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    Garth Brooks has made a big kind of comeback with the Louisville crowd, playing four shows this weekend at the KFC Yum Center as part of his world tour. Opening night drew in a thunderous, enthusiastic crowd. Although his most recent tour brought him to nearby Lexington, it had been 18 years since Brooks performed in Louisville. Fans went crazy, excited to hear that he would be returning (it was even globally trending for a few days). On his connections with Louisville, Brooks said at a press conference on Friday, “If we’re in a city it’s because we had a guaranteed good time last time and we’re expecting that this time.” Perhaps time makes the heart grow fonder, making this weekend one to remember for Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

     

    “I don’t really think the crowds have changed, if anything I think the crowds have gotten more of the expectation of coming here and having fun because word has gotten out,” Brooks noted when on the time since his last show in Louisville. 

    Fun is exactly how Friday night’s crowd in Louisville would describe the show. Brooks played many of his hits as the crowd energetically sang along with every word. “They came here to have fun," Brooks says of the crowd, "They just need someone to kind of start the song and they’ll finish it.” The audience’s importance to Brooks was evident as he prompted cheers from specific sections all around the encircled stage and spent a portion toward the end of the show to take song requests from posters. From these requests, Brooks performed “Move Me,” “Every time It Rains” and “It Was Your Song,” as well as a tribute to Merle Haggard.

    The opening night concert also saw Brooks introduce vocalist and Louisville native Vicki Hampton. “Now that she’s home this is going to be her night and that will be one of the greatest memories I have of this state and ever standing on that stage, because she is one of those singers that is so fabulous and so humble a night like this I’m going to enjoy it more than she does,” Brooks said before the event. He also shared one of his favorite past Louisville memories was seeing Coyote Calhoun, who has been influential in Louisville’s country music scene, in the crowd at one of his arena shows.

    Brooks definitely brought his positive energy and enthusiasm to the KFC Yum! Center and the crowd responded. “I’ve seen these people party and I know what they can do, so I hoping they’re going to unplug it tonight and hope they’re going to unleash it." Oh, and they did. “The pressure for me is not on us at all, it’s more on the people because we’re expecting the kind of crowd we played to last time we were here, the time before that, and the time before that as well” said Brooks. The crowd lived up to that expectation passionately cheering and singing along throughout the entire show while Brooks commanded the stage and was clearly having an equally great time.

    So, will Garth Brooks return to Louisville in the next decade? We want to believe. “[Kentucky] has always been a great place for us, I like it because it’s so close to Nashville, but it’s a totally different place up here and the crowds are totally different... Everything from the raceway to here has always been about one thing, and that’s having fun,” says Brooks.

    Images: Kelli Goings

    Kelli Goings's picture

    About Kelli Goings

    I am a Bellarmine University student and Louisville.com intern! Music and photography are some of my passions.

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