subject: Garth Brooks Tickets - Returning To The Spotlight [print this page] It was his first weekend back, and though he's still finishing up the final tweaks on his Las Vegas show, Garth Brooks is just as good as ever. Fans who have waited nine years to see him perform live again have bought tickets for his show up through the new year and beyond, traveling to Sin City from all corners of the globe to catch the country boy in the big city lights.
Yet for fans who have already seen this country stud, don't expect anything but a straight country performance - without all the glimmer and glamour that Las Vegas typically provides. Garth Brooks' new Vegas business is just about a country boy singing. Deemed the "antithesis of Vegas glitz" as he donned worn-in jeans, a sweatshirt and rather than his signature Stetson a worn-down baseball cap, Brooks performed Saturday to 1,500 fans in the sold out Encore Theater.
The four shows drew tunes from Brooks' vast career though stuck to the tight "100 minutes" scheduling, providing little room for fans to react. Have you been a fan for years? Get Garth Brooks tickets today online.
Even though it is housed in Wynn Las Vegas' new project, the production isn't surprisingly glamorous at all. Backed by only his guitar and his stories, Brooks jumbles though reminiscing while tuning his guitar during the nearly two hour show that simply focuses on the iconic star. Though the shows are only booked through the end of February - all of which are sold out - the schedule is projected to run for five years before Brooks sets out on a tour in 2014. "Are you kidding me?," he said during the first show on Saturday, Dec. 12. "Dude, this is awesome!"
Brooks was born in 1962 in Tulsa, Okla. His mother was a country singer who had recorded with Capitol during the '50s, a clear influence as Brooks grew up with music in the background. However, it was athletics where he initially felt he excelled, taking an athletic scholarship to Oklahoma State University as a javelin tosser. It wasn't long before he picked up a new career and threw that javelin away; Brooks worked in several Oklahoma clubs with lead guitarist Ty England before moving to Nashville post graduation.
Though he struggled his first few years in the country music capital (he returned home at one point to marry college sweetheart Sandy Mahl), Brooks signed with Capitol Records in 1988. The eponymous debut appeared a year later with Top 10 hits like "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)." Though his music remained influenced in the country classics that he grew up listening to, his tunes' crossover appeal revolutionized the genre at the time.
Brooks was off to a running start, as his sophomore effort No Fences in 1990 spent 23 weeks at the top of the country charts with singles "Unanswered Prayers," "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" and "The Thunder Rolls." The album solidified his superstar status, as he broke concert tour records and country albums ones alike, and continued the reign until 2000, when he retired from the business.
