Garth Brooks calls a fan after the show in Texas, rips dynamic prices and signals the end of the tour
Garth Brooks must have had a good idea of the quality of his show in a completely packed AT&T stadium on Saturday night.
There was no doubting the energy the country icon sparked during his 27-song, over two-hour show. If the massive chants on every Garth classic by the nearly 90,000 people in attendance didn’t prove it, Garth’s thoroughly soaked western button-down shirt certainly did.
But still, around midnight, as the fans were leaving the stadium, Brooks made a video call to a lucky fan named Brandy to see what they thought of the show.
The video call was part of a “Text Garth” feature that Brooks is experimenting with as his North American stadium tour draws to a close. He plays at NRG Stadium in Houston on Saturday to wrap up his 113-stop tour before playing five shows at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland in September.
“You guys had a great time,” Brooks asked. “Did you have fun tonight?”
Yes they have.
“That was so good,” Brooks replied, knowing he had nailed the night.
He introduced Yearwood, who was sitting next to him in the back of an SUV as they left Arlington, likely heading for an airport.
“I love you. I can’t thank you enough for everything. Have a safe trip home. I love you!” Brooks yelled at the end of the one-minute call.
On Friday afternoon, Brooks discussed the importance of North Texas to his career, dynamic ticket pricing issues and why he is so beloved in Ireland.
You have a rich history in North Texas. Why is the region so special to you?
It’s like coming home, even though I’m from Oklahoma, I always thought these people would never welcome me, but they welcomed me like a son of the country and I’m very proud of that . It’s good to be back. It’s kind of where we started our career. You have the coolest building on the planet and everyone acts like you’re doing them a favor to be here, so that’s very nice. This has just been a great house for us.
What are your thoughts on using dynamic pricing on tickets? [Dynamic pricing, where the price of tickets for a show fluctuate depending on the demand for tickets, is being used by Ticketmaster ostensibly to prevent scalping, but have basically just made themselves the scalper]
It’s difficult. [Bruce] Springsteen is going through it right now. We all watch it. Here’s the bottom line for me, and I know it’s silly, but I’ve been screaming and screaming since you knew me: stop scalping. That’s it. Just make it illegal. In this way, the ticket price is the ticket price. The same money is going to be exchanged when scalping the tickets, it’s just now who gets the money, that’s the difference. What I hate in there, the hardest thing is the fan, the one that allows you to live your dream.
But if you’re going to play in Vegas, you’re doing residency, you’re going to do dynamic pricing. It’s going to be tough, so residence halls are tough but they still are due to limited seating anyway.
Would you consider playing at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth?
Oh yeah. This will be our last visit to the stadium. It’s too much for the crew.
It doesn’t mean you’re done, you’ll understand what you’re going to do, but I doubt we’ll do an organized tour again. We could just pick places and do things, but not bundle them on tour. These guys [the crew] I haven’t been home in months, so they must have the same life they gave me.
Why are you so big in Ireland?
I have no idea. Because, as you can imagine, I’m sticking there like a sore thumb. But from day one, there was a gentleman named Jim Aiken, he was the promoter there, he said you had to come. “Does he have the right guy,” I asked my manager. He said you could spend several nights here. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ It was 1991 or 92. I went to the Point Depot [Dublin] and I spent nine nights there and you couldn’t start a song without them repeating it to you in your accent.
If only I knew. I have no idea. If someone said, ‘hey man, I’ve got the answer’, then I would look for the answer to be music. That would make the most sense to me.
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