A Garth Brooks tribute act joked he’ll have to get himself into shape after watching the actual country music icon perform twice.
Trevor Smith who has impersonated the Grammy-awarding winning artist with his eight-piece band called Friends in Low Places for the last 12 years was left stunned at how energetic the 60-year-old was.
The Meath man revealed he was studying the Oklahoma entertainer during his first gigs in Ireland since 1997 and said he was left mesmerised.
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Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Trevor told us: “I’d better get myself into shape, I couldn’t believe how energetic he was.
“Garth is some showman, it was absolutely brilliant. I knew he was going to be good but I was surprised at how good. I’m not a lunatic, I don’t have a shrine of him at home and genuflect in front of it with candles lit around, I’m not mad but you have to appreciate the energy the man has on stage.
“He’s a fit bloke. He’s certainly well able to run around the stage. He’s full of energy.
“I’m a big fan of country music in general but what I love about him is that he shows you don’t have to stand in the one spot to sing country music.
“You can make it lively and fun for everybody and people can sing along … it doesn’t always have to be about the horse dying and the wife leaving you.”
Trevor, who went to see Garth Brooks again on Saturday with his wife, said he hopes to use some of what he witnessed in upcoming performances.
He said last Friday’s gig was the first time he saw the Unanswered Prayers singer perform live and prior to that he only watched him on DVDs and Youtube.
The Irish entertainer said his favourite Garth Brooks song is The Dance while his top pick to perform is Callin’ Baton Rouge
He explained: “I never seen him before last Friday. All I got was studying him on DVDs and Youtube but to actually see him in action, just little moves he’d make, little things he might say, it’ll all be a bit of a studying curve for me as well as enjoying the show.
“It’s amazing what you’d pick up, all the little things he does on stage. How he gets a reaction to this and that. When to pause and when not to pause.”
Trevor revealed the phone has already begun ringing with people wanting to book his band and he hopes it continues once the US star returns home.
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.
He said: “After the cancelled gigs in 2014, there wasn’t a surge in bookings. I think it went the other way actually. People were a little bit p***ed off with the whole situation.
“Our bookings picked up great on the run up in 2014 but they dropped and then the pandemic hit.
"When they announced he was coming again they started picking up again.
“We’re only starting to get back on our feet again. I’m hoping when he heads off that we’ll get a twist out of this.”
Trevor said he performed a charity gig with his band in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dalymount Park back in 2014 at the same time as the cancelled gigs.
He also said country music is taking off in Ireland and said more and more people are falling in love with the genre.
Trevor told us: “There’s always been a love of country music in Ireland with the advantage of YouTube and Facebook and all of that, people are getting a chance to hear more and more American country artists and people they would have never heard of, it’s great.”
Garth Brooks performed his last gig in Croke Park on Saturday night - finally fulfilling his dream of performing five gigs at the iconic Irish stadium.
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