For the first time in 12 years, Garth Brooks took to the stage in Nashville for one of his nine charity concerts for flood relief.   He delivered a set of old and new and made a point of honoring the crowd and praising the Middle Tennessee community’s response to the May floods.  

The show kicked off with “Rodeo and “Papa Loved Mama” and segued into a number of other hits with brooks proclaiming “Send the word out right now: If the other eight shows are like this, I’m never going to make it, man!”  He later said “I’ve missed this so much!”

The full-blown arena spectacle was clearly in place from the beginning of the event with fog-machines filling the stage and a giant funky sphere of lights decended from the ceiling.  Garth appeared as a box – which had been hiding him – sunk to the floor. 

The crowd was littered with faces young and old and they enthusiastically sang  along with many of the songs, including the 1990 hit “Two Of A Kind, Workin’ On A Full House,” which Garth stated as “coming back from before a lot of you were even born.”  Later Garth invited longtime friend Steve Wariner on stage to sing the hit he wrote for Garth, “Longneck Bottle” and then took the time to sing his own “Some Fools Never Learn” before harmonizing and playing on “Callin’ Baton Rouge.”  Trisha Yearwood followed with their #1 duet “In Another’s Eyes” before taking the stage to sing her very first and still signature hit “She’s In Love With The Boy.”  Trisha ended her stint by providing harmony on the 2007 hit single “More Than A Memory,” a song which debuted at #1.   

The proper show ended with “The Dance” before an encore of “Ain’t Goin’ Down (Til The Sun Comes Up)” became the appropriate ending as it reminded folks of the true power of Garth and his fantastic band and perhaps even more so, it reminded Garth of the fan’s power to provide him with a rush that entertainers can only get from one place, the stage.   He’s sure to get more than his share of it with a slate of seven more shows still on the docket.  Unfortunately, if you wanna catch these shows, you’re outta luck as they are sold out.