Brooks charms audience in LA
GBy Craig Modderno
arth Brooks had a mission when he took the stage at the Forum on Friday night, his first of four concerts to be held at the venue: to prove Los Angeles was a country music friendly town.
Already the biggest-selling solo artist of all-time, and currently completing the third year of his tour with wife Trisha Yearwood, it had been 21 years since he last played the iconic arena — not counting a television special he taped there during the nineties — and he wanted to make this memory last. Not just for himself, but for the thousands in attendance happily crossing off “Garth at the Forum” from their bucket list.
After a short, spirited opening set by singer-songwriter Mitch Rossell, followed by a well-received, more energetic performance by Karyn Rochelle, Brooks arose from a stage sphere surrounding drummer Mike Palmer and immediately took charge. His rousing version of “Baby Let’s Lay Down And Dance” flowed into “Rodeo” then “Two Of A Kind,Working On A Full House.” By the time Brooks next introduced his selfdescribed first old cowboy song, “The Beaches Of Cheyanne,” it was clear the L.A. welcome was genuine. To wit: at no time during his and Yearwood’s performance did either have to ask the enthusiastic crowd to sing along.
Brooks looked bemused during “The River,” not to be confused with the Bruce Springsteen or Joni Mitchell song, as the room filled with the lights of cell phones. He also appeared surprised that more women were wearing cowboy hats than men. But like the musical manipulator he is, Brooks segued seamlessly into his bar anthem, “Two Pina Coladas,”and the audience raised their drinks in salute. If ever there was a mash-up that needed to made, it would be Brooks crossed with Jimmy Buffett.
Emotion
Two upbeat songs later, Brooks sang his first ballad, the poignant “Unanswered Prayers,” and the moment became heavy with emotion, intensified by a chorus of stellar background vocalists (Robert Bailey, Vicki Hampton and opener Rochelle) along with his excellent longtime band.
What’s special about Brooks’ music in part is how it’s not traditional country. There’s no twang or a romantic pity party theme in his songs. If anything, performances of “That Summer” and the anthemic “Friends In Low Places” showed Brooks’ sensibility to be that rare hybrid of pop and traditional country influences. (When the extremely affable entertainer was growing up in rural Oklahoma, his favorite musicians were Kiss and James Taylor.)
Brooks appeared to challenge himself when he introduced his biggest hit, “The Thunder Rolls” as, “The song I don’t want to mess up because a lot of you went through a lot of slow traffic just to hear this one song.” What followed was a visual spectacular and one of Brooks’ strongest vocals. Brooks stalked the stage like Mick Jagger and played the guitar with the intensity of Keith Richards as if both were trading licks on “Midnight Rambler.” (The ten-disc Garth Brooks Collection, which includes his new album “Gunslinger,” has one disc devoted to covers of pop classics written by Billy Joel, Bob Seger and Elton John, among others.)
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Brooks
After a successful inaugural run at Dodger Stadium on July 15 and 16, Classic West will head north to Seattle for Classic Northwest. Topping the bill for September 30 at Safeco Field are The Eagles and Doobie Brothers. An official announcement arrives on Monday.
At opening night of Classic West in Los Angeles, The Eagles shared the bill with Steely Dan in addition to the Doobie Brothers. Filling in for the late Glenn Frey on guitar and vocals was his son, Deacon; Vince Gil and Bob Seger also joined the Eagles in their first show since Frey’s 2016 death. The lineup for night two included Fleetwood Mac, Journey, and Earth, Wind & Fire. That same combination heads to New York’s Citi Field on July 29 and 30.
Tickets prices for the Classic series, a Live Nation production, start at $99 for single-day entry and top out at $2,950 for the twoday front row VIP package in New York.