Three Rights

by KEN LEONARD

GARTH, A CONCERT OF A LIFETIMEOn Friday, July 29th, I got a phone call from my son TJ who lives north of Austin. He told me that the next day he and his wife Sarah planned to come up to AT&T Stadium in Arlington to see Garth Brooks. He said they had an extra ticket and asked if I would like to go. Without hesitation I said, “YES!”

So, on Friday afternoon I made the hour and a half drive straight through Dallas traffic to the home of the Dallas Cowboys. Parking is not a problem there for the Leonard Family because we are Season Ticket Holders at Six Flags Over Texas. Without any trouble at all I flashed my pass at the gate along with all of the other park goers. I drove all of the way to the back near the old Ballpark at Arlington and parked right by the exit so I could make a quick getaway. When I left later that night at almost midnight, I found the back exit was closed and the parking lot wasalmost empty except for the few cars that had done the same thing I did. I had to go back toward the entrance to find an open exit. Wilson, my GPS, told me I was driving the wrong way on the street. She is always helpful that way. I easily found my way to I-30 and headed home, and after a brief stop at Buc-ee’s in Royse City I got home by 1:30am.

The stage was huge and imposing, perfect for Garth’s unique style of playing to the entire audience. We were at what would normally be the back of the stage but at a Garth concert there really is no “back of the stage.”

The crowd was delighted to hear an opening set by Garth’s beloved wife Trisha Yearwood who sang a few of her hits and fittingly ended with “How Do I Live Without You.” At the end there were calls for an encore, but it didn’t happen. The main event was about to come on stage.

I told TJ, Sarah, and their friend Ben, Round Rock Police officer who works with Sarah, that this was actually the second time I would see Garth. Several times in the concert he mentioned that his career all started in 1988 when his popularity took off like a rocket. I told them I had seen him way before that at the Forney Homebuilder’s Chili Cookoff in Forney before they were all born. They were all duly impressed.

Most artists will squeeze in a few of the old songs in between songs on their new album. Not Garth. More than anyone else, he knows how to give an audience exactly what they want: the old songs they know and love. In song after song, you could hear the audience of about 100,000 people sing every word of every song with him. I have seen a lot of the greats, but I have never seen a love affair between an artist and an audience like I saw at Garth’s show. I will remember how I felt for a very long time, and so will everyone else that was there. To me the crescendo came not with an upbeat song like Baton Rouge, Shameless, or Rodeo. It came with one of the most beautiful songs of our time: “Unanswered Prayers”. Not because Garth’s performance was so memorable, what he did transcended performance. For most of the song, he and his band played and let the chorus of 100,000 loving fans in AT&T Stadium sing the song. They knew every word and sang in perfect time as they waved the light on their cell phones. It was an image, sound, feeling and emotion…an experience I will never forget.

One of the most emotional moments in the concert was when Garth introduced a group of musicians, he called the “G” men. They are the studio musicians that recorded all of his albums and collaborated on many of his most popular songs. He pointed out that he has a stage band that he does concerts with but the studio musiciansseldom, if ever, play on a big stage and confine their unique gift to studio work. Garth invited the seven of them on stage and one by one he introduced them to the gratefulcrowd. A couple of them were visibly overcome with emotion at the cheers of gratitude of 100,000 fans who never would have had a chance to say “Thank You” if Garth had not hadthe vision to include them in the show.

It was a very memorable night. Thank you, TJ and Sarah Leonard, for including me. I’m glad I got to share it with you.