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Three thirty in the morning / Not a soul in sight / The city’s lookin’ like a ghost town / On a moonless summer night / Raindrops on the windshield / There’s a storm moving in / He’s headin’ back from somewhere / That he never should have been / And the thunder rolls / And the thunder rolls.
Lights rise and illuminate the man with the guitar in the black cowboy hat and expressive western shirt. The crowd roars with pent up anticipation that has gathered like a storm since the day he went on music hiatus a few years ago. Beer is flowing, bodies are moving in time to the soulful song, and every fan is delirious, including me.
I rush through my mental phone book, desperately searching for someone to call and share this moment with—YEEEE HAAAW! GARTH IS BACK—then my adrenaline rush fizzles out when I realize I’m the only Garth nut that I know of in my neck of the woods.
Though he appears a bit rusty and winded after years of not running around like a lunatic on stage, he still left me breathless for a totally different reason—can’t look at all that country maleness and those baby blues and not feel weak in the knees.
As he whips the crowd into a frenzy, you know he’s there to raise some hell and have some fun. But cooler than that, he’s also raising money for the California Firefighters.
Mixing old music with new, he brings you an unforgettable show—even rock legend Huey Lewis joins Garth on stage to duet “Working for a Living.” Garth’s latest release, More than a Memory, had to grow on me at first, but now it’s one of my favorite Garth songs.
No one brings as much energy to a concert as Garth Brooks, and you can feel it vibrate all the way to the tips of your big toes. When he plays a single cord from a song, the crowd and I go wild, because we know exactly what he’s gonna sing next. And no way are we about to let him get away without singing the last verse—you know the one the radio stations won’t play—from “The Thunder Rolls” and “Friends in Low Places.” Garth jokes, “Come on! We’re not gonna sing the third verse. This is family TV!” With a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, he does anyway, and we sing along.
All wild, country boy charm and testosterone, he leaves you feeling as if you were treated to something extra special, like whipped cream on decadent hot chocolate. He’s so energetic and fun to watch you’ll feel as if you’re right there in the crowd at the stage looking up at him instead of sitting on the couch at home prisoner to your television like I am tonight.
Fans love him—I love him—he’s the unequivocal king of country music. Welcome back, Garth. You’ve been dearly missed.
