Garth Brooks Makes History At Notre Dame Stadium

Garth Brooks makes history at Notre Dame Stadium on October 20, 2018. Photo: facebook.com/GarthBrooks

As the first-ever concert event held at Notre Dame Stadium in the venue’s 88-year history, Garth Brooks performed his historic show on Saturday, Oct. 20, giving 85,000 fans a night they will always remember.

Garth hit the stage full-throttle, bringing the crowd to a roar in the show’s opening moments with his current hit, “All Day Long.” Mother Nature also attended, whipping the stadium with a wintry mix of snow, wind and freezing rain before the show began an hour later than scheduled. None of that dampened the crowd’s enthusiasm.

A wintry mix of snow, wind and freezing rain arrives before Garth Brooks makes history at Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 20, 2018. Photo: MusicRow.

Garth and his band rolled through three hours of music including favorites such as “Two of a Kind, Workin’ On a Full House,” “Unanswered Prayers,” “Standing Outside the Fire,” “Ain’t Going Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)” and what he calls a “Music 101” medley that included The Beatles’ “Let It Be” and “Hey Jude.”

The 360-degree revolving stage in center field gave fans plenty of access to great views of the show– effectively reducing the vastness of the stadium and creating intimate moments, a task that none other than Garth could accomplish in such a large stadium.

He also took cues from signs in the crowd when considering songs to be included in his acoustic segments, creating magical moments that included “More Than a Memory” and “The Red Strokes,” among others. Other crowd favorites included Brooks’ signature hits “The Thunder Rolls,” “Friends in Low Places” and “The Dance.”

Garth proclaimed near the show’s end that he will bring his newly-announced, three-year stadium tour full circle, with a stop at Notre Dame to complete the tour. The tour will visit 10-12 cities each year for the next three years, with most of those stops being at college stadiums. The tour’s initial two cities will be St. Louis, Missouri, and Glendale, Arizona.

Garth Brooks during soundcheck before making history at Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 20, 2018. Photo: MusicRow.

“There is something incredibly special about Notre Dame,” Garth shared, reflecting on the moment. “These people sat through snow. They sang like it was perfect weather outside and they were fabulous. These people gave you the courage to take the first step,” he said. “And right in the middle of all of it, [I knew] it would make sense to finish the American leg [of the tour] and come back and take the last step with them. And I look forward to completing that promise!”

Cameras captured the show for Garth: Live at Notre Dame!, the CBS-TV special that will air Dec. 2 (8 p.m. ET).

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Sherod Robertson

Sherod Robertson is President and Owner of MusicRow Enterprises. He oversees all operations and develops strategic initiatives for MusicRow magazine, RowFax, and MusicRow's CountryBreakout chart. Robertson previously served as Director of Finance of Arista Records after beginning his career as Vice President of Finance and CFO at Reunion Records.

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