I left Mayberry promptly after work to head to his house to pick him up and begin our three hour journey. After an hour or so we reached our only stop in between Points A and B to refuel our tummies.
We don't have a Zaxby's where we live, and their Big Zax Snak was calling both of our names. MMMM!! Boy, did that hit the spot. And naturally, brother doesn't like the camera like he did back in the olden days.
But back to the concert. Have I mentioned yet who it was?
Allow me to let him introduce himself....
Drum-roll, please....
It's GARTH!
Oh my goodness! He put on a heck of a show and 100% of the proceeds from all of his concerts went to the Community Foundation Tennessee Flood Relief. In six days, Garth did 9 concerts. Unbelievable! It was all well worth me not getting back home until after 3 am. Don't ask me how the next day went, though.
To kick things off, the show was supposed to start at 9 and didn't get started until around 9:45, which left my brother and I plenty of time to get drinks, point out people (like the guy rockin' the fu manchu mustache and the woman a couple rows down with the perfect hair. I looked at my brother and said "Seriously?! Who has hair that perfect at 9:30 on a weeknight?" "Uh, she does." He hit the nail on the head.
Then it happened - the lights went out, the crowd cheered and the band began to play as the drum set rose through the stage floor as band members took their places.
And then he came up from the stage and went right into Rodeo. What a song! For the rest of the show 20,000 fans would be on their feet as Garth performed such favorites Papa Loved Mama, Beaches of Cheyenne, Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House, Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old), Shameless, Unanswered Prayers, If Tomorrow Never Comes, We Shall Be Free, and The River.
Then, special guest Steve Wariner made an appearance and sang with Garth on Longneck Bottle and Garth continued his string of hits with The Thunder Rolls, That Summer and Callin' Baton Rouge. Another guest came out to sing a duet with Garth - none other than Mrs. Garth Brooks, aka Trisha Yearwood. The happy couple did their famous In Another's Eyes before Yearwood sang She's In Love With the Boy and How Do I Live. Garth was back with two of his signature songs: Friends in Low Places and The Dance before waving to the crowd and exiting the stage.
What? Done? I think not.
Yay, the band came back! You know what that means?
It means an encore with Ain't Goin' Down (Till the Sun Comes Up) and the place was rockin'! Then Garth left again, but all of Bridgestone Arena was chanting in unison "We Want Garth! We Want Garth!" And the man was back with a second encore and began singing songs people had written on posters and held up throughout the show: Learning to Live Again, Your Song, To Make You Feel My Love, Burning Bridges (for a girl celebrating her birthday), The Red Strokes (one of my favorites), That Girl is a Cowboy, Two Pina Coladas, Standing Outside the Fire and More Than a Memory. Then Garth proclaimed that he absolutely couldn't do any more because we [the crowd] "whipped his ass." I guess that's fair enough, we were over two and a half hours into his second concert of the night. In fact, it was already half past midnight.
Earlier in the trip, my brother and I were discussing songs we'd hoped he would do and we both mentioned that we wanted to hear Ireland. It was on his album Fresh Horses but never made it as a single for some reason. But, nevertheless, we were hopeful. However, we didn't even think to write it on a poster. So, the next time my brother and I attend a concert that will be just what we do: write "Ireland" on a humongous neon colored poster. That should attract some attention.
Upon leaving the arena, we knew we were in for a long drive home, but thanks to caffeine and country radio, we made it! Besides, the night was too great to even be think about being angry about getting home late. So I drove us back to Mayberry with the intoxicating sights and feel of downtown Nashville at Broadway fresh on my mind.
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