On Saturday, Rich and I were able to go see Garth Brooks on his stadium tour in Lincoln, Nebraska. He played at Memorial Stadium, home of the Huskers football team. The last time there was a concert there was 34 years ago during Farm Aide. Our stadium rivals most pro stadiums and holds about 91,000 people in the stands. However, the floor of the field was also opened up, so I am guessing there were over 100, 000 people there. I have to admit when I saw that crowd, it made me nervous. I don’t like huge crowds to begin with. Add me having stage IV cancer and COVID running rampant…well, it added to my anxiety spike. By the grace of God, I was on the end of a row…a row that was blocked off and just had open space between sections. There aren’t many spots like that in Memorial Stadium, but I had one. I wore a mask. Not many people did. I needed to try and protect myself as much as possible yet still live my life and enjoy myself. Garth Brooks was floored by the huge crowd that sang each of the songs right along with them. I wish I could have heard what it sounded like a block away in the Bottoms, where Tim used to live. 100,000 people singing “Friends in Low Places” had to be phenomenal. It was inside the stadium. This was the biggest concert Garth had ever put on. If you have ever been to a Garth Brooks concert, you know he gives 110% and will just keep on singing. He sang for over 3 hours…and it was glorious. Most songs I knew…some were new to me. It was almost as fun to watch the people around me reacting with pure joy when he started singing their favorite song. There was a young man in his early 20’s with his girlfriend a few rows down from me. He had on his cowboy boots (as did I) and his cowboy hat and he sang every word to every song with this pure joy on his face…like he couldn’t believe he was there in that place….as if Garth Brooks was singing with him and not the other way around. Were there hiccups? Yep. Trying to get people into certain gates became a huge mess. We waited almost an hour in line to get into our gate. Some people were really drunk. Not my favorite. I worry about them. The stadium concession stands ran out of food before the concert even started. Yikes. That needs to get fixed before they open for Husker games! Added perks….the weather was phenomenal. It was a clear summer night with lower humidity. I wore jeans and wasn’t sweating. There was a nice, cool breeze. Garth’s wife, Tricia Yearwood, came on stage and sang several songs with him. She, too, was blown away by the “motherhusker” awesomeness of it all (Garth quote). I think half of Nebraska was there. Seriously.
Messina Musings 