Five minutes before Garth Brooks takes to the stage at Hyde Park, a booming American voice comes over the PA to tell the crowd this is the largest show in BST history – a total sell-out, with extra tickets added. And when Brooks appears, he looks both astonished and delighted.
Last time he was in London, in 1994 and at the peak of his stardom, he played one night at Wembley Arena, and the change in scale seems to shock him. When he performs Unanswered Prayers solo and the crowd sing it for him, he starts to cry – not sparkling, joyful showbiz tears, for his face does momentarily crumple like someone truly overcome.
