Garth Brooks decided it was time to come out of retirement and hit the road. So what better way to do that then book 11 shows on your first tour stop. Luckily for Hawk listeners he picked Chicago to kick off his now ever expanding World Tour. My wife is such a huge fan I knew I had to take her to one of the shows. From the moment we arrived I knew it would be a big night.. People were crazy before the show even started and from the first notes of Man Against the Machine, the crowd stood, cheered and screamed for two hours straight. The ear crushing volume of steel guitar, fiddle, keyboard background singers and Garth's voice rattled the rafters at the All State Arena for two solid hours.

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Working in radio for 20+ years and also being a concert photographer, I've seen hundreds of concerts. Small artists who are just starting their careers to bands like the Rolling Stones. I'm not sure I've ever seen a performer who had a better rapport than his audience than Brooks did Saturday night. It was like the crowd lived and breathed on every word he uttered and with every song he sang. And for his part, I've never seen an artist who seemed to be as genuinely appreciative of the love the audience gave back to him. It reminded me of how Mick Jagger can control a Stones crowd by the way he struts across the stage.

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Trisha Yearwood joined the show about halfway through for several songs on which Garth stood at the back of the stage letting her work the crowd and soak up the cheers of over 17,000 screaming fans. I didn't know until she explained it that she met Garth 20+ years ago when she opened for him on her first time on the road. She said "He still makes me nervous". Judging by the rock on her finger and the way the two interacted on stage, I think they are doing fine.

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Brooks hit all the big songs in his gigantic catalog like Shameless, Papa Loved Mama, The Dance, Rodeo,Two of A Kind Working On A Full House and The Thunder Rolls. The crowed sang along with the only new song he played as well, People Loving People.  By the time he strummed the first couple notes of Friends In Low Places, the already excited crowd went absolutely crazy.. He ate up every moment as the crowd sang along with every word. Several times he would stop singing and just listen to the crowd.

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Song after song went by and I thought to myself, how many more hits does he have to play? By the time the second encore ended with Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old) Brooks thanked the crowd for their support and love one more time and walked off the stage as a full house in Chicago screamed and clapped I got the impression that the only reason he stopped playing was that there was another show at 10:30 that night.

Not that this will surprise anyone, but Garth is back. And in a big way.

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