“I wish he played every week”.
Pint-puller at Phil Ryan Hogan Stand pub Alan Brady said the pub was jammers last Friday as the country music star geared up to perform in Croke Park for the first time since 1997 and remained that way all weekend.
He said event staff who helped build the stage even dropped in to have celebratory pints after they finished last week.
Alan revealed tourists from the UK, US, and Europe wearing cowboy hats and T-shirts with the face of the iconic musician on them have flocked to the bar.
The barman said he is used to serving pints to GAA fans but was busy making gin and tonics all weekend for the musician’s fans.
Speaking from behind the counter, Alan told The Irish Mirror: “I’m a huge Garth Brooks fan myself so I wish I could actually be at the gig. My favourite song is Unanswered Prayers.”
“The customers have been great, it’s totally different than an All-Ireland Final.
“The pub was jammed all weekend and we expect it to be the exact same this weekend.
“I can hear him perform so clearly when I’m working, it’s great. It’s brilliant for the local economy. In the bar, every area was full - upstairs, downstairs and outside.
“The customers are totally different, we’re used to GAA fans during the matches. It’s a totally different crowd.
“There are a lot down from the North, loads over from England and a good few Americans. It’s very nice. I wish he played every week. Everybody was ordering gin and tonics for the night.”
This month’s concerts come eight years after a licencing debacle caused Brooks to cancel all five of his sold-out shows in 2014, something he says broke his heart.
Brooks has been popping up in various locations around Ireland interacting with fans over the last week.
He had an impromptu sing-song with resident’s living in Dublin’s Portland Place on Saturday before serenading punters in the famous Kerry pub Dick Macks on Tuesday.
The Grammy award-winning artist also made a surprise visit to the University of Limerick where he played basketball at the campus arena and chatted to fans.
The Friends In Low Places singer also visited Wicklow with his wife and fellow country music star Trisha Yearwood where they sampled the sights of Glendalough.
Last week at a press conference, Garth Brooks revealed he shed 50lbs to be fit to run around the stage during his long-awaited five night run at Croke Park.
The 60-year-old country superstar, who has put blood, sweat, and many tears into getting the gigs across the line, proudly told how he is the same weight now as he was when he played Croker for the first time in 1997, aged 35.
The musician has 50 cameras filming him during his Croke Park gigs as part of a Netflix documentary.
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