunny and you are too. Katie looks at Tommy, like I still look at you. She's in love with the boy..."
Trisha goes off stage and Garth comes back out now. And he is in full force.
18) Callin Baton Rouge
19) Friends In Low Places- My 2nd favorite Garth song. And it would not be complete without the 3rd verse. At first he teased that he wasn't going to do it and got booed really bad and then laughed and said "Alright then....help me out!" and at the top of my lung I helped him out "I guess I was wrong. I just don't belong. But then, I've been there before. And everything is alright. I'll just say goodnight and I'll show myself to the door. I didn't mean to cause a big scene, just wait til I finish this glass. Then sweet little lady, I'll head back to the bar. And you can kiss my ass. 'Cause I've got friends in low places.....
20) The Dance- This is my favorite Garth song of all time. And I cried. My daddy reached over and held my hand and I lost it. This is my dad's all time favorite song and every since Kara and I were little girls, he has asked us to play this at his funeral. As morbid as that is, we always understood it. This song has a double meaning: first is about a love that has ended and how they don't regret it. The second is about someone dying because of something they believe in, after a moment of glory. How they could have missed the pain of it all but they would have had to miss the dance, the actual experience of it all. I could do a whole blog on this one song and maybe someday I will.
Encore
21) Fever
Encore #2
22) If Tomorrow Never Comes- In my top 5 favorite songs by Garth. It is a constant reminder to tell my husband and my baby I love them every night.
23) Amarillo By Morning- This is a George Strait song so I was really excited when I heard him cover this. It was so good!
24) Shameless- Fun fact about this song and me: When this song first came out, I swore up and down to my dad that Garth was saying "Shaving", not "Shameless" even to the point where I would sing shaving instead of shameless. It wasn't till years later I finally told myself I was wrong and dad was right. So it was only right that during this song I turn to my dad and at the top of my lungs sing "Oh I'm SHAVING..."
25) Standing Outside The Fire- I can't hear this song and not think of the video. One of the best videos ever. If you have never seen it, go to YouTube and look it up. It will change your life!
What a night! What an experience! I love this man and he may never know what he means to me and my family or ever know my name but it doesn't matter. I will get to meet him one day in heaven and I will have plenty of time to let him know then! And I can't imagine a better night than seated between theses two. Only thing better would have been my mom and my husband right there along side me.
And to the old couple sitting in front of me who plugged their ears every time Kara and I would scream, you should have known coming to a Garth Brooks concert was going to be loud. I do not apologize.
And to the lady who was 2 rows behind me who kept yelling at Garth that it was her birthday every 5 minutes, sweetheart I promise you he didn't hear you but everyone else around you did. I do hope you had a great birthday, despite how annoying you were!
No comments:
Post a Comment