Garth Brooks At Notre Dame Review
On Saturday, October 20th, Garth Brooks made history at Notre Dame Stadium and I was there. Not only was it my first time in South Bend, but it was also the first ever concert held at the stadium. Over 80,000 people were there in the cold, rain, and even snow to be a part of this epic experience.
Like I said, it was cold, rainy, windy, and even snowy on Saturday in South Bend. It even caused the show to be delayed an hour. However, that didn't stop Garth or the crowd from showing up for a night that none of us will soon forget. This happened to be the second time that I had seen Garth, so I held the concert to my experience of seeing him in Nashville on the last show of his World Tour last December.
Typically with a Garth concert, there is a grand entrance to set the tone of the show. This time there wasn't. He and his band just walked out on stage and kicked the show off with "All Day Long." Maybe it was because of the rain delay, or maybe he just wanted to not reveal his new entrance until he officially kicks off his stadium tour.
The only knock that I would have on the concert at Notre Dame was the entrance and the fact that he didn't sing "Shameless." I think not having that created grand entrance made the show start off kind of slow, but it wasn't long until Garth and the crowd got into their groove.
The energy in that place was electric! Garth had the crowd in the plam of his hands. Since the concert was filmed for a live television special, this concert was a little different. There were times when certain songs were over, Garth asked the crowed to just sing the chorus aloud by themselves so that the cameras could get a shot of the 80,000 plus singing along to his hit songs.
Garth also wanted to do something epic that everyone would remember on the upcoming television special. I won't reveal what that was. Let's see if you can guess what that was when the special airs on CBS on December 2nd. I will say that it would have been more epic if that moment was Garth being carried off the field like Rudy...but that's just my opinion.
It will be cool to see how the live special gets put together. As far as the concert, Garth sang all of his hits and even some of the songs that inspired him growing up. "Friends In Low Places" wasn't just a song that he played. No. It was the crowd the entire night. Everyone was friends, singing along to every song, and even interacting with each other. The couple sitting in front of us made some signs for the show and I had to take a picture with this sign because it was too funny!
Garth made a date with the crowd in attendance saying that he started his stadium tour at Notre Dame and he will be ending it there as well. So, if you haven't seen Garth before, this upcoming stadium tour will be the time to do it. I can promise you that you will be singing along to every song, cheering, laughing, and even get a little teary eyed at some of the songs. It will be an experience that you will never forget! My only hope is that you don't have to stand out in the cold, rain, or snow at your show. My hands and feet were freezing! I hate the cold, so for me to stay for the entire show without complaining tells you something about what Garth brings to the table at his concerts.
If you weren't able to attend the concert at Notre Dame, have no fear! You will be able to see Garth: Live at Notre Dame! will air on Dec. 2 on CBS. Once you see that, I bet you will be ready to buy tickets to his upcoming stadium tour to experience the fun that everyone at Notre Dame had.