It has been a long 17 years since Garth Brooks graced the city of Boston and New England fans with his amazing vocals and high energy concerts. The time away from the spotlight did nothing but insatiate New England fans desire to see Garth up on the big stage. New England Country Music had the honor of being at Garth’s first show of six over four days back in the area in over 17 years. The TD Garden was buzzing with electricity before the show as the fans ranging from 5 to 75 years old filled the concourse. Ticketmaster had sent Garth a statistic saying that 43-48 percent of ticket buyers were 10 years old or not even born the last time he came through. Garth Brooks transcends an age group though as his music is deep in it’s roots as fans pass along their love of his songs to their children and they continue the cycle.
We took our amazing seats in the 10th row of the floor as the show was set to begin. Right around 7:30 we were treated to special guest, Karyn Rochelle. She and her band, which she calls The Mumblers had a great stage presence from the get go. During her brief set, Rochelle mixed in some of her own tunes with a few she had helped write, ‘From A Table Away’ for Sunny Sweeney and ‘Red High Heels’ for Kellie Pickler. The last song she performed was one entitled, ‘Leave You Better Off’ which was off her new album and dedicated to her husband. The Garden crowd was certainly better off after hearing Karyn’s performance as her voice was truly remarkable and was a great start to the evening. This wouldn’t be the last time we’d see her though as she would pull double duty as a backup singer for Garth.
The stage was set for the main event and it was a massive one! A 360 degree wide open stage awaited the man of the hour with a large cube hanging down over the middle of it. At 8:10pm the lights went off and the cube started to flicker. A countdown began and as it did an image of a skull appeared on the screen informing us that “The machines are in control!” As the countdown hit 0, Garth Brooks silhouette appeared on the cube and the 17 year wait was finally over. The man himself appeared with his band on stage and to thunderous applause that I’ve never heard before at a concert. Garth wasted no time in getting this party started as he unleashed the title track off his album of the same name, ‘Man Against Machine.’ This would be only one of two songs he’d play all evening off of his new album. As the song ended he took time to address the crowd, “From the crew, band and myself…it’s great to be back in Boston! Thank you for coming out and for coming back.” At this point the gloves were off and the crowd went crazy as ‘Rodeo’ was played and his band was rocking the stage like no other. You could tell that this night was going to be more special than previously anticipated and would be one greatest hit after another. “This is a weeknight and thought everyone would be tired but you guys are ready to raise some hell! That’s good as we brought all of our old stuff,” Garth proclaimed before singing ‘Two of A Kind, Workin’ On A Full House.’
Before breaking out ‘The Beaches of Cheyenne’ Garth paused for a moment, removed his hat and gave the crowd a few short rules, ” Since I last saw you guys, I’m now 137 years old. I’m going to need your help getting my big ass through this. Now it’s time for Garth 101 and see how many of you know the old stuff!” This show was gaining more and more steam with each passing song as the crowd gave every bit of energy back to Garth and his band that they put out. Things slowed down briefly as the Garden lit up with cell phone lights as Brooks sang ‘The River.’ Every person in attendance sang a long to the chorus and the backdrop of lights looked like thousands of fireflies in the arena. That momentary break didn’t last long as Garth had the floor shaking again with ‘Two Pina Coladas’ and ‘Papa Loved Momma.’ No one in attendance was left out as he would run from one side of the stage to the other and even climbed the giant ball (which held his drummer) to sing to the people at the back of the 360 degree open stage.
The now 52 year old singer was pulling energy out of seemingly nowhere as he fed off the crowd time and time again. Easily one of the highlights of the show was, ‘Ain’t Goin’ Down (Til’ the Sun Comes Up).’ Vintage live Garth was on full display as he shook water bottles into the crowd, grabbed a nearby crew camera running back and forth in front of the crowd with it and leading a giant jam session with his band. Taking a break to catch his breath, Brooks brought out an acoustic guitar for his next song, ‘Unanswered Prayers.’ Not far into the song, the crowd took over and sang the chorus loudly in unison. This has always been one of my favorite Garth songs and rose up another notch with this emotional performance between singer and fans. He took off his hat, bowed to the audience and told everyone, “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard it sang better than that.” The more up-tempo songs would take a hiatus as next up was ‘That Summer’ and ‘ The Thunder Rolls.’ We were given Garth’s feelings on ‘The Thunder Rolls,’ “This song had a hard time out of the box. Songs are like your kids and this one drew me closer as you rescued it. For those of you who travelled the miles to hear this song, I hope this is everything you wanted and more.”
The second of only two songs off of Garth’s newest album was up next, ‘People Loving People.’ You could tell how much it meant to him for fans to know this song and sing a long with such pride as you never know what to expect when playing song live in a town for the first time. “First thing we do when we get into a city is have a press conference. There’s a fine line you walk with how much you sing and how much you share yourself. I can’t watch the news for 2-3 minutes before I get pissed off and turn it off. This song is near and dear to me and is Garth!” After this song was over, he made a heart symbol to the crowd as he tapped his hand to his heart.
Now as is the custom on this tour, Garth was not alone. As he began ‘In Anothers Eyes,’ he was joined on stage by his wife, Trisha Yearwood. Instantly you could feel the love between the two as they sang together while moving towards each other from separate sides of the stage. It was like there was no one in the arena besides the two of them. Miss Yearwood (as Garth calls her) would go onto treat the audience to an all too brief four song set. But it’s not always the quantity as much as the quality when putting on a memorable performace. First out of the gate was, ‘XXX’s and OOO’s’ as a video played on the giant cube over head and Garth’s band stayed on-stage to support her. Fans were treated to her newest single, ‘Prize Fighter’ which had Trisha at a brief loss for words, “Thanks for singing and saving me on that one. I walked up here, saw the cowboy and I lost it.” One of her biggest hits was recorded for the movie ‘Con Air’ and had the crowd singing with ‘How Do I Live.’ Before ending her set with fan favorite, ‘She’s In Love With the Boy’ Trisha addressed the crowd on her good fortune, “I’m the luckiest girl in the world to travel all over the world and play music with the love of my life.”
At this point, Garth returned to the stage and it was like he never even took a break. He and his band rocked the Garden with ‘Shameless’ and ‘Callin’ Baton Rouge,’ which had the crowd on fire and stomping their feet. There was no slowing down and this was only the build up into what would arguably the most energetic song of the evening, ‘Friends In Low Places.’ Garth was up on stage with his guitar and had some fun with the crowd, “Notice that I don’t call myself a musician. I only use this guitar to hide my gut and only turn it on for one song.” The crowd erupted the second that he played the first chord and there was no turning back. There is nothing like seeing Garth in concert and feeling the energy when the third verse of this song is played. At no point was the Garden louder than when he got to that ‘mysterios third verse that goes on the end of that song.’ Brooks would proclaim after the song, “If you have any friends coming for the next few nights… they better pack a lunch if they are going to beat tonight.”
Now if ‘Friends In Low Places’ was the highlight of the energy portion of the concert, the next song was the highlight of the ballad portion. There aren’t many songs that can touch people the way that ‘The Dance’ does. It resonates from the oldest of people right down to the youngest and has such an amazing message. Garth has been playing this song for over 25 years and it only gets better with time. Can’t explain the powerful emotions sitting there singing along with the rest of the crowd as the arena was once again lit up with cellphones. Proceeding the song, Brooks would take off his hat and thank every side of the stage as he took his leave. No way he was getting off that easy though!
The chants of “Garth!” and “We want more” rose from the crowd as Garth’s fiddle player returned to the stage alone at first. Everyone erupted as the main attraction hit the stage to begin a lengthy encore, starting with ‘The Fever.’ This performance was every bit stunningly visually as it was to listen to. The stage came alive as his the giant ball containing his drummer rose into the air as it spun and the the side stages with his keyboardists followed suit. Even Garth got into the movement act as he ran in front of the stage and quickly would slide back on what had to be a treadmill built in the stage. Once again, he and the band would leave the stage to chants but this time Garth would return alone as he strapped on his guitar, tipped his hat to the crowd and performed, “If Tomorrow Never Comes,’ which was his first #1 single. The encore didn’t stop there as he went “older old school” for his first hit single, ‘Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old).’ At this point, he still had one last song in his arsenal as the stage filled with smoke from below. Garth ended this amazing evening with one of his most powerful songs, ‘Standing Outside The Fire.’ The energy between the fans and artist was just as strong as when the concert began and I’m sure could’ve gone on for another few hours. He and the band then walked to the front of the stage and took a bow in unison. Brooks dropped to his knees with his arms stretched out wide as the adulation from the crowd continued on. This was one iconic image to leave the New England crowd with as we await the next time he returns… hopefully a lot sooner than this last wait.
On a personal note, this had to be the most amazing concert I’ve ever had the pleasure of attending and covering for New England Country Music. The connection between Garth Brooks and the audience was one that is second to none. He clearly loves and is appreciative of every last one of his fans and it shows in his performance. Not too often do you get to see a singer evoke such passion and fervor from fans starting at 5 years old and going all the way up to 75 years old. Make sure you catch him on tour if he’s coming to your town as this is one event that you will kick yourself for if you miss out on.
This recap was done by NECM contributing writer Mike Sullivan. You can follow me on Twitter.