Aaron, Ryan, and Garth. Tonight’s installment of the Holliday brothers’ concert tour led to the Staples Center for Garth Brook’s fourth of five concerts in a two-day period. As usual it was a bit of an ordeal aquiring tickets – when they went on sale I got on Ticketmaster’s web site early, timed it so that I hit submit the millisecond tickets went on sale, but instead of getting good seats I was treated to a “Sorry, a system error has occurred” message. By the time I had re-submitted the request the tickets were sold out. But then a second show was added, and then a third. I finally got seats for the fourth show, and they were good ones.
Highlights of the show:
- A two minute long “yee haw” fest outside of the Staples Center before the concert. Folks were pumped up.
- The loudest and most enthusiastic crowd of any concert I’ve ever attended.
- Tricia Yearwood coming out for a song, and then not being allowed to leave due to the cheers.
- A kid sitting near the front holding a “Please sign my hat” sign. As Garth was leaving he looked at the kid, and shortly after the lights came up someone came out from backstage, talked to the kid’s father, and then took the kid backstage. About two thousand people sitting in the area cheered so loudly that everyone leaving Staples stopped, thinking there was going to be a third encore. Further cheers followed when another guy emerged from backstage and brought the father back.
- The second encore, during which Garth brought out one of the food service ladies from backstage. He said that she asked him what it’s like to be on stage in front of so many people, and he figured the best way to answer something is to “jump in with both feet”. She apparently asked him to sing “Ring of Fire” – obviously not the biggest Garth fan out there – but he sang another song that the crowd enjoyed, then took her to the middle of the stage, told her “this will be cool”, and then told everyone to take a picture on the count of three. After the flashes died down he said that in case she didn’t get a copy of the photo he wanted to make sure she had something to remember, and she left the stage in tears and wearing his hat.
A good time, and well-worth the ridicule from co-workers about being a country music fan.