Callin’ Baton Rouge with Garth and over 100,000 friends in low places

My first time going to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge proved to be an experience I will not soon forget. We arrived a few hours early in order to park and spent the afternoon walking around taking in the sheer size of the stadium and visiting Mike the Tiger while waiting for the Garth Brooks concert that night.
As a long-time Garth Brooks fan, I have seen him in concert a couple of times in the past. While each show was amazing, Tiger Stadium was on an entirely different level. From my never being inside Tiger Stadium before, to sharing the experience with my daughter and husband, and over 100,000 other people, the night did not disappoint.
Brooks opened the show with some of his biggest hits because he said, “When I go to a show, I go to hear the old stuff.” One highlight of the night was when he performed “The River,” and nearly all 100,000 plus in attendance lit up their cell phone flashlights. He was in awe of the sea of lights in the stadium and said, “Look at that!”
Then, for the ultimate highlight of the night, a “Garthquake” was registered in Baton Rouge on Saturday, April, 30, in Tiger Stadium. The fans in attendance set off the earthquake when Brooks proclaimed, “I have to ask you, Baton Rouge, is it time?” The moment came around 9:30 p.m., 17 songs into the entertainer’s set. The crowd went wild and caused a minor earthquake to register as fiddle player Jimmy Mattingly played the opening notes to LSU’s unofficial anthem, “Callin’ Baton Rouge.” Brooks had been waiting to play that song live in Tiger Stadium for years, and he was not disappointed by the crowd’s reaction. The massive crowd sang every single lyric along with him in what proved to be a most epic moment. At the end of the song, the crowd began the LSU chant, and Brooks said, “That was even better than I could have dreamed it could be.”
The entire night, Brooks was amazed at the entire crowd singing along to every word of every song he played. Toward the end of his set, he introduced “Friends in Low Places,” by saying, ”I use this (guitar) pretty much to hide my gut, but I do play four notes,” then played the famous opening notes to the song. Toward the end of the song the crowd knew what was coming and Brooks teased, “Y’all are acting like there’s a third verse to this song,” to which the crowd roared its approval and sang it back to him.
Brooks closed out his set with “The Dance” before coming out for an encore. However, in order to beat the crowd out of the stadium, we decided to leave a little early, missing the appearance of his wife and fellow singer Trisha Yearwood. After performing “Shallow” together, he told her, “Welcome to heaven on earth!”
After the long walk back to the vehicle and then drive to the hotel, it took me a while to wind down and get to sleep after the excitement and high energy of the evening. It was definitely the concert and experience of a lifetime!