![]() ![]() ![]() “I can’t tell you how cool this has been,” said Brooks, invigorated on opening night of a tour artists of his stature rarely get the opportunity to tackle. “But I’ll take the honky tonks any night,” he continued, heading for home with “The Thunder Rolls.” “Everybody talks about stadium gigs and how cool they are,” said the songwriter. Without question, the evening’s most rocking moment was a rollicking take on “Ain’t Going Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up).” The violin of Jimmy Mattingly drove the well-oiled performance, Brooks ducking down behind him during the fiddle-fueled hootenanny. In fact, this was a set so intimate, it was audible across the room as Brooks turned to his drummer off mic, counting in the outro as another audience sing-a-long closed a cover of “Fishin’ in the Dark.” There were no roadies doing that for him Monday in Chicago. ![]() “I grew up on a band called Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,” said Brooks, tuning his acoustic guitar. Photo by 8 Ten, Inc.Ĭlad in a Bob Seger t-shirt, the singer went on to single out some of his biggest influences, sending the band off for a break as he explained how artists like George Jones, Merle Haggard, Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis influenced not just him but the direction of country music.īrooks put his solo spin on Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” “The Race is On” by Jones and the George Strait hit “Amarillo by Morning” amongst others. Garth Brooks performs on opening night of the "Dive Bar" tour. Brooks climbed to the drum riser to close the song as rapturous applause drowned out his comments following it. If the question going into Monday’s once unthinkable small venue performance was whether Brooks could be as engaging in front of 400 as he is in front of 40,000, he answered it affirmatively in Chicago, singling out “Baton Rouge” as his favorite song to perform live. ![]() “We’re doing something we never get a chance to do at stadium shows,” he continued, singling out a fan in front who requested “The Red Strokes.” “Forgive me… It’s gonna suck,” he laughed, explaining how infrequently the band gets to play a song like that in front of a massive stadium crowd.įans filming with phones packed a stairway to the left of the stage, decorative lights strung from the ceiling added to the ambiance of the intimate performance and empty buckets of beer littered the floor as a crane cam soared overhead to capture the evening’s performance.īrooks pointed to his right at keyboard player Dave Gant as guitarist Gordon Kennedy did the heavy lifting on “Two Piña Coladas.” “Chicago sure is my home” adlibbed Brooks, arms spread over his head before stealing the phone of a fan in front, playfully taking either video or a selfie during the performance. “I think our job tonight is to make a night that none of us forget,” said Brooks of his relationship with Monday's crowd. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP) Rob Grabowski/Invision/APīrooks’ longtime 6-piece backing band is terrific, featuring additional guitar, pedal steel guitar, violin, keyboards, drums and bass from players who’ve been at his side for decades. Garth has partnered with Seagram's 7 Crown to secure 700,000 pledges to #JoinThePact, a pledge to never drive impaired. Garth Brooks performs at Joe's in Chicago, Monday, July 15, 2019, on the first stop of his Dive Bar. ![]()
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