Performer shows his ‘love’ in record-breaking concert
Country star wows audience with energy and a surprise guest
Garth Brooks did what seemed like the impossible during his second RodeoHouston show: He topped his opening performance
As good as that performance was, it was apparent just a few songs into Sunday’s closing show that this one would be even better.
It crackled with more excitement and urgency. Brooks seemed even looser and livelier. And the crowd was even more invested in every moment.
Sunday’s show drew 75,577 paid attendance, setting a new all-time record and besting Go Tejano Day by just a dozen people. Brooks’ first show last month drew 75,018.
“How many times does lightning strike twice in the same place?” he asked.
He raced across the stage during “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House.” He slowed things down with “The River,” which inspired an enthusiastic singalong and thousands of cell phones to light up the stadium.
Brooks frequently outstretched his arms, removed his cowboy hat and shook his head in disbelief at the crowd’s energy. It’s a well-worn part of his persona.
“Oh, you guys came here to sing — all right,” he bellowed before leading them through “Two Piña Coladas.”
“I love this place,” he said. “It’s the only place that’s big ass and still feels like a small place.”
Much of the initial setlist and between-song banter was similar to last month’s show: opener “Rodeo,” the wistful “That Summer,” a still-powerful “The Thunder Rolls.”
But things soon got interesting. Brooks promised early in the show that “tonight we gotta play almost twice as much as we did when we got here.”
“Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up),” not included in the first show, was a rapid-fire, raucous standout. Brooks jumped offstage and onto the rails at both ends of the stadium.
And then, a black SUV rolled into the stadium, and it happened. The rumor that’s been swirling since the start of RodeoHouston.
Trisha Yearwood joined her husband amid thunderous cheers for a duet “In Another’s Eyes.” Yearwood began singing as soon as she stepped out of the car.
She took an ebullient solo turn on “She’s in Love with the Boy,” her 1991 debut single, before being whisked back into the darkness. Talk about a closing night perk.
Brooks cruised through solid takes on “Amarillo by Morning” and “Callin’ Baton Rouge” before settling back into his solo material. And, incredibly, taking the energy even higher.
He powered through recent single “Ask Me How I Know” before asking the crowd to join in “the biggest singalong of the night” during “Friends in Low Places.” It was, of course, an easy ask.
“I made a deal with the board, it was a handshake deal,” he told the crowd before closing with “The Dance.”
“I would love to come back here, if I can still walk, and celebrate the 100th anniversary with you guys.”
Here’s hoping Brooks is back on that stage, or somewhere in Houston, long before that.