17 years ago, I made a promise to myself. I was 11, but for as long as I can remember listening to music has been a big thing for me. Garth Brooks was saying goodbye for a long while and all my dreams felt crushed that I wouldn’t see him in concert. I watched him play his last concerts on t.v. and decided when he came back to Oklahoma, I would go see him.
Years have passed and I probably made a hundred other promises to myself but those have all been lost in the wind. The only one that stuck was that I was going to see Garth in concert. I have even met the man and have the autograph to prove it but I haven’t heard him sing. Like thousands of others, I refreshed and waited and waited 3 hours and finally got tickets to see him. The luck of the draw, I managed to score 4 tickets to his last show made available in the nosebleed section, but I didn’t care. I was going to see Garth at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night.
Everyone going on Saturday knew this would be tricky since he had a 7:30 and a 10:30 show. Colder than a well digger’s behind with the wind blowing, it felt like all of Oklahoma was standing outside the BOK center, but we managed to take it all in stride. Like us Okies are, we all chatted like we were friends and neighbors about how awesome this was going to be and waited out in the cold for over two plus hours depending on when you got there.
Playing two shows that night, they managed to reset in just 29 minutes after the first show. The 10:30 show started at Midnight and didn’t disappoint. Goosebumps were had by all as he rocked the house with old song after old song. The crowd went wild after every performance and sang along with every song. It was amazing. 17,500 fans all crammed in the BOK Center. My husband was amazed by how loud it was in the arena.
Along with getting to hear Garth do his thing, Trisha came out and sang In Another’s Eyes along with a couple others. We also got to hear Karyn Rochelle sing. She sings back up, but she is also a singer/songwriter that you should check out if you love Trisha’s songs. Georgia Rain was beautiful. Trisha walked off the stage but not before sealing the deal with a kiss from Garth which caused another round of applause.
Garth entertained us all. From the crowd right by the stage to up in the nose bleeds, we all felt so special. He would look at a section and they would shine their light on that area and the crowd would go wild. He had everyone’s attention. He joked about his guitar and how he only used it to cover his gut but he had one song he was going to use it on. Four notes and we all went nuts singing Friends in Low Places.
I am a thoughtful soul, so when If Tomorrow Never Comes came on it was emotional for me. The lights were down low. My husband’s arm around my shoulder while he sang right along with Garth, I just sat there and soaked it up. It was amazing and I feel so blessed to be able to be there with him and share such a special moment. I couldn’t ask for anything more than what I had right then.
There was an encore like all awesome concerts. He played Fever and the big ball the drummer was in spun while they played on moving runways while singing which is such a crazy amount of intense coordination and concentration I can’t wrap my head around.
The crowd was still roaring at the final bow. The show ended at 2:30 and just like in Cinderella when the clock struck 12, the magic disappeared. We made our way toward the exits. We grabbed our Garth Brooks and Trisha t-shirts which were only $25 a piece along with $45 hoodies with a free hat and $5 wristbands. All in all, it was one of the better well rounded concerts I have been to. Hardly anyone was rude. The lines were long but as quick as they could be, even the t-shirt lines weren’t bad. A good time was had by all. The only complaints were that we felt like we were so high we could touch the ceiling and needed safety belts for our chairs and well let’s face it, Garth could have played longer, but I don’t think I will ever get enough.
My 11 year old self is forever happy.
To see amazing pictures from his concerts, go to Tulsa World’s.
All pictures shown here taken by Kalamity.