Garth Brooks 2016 World Tour: Canadian Debut in Hamilton

After 19 years… Garth Brooks returned to Hamilton, Ontario and it was spectacular!

On tour with Garth is his lovely and talented wife Trisha Yearwood, and I was lucky enough to have tickets to three of the five shows over the long weekend. If I wasn’t sitting in my seat at the First Ontario Centre, I was doing something Garth related. I was either listening to Garth, driving to and from the stadium, talking about Garth, watching video from his 1997 Central Park performance, so much Garth!

In some cases, attending three shows in a single long weekend would be enough to be considered a superfan. But let me tell you, I felt like a newbie compared to the crowds in Hamilton. They knew all the words, to all of the songs, on all of the nights. Some attended all five shows and some had hand drawn signs because they hoped Garth might pick one their song to sing.

They were loud and they were very, very happy.

Photo by Ray Williams – A Perfect Pixel

There were differences between the shows, but one constant throughout was the level of talent, production and commitment of everyone involved. I was thrilled to be able to check out Brett Kissel, one of my Canadian country favourites. Brett always puts on a great show and I was very happy that he had the chance to open Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. I was also glad to see Garth and Trisha’s backup singer Karyn Rochelle front and center. She was terrific! What a voice, and with an adorable a sense of humor she won the crowd over easily. An amazing songwriter, musician and did I mention those pipes?!

Thursday – @trishca

Friday – @trishca

Sunday – @trishca

I’ve got pictures from Thursday, with Garth all in black, Friday sporting a dark blue shirt with blue jeans, and Sunday rocking a pink shirt.

If I had to sum up the weekend in one word, it would be ENERGY. He gave it his everything, every single night. I feel like I could watch this show every night and still get excited.

Note: Did you know that “Garth” is a verb? Yep, according to Blake Shelton while trying to encourage a “The Voice” contestant to move around a little, he said, “You don’t have to Garth it up, but…”. I love it!

Thanks to Joshua Murray for hanging out Thursday night with me and Dallas Price who was my concert mate for Friday and Sunday. Special thanks to Ray Williams who graciously offered to share his photos from Sunday.