Country star headlines Petco Park
Garth Brooks had the crowd in the palm of his hands during his first-ever headlining appearance at San Diego’s Petco Park on Saturday (Mar 5th). A record breaking attendance of 50,000 country fans turned out to see the star perform 26 songs from his 30+ year career, as well as a few by some of his heroes.
Brooks kicked off the night with “All Day Long” before jumping into “Rodeo.” The hit filled set included “Beaches of Cheyenne,” “The River,” “The Thunder Rolls,” “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” “Shameless,” “Friends In Low Places,” and “The Dance” as part of the main portion of the show. Rain spit from the sky lightly to moderately throughout the night, although it didn’t affect the show.
“Man, I’m gonna say this a hundred times tonight, so I might as well say it right now. I need tonight more than anybody else on this planet, man. I can’t thank you enough for showing up,” Brooks exclaimed from the stage. “People, we all know how long it’s been, and we didn’t come here to talk about it, we came here to raise some hell and have some fun!”
Brooks led a two hour sing along that included ten songs during the encore. He performed rarities like “This Ain’t Tennessee” and “Wolves” from signs in the audience as part of the fan favorite Housekeeping request section. The biggest surprise of the night was when Brooks performed the Otis Redding classic “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” with his full band, something he doesn’t seem to have done before.
“Amarillo By Morning,” “Piano Man,” and “Turn The Page” were other covers Brooks performed by some of his heroes: George Strait, Billy Joel and Bob Seger, respectively.
San Diego was the first show back since Brooks paused the tour late last summer following the omicron surge. Fans showed how excited they were to see live music, in particular Brooks, who participated in Spring Training with the Padres in 1999.
While Trisha Yearwood was in San Diego with her husband, she did not make an appearance, as many fans may have expected. It felt as if the band had also expected Miss Yearwood to arrive — or at least not think the show was over — by the priceless looks on their faces when the concert ended without the typical celebratory bow. The band followed Brooks off the stage as he told everyone to love one another.
If one hasn’t seen Brooks in concert by now, they don’t know what they’re missing. He’s broken every record imaginable and continues to create new ones as tickets to his shows often sell out in record time. His command of the stage is like no other and many fans attend every show possible.
Other dates announced, as of press time, include Orlando, Fayetteville, AR, Baton Rouge, LA, his first-ever show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, a return to Notre Dame this spring and make up dates for the rained out Nashville stop last year and Cincinnati. Brooks previously stated that 17 US dates are expected for this year before wrapping with a five night sold out stand at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland in September. On Thanksgiving, Brooks sold over 400,000 tickets for the Stadium Tour finale, a feat done by the country star himself in 2014 to start the Comeback Tour in Dublin, but due to unforeseen circumstances, all five shows were cancelled. The Music Universe will be at the opening night of the Dublin show on September 9th and will bring you coverage from Ireland.
Set List:
- All Day Long
- Rodeo
- Two of a Kind Workin’ on a Full House
- Beaches of Cheyenne
- Two Pina Coladas
- The River
- Fishin’ In The Dark
- The Thunder Rolls
- Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til The Sun Comes Up)
- Unanswered Prayers
- Amarillo By Morning
- That Summer
- Callin’ Baton Rouge
- Shameless
- Friends in Low Places
- The Dance
- Mom
- She’s Every Woman
- This Ain’t Tennessee
- Wolves
- Piano Man
- Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
- Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
- Turn the Page
- More Than a Memory
- Standing Outside the Fire
