Garth. Freaking. Brooks.

There are moments in life that you look forward to so much, that you've built up in your mind for so many years, that once it actually arrives there is no possible way for it to live up to your expectations. Last night was not one of those moments.


The day began with me having an allergic reaction to some fruit salad at a cookout. My tongue swelled up, blisters formed, and I thought to myself, "I'm not dying before I see Garth Brooks."

After a benedryl I wasn't dead, thankfully. I had the remnants of that feeling you get when you drink something that is too hot, too fast but after a few hours the swelling went down.

Then I of course burned my hand on a curling iron (which was really awesome when it was too hot and I immediately put all my long, wedding locks up in a pony tail almost instantly upon arrival.)

A bunch of tiny little mishaps had me in a terrible mood, because THIS was the day I'd been waiting for my entire life. Seriously. From the moment I was born, I was a Garth Brooks fan. I lived and breathed his music every day of my life and today was suppose to be perfect.


To give you a little backstory, Garth was my dad and I's thing. We'd drive around in his truck listening to him, we'd tape his concerts off TV onto old VHS tapes and watch them over and over again. It was one of the strongest aspects of our relationship, and I guess I'd always assumed I'd see Garth with him.

As Fate would have it, that's not how it worked out when Garth arrived in Knoxville. So I got tickets for my best Garth-sing-a-long friend, and we decided to go with the people I consider my second parents. I also got my mom a ticket for Mother's Day, and was really excited we'd get to share this concert.


My mom was an hour late to meeting us for the concert. I hate when people are late. She showed up, and was completely incapacitated. (Most of you can read the subtext here.)

So she couldn't go, and I was completely heartbroken. Such a huge day, and it obviously wasn't important enough.


I called Eric and even though he hates country music, he went with me since I was pretty much devastated that none of my family was going to share this with me.


We parked in the fort and walked our boots across campus and into the arena to find the "TBD" level of the arena was actually the 100 level, and it was behind the stage.

Now, that arena is a dry campus, and it's a good thing everyone in that area wasn't under the influence because they probably would have had a riot on their hands. We were all pretty pissed to be on the back side of a concert that we'd all fought for tickets for and waited you know OUR WHOLE LIVES.

It didn't help that the concert started almost an hour late, but the opening act, Karyn something something (I actually really liked her and knew most of her songs, but I can't for the life of me remember and it's too early to be looking that up) only played three songs.

We all expected Trisha to come out, since that's what we'd all heard happened next, but she didn't. It was just three songs and then BAM. Garth came roaring out with an epic introduction that involved an insane light show and a silhouette build up that gave me goosebumps and almost made me fan-girl cry.



From that point on, I couldn't remember any of the crappy things that had happened up to that point. He was EVERYTHING I imagined him to be, everything I had watched on shitty old VHS from-tv recordings, every documentary and award show...he was all of it.

Funny, wildly energetic, interactive, and humble. He was definitely older, and it showed, but other than his face you'd never had guessed this wasn't his millionth concert.

He played with a fanatic frenzy and joy, as if he'd never seen a crowd go THIS crazy over his songs.

You could tell with every smile, every interaction that he loves his fans, and he's doing this because he loves to perform.

The most impressive part, for me, was when he said, "I'm just like you. I've paid my money to see the people I love, and when I am in those seats I want to hear the old stuff."

Which, may be a silly thing to be impressed by, but DAMN! YES! Thank you Garth!

I fucking want to hear the songs I grew up listening to! I want to hear the songs that made me cry after break ups and the songs my parents would sing me as a baby! I want to sing along with you and this arena, and I can't do that if you're only playing your new stuff.

I freaking appreciated that SO much.

And boy, did he play them. He played every. single. one.

Yeah, he played some of his new album. But for a career spanning 25 years, I honestly have no idea how he managed to play ALL of my favorite songs, including Standing Outside the Fire which I never in a million years guessed he would have played.


He played all the songs I could have asked for, and hearing the entire TBA singing to the River in the darkness was hauntingly beautiful. I'll never forget that moment and the chills it sent down my spine.

He knew what we wanted, and he gave it to us. And he did it in a way that made us feel like we were fueling him, asking him to go on and play them...which fired us up beyond reason. The guy next to us actually ripped off his shirt during Shameless. Not kidding. It was that intense.


There were moments when I was completely speechless. He is a true performer, and his talent is so evident. He still has a voice, and so does Trisha, who joined him on stage for a brief time.

I have a feeling she wasn't feeling well or had lost her voice, as her set was really, really short. But we still got to hear three of my Trish favorites!



Sometimes you build someone up on a pedestal because they've been a huge part of your life. It seems weird to say that a country music star changed my life, but he did. This was number one on my bucket list, and my hopes could not have been any higher.

I don't know how, but he blew my expectations out of the water. There is nothing at all he could have done to make that show any better, any more memorable, or any more of an incredible experience.


He is a true performer, and a true artist.


After the concert we hopped in a cab with two guys from California and showed them the Joe and Waffle House, and they met Jackson. It was really just a perfect night, and I'll never forget it.


Thanks, Garth. You did damn good.