Get ready for Garthmania –Ireland’s favourite music star is coming to town.
Garth Brooks broke records when he sold out five concerts in Croke Park in one day, more than 400,000 tickets.
Fans spent €30million in just a few hours to get to see the Friends In Low Places singer.
Now the countdown is on to next Friday and the first of five concerts that will rock the nation’s biggest stadium.
Due to demand, a limited amount of extra tickets were released yesterday, giving those who missed out another chance to see him live.
It’s as though after the 2014 debacle – when his run of gigs was pulled after objections – we’re giving him an even warmer welcome back.
They might as well put a roof over Ireland and let him play for the whole lot of us.
For a country of five million people, it’s an extraordinary level of interest. Like it or not, Garth Brooks is a phenomenon. Ireland loves Garth – and the feeling is mutual.
The Stetson-wearing strummer says he was so shocked when he heard all five nights had sold out, he started crying.
The 60-year-old has a long history of massive gigs here. He played eight nights in the Point Depot – now the 3Arena – in 1994 and he sold out Croke Park in 1997.
He adores the Irish crowds who come to see him perform and recently said: “To stand in Ireland and hear those people sing, it must be the greatest sound you’ll ever hear.
“It was always the place where you couldn’t start a song – two words and it’s gone, they’re taking over.
“That’s the way music should be. When you hear them singing your stuff in Croke Park, it’s like heaven.”
Brooks added at every gig he ever plays around the world, he sees an Irish flag waving at him from the audience.
And he decided to wrap up his three-year comeback tour – The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour – here because it will give it “an upbeat ending”. His massive success in Ireland is recognised at an international level, with it making headlines in the music press in the US.
He does not attract the same level of sales in the UK, for example – his appeal is very Irish specific.
But why exactly has Ireland such a massive fan base? How come we are so in love with Garth?
First off, it’s important to note Garth is one of the biggest stars in music, the No1 selling solo artist in the US.
His breakthrough album Ropin’ The Wind – released in 1991 – was at the top of the American album charts for 18 weeks. It’s one of the best-selling records of all time. Overall, with nine albums, he has sold 157 million records.
Secondly, American country music has its roots in Irish traditional music.
So it’s no surprise we’re so fond of it, as it is familiar, with the same instruments – fiddle, harmonica, banjo.
Of course, it has to be said not everyone loves Brooks and plenty are embarrassed by our love for schmaltzy songs like If Tomorrow Never Comes.
Some have told me if he was playing out in their back yard, they’d come inside and shut the door.
Others have inexplicably claimed they have never heard of him before or couldn’t list one of his songs. They won’t understand the sight of fans in tassled boots and stetsons singing Shameless.
Garth’s music seems to cross all age groups. At this stage, concert-goers grew up on his music from their parents playing it in the 90s.
But there is a geographical line – in general, it’s country people who like him, not so much the city slickers.
Once you step outside the Pale it’s Garth country.
I grew up in west Wicklow and you could not get away from his music for about a decade.
Country music, and its culture, is more relatable to the regional.
They say Brooks has an “everyman” charm and his down-to-earth manner and working-class concerns are similar to our own. It’s the music of the people – we feel he’s one of us.
It’s about shared identity with our counterparts across the Atlantic.
Life in the country here isn’t all that different to life in the rural US.
There are the tear jerker songs such as The Dance, the party songs Ain’t Going Down Til The Sun Comes Up and the proud patriotic anthems like We Shall Be Free.
Love and marriage are dealt with in songs such as Unanswered Prayers and loss in If Tomorrow Never Comes.
The defiant stance of the underdog is all over his music from Friends In Low Places to Standing Outside The Fire.
Aside from that, Garth is a brilliant performer – a rock ’n’ roll style showman with great songs.
The gigs at Croker will be the best night out of the year. See y’all there.
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