A Garth Event

Yesterday, Katy and I were able to attend a Garth Brooks concert down in Lincoln at Memorial Stadium.  About 80k of our closest friends, many from Low Places, decided to join us.  

When tickets were announced months ago, did I have the foresight to reserve a hotel room downtown for when we would buy tickets? I did not, and therefore, the only option was to park, watch it, then drive home very late...which we did.  That was absolutely fine, but it would have been nicer, and we would be much more well-rested today, if we had gotten a room. Oh, there were still rooms to be had, but when Motel 6 is going for $450 a night, something is a little fishy, so no thank you.

Upon arriving outside our gate for entrance, Katy had me take this picture of her in front of the statue of Nebraska's legendary football coach, Tom Osborne, along with one of his quarterbacks who, to this day even though he is no longer alive, still has an impact.  Brook Berringer was an amazing athlete and student and more than that, man, who impacted so many kids and so many adults in his short time. He died in a plane crash shortly before he would be drafted into the NFL and just re-telling his story around here brings tears to those who watched him.

But this was a happy occasion!  The statue sits outside the current weight room and training facilities for the football team, which will soon look tiny compared to the new facility being built just to the east of here. It's one of those iconic spots you want to see whenever you visit, and to be honest, this was the last quiet moment we had for the entire evening.

Because after this, we entered the chaos of the stadium, chaos in a way I have never seen before.  I've been to, I think, 50 Nebraska football games or so. All sellouts, as they have been for decades, with lots and lots of loud, rowdy fans. Sometimes concession lines get long, but not usually. Sometimes it's harder to navigate around, but not usually. Sometimes it even took longer to get out of the stadium when the game was done, but not usually. I say all that because the experience last night was the first time I have ever thought that gosh, they don't know what they are doing here in managing this event.  Concessions were an absolute mess. I have no idea how they screwed it up, but it was BAD, as in, people would go for food and not return for 30-40 minutes bad, something I have never seen in Memorial Stadium at a football game.  A few pics here to share from our seats:

So how was the show, you ask? Meh. Look, Garth Brooks is known as one of the best entertainers of all time, and he has fun on stage. But for almost $100/ticket, I'm expecting Springsteen levels of entertainment and longevity. The show was supposed to begin at 7 and there were rumors we'd have an opening act.  It didn't, and we didn't.  Garth popped up out of the stage at 7:50 and played, and talked, and played, and talked, and talked...a lot, for about 2 hours and 15 minutes or so, then he was done.  

I waited years, paid $100 a ticket, took 2 1/2 hours to get home and missed supper entirely...for 2 hours and 15 minutes.  And to top it off, he talked about as much as he sang. He did a few songs at the start and then it was sing, talk, sing, talk. He spent more time trying to soak up adoration than singing once the show got going. He spent about as much time talking about his band and the crew as he did singing the last third of the show.  So would I pay to see Garth again? Not on your life.  Am I happy I got to experience it?  Yes, because there were some really neat moments, and for Katy and me to be there together, experiencing it, was very, very special. I can't stress that enough. There are songs where if you are a couple you are thrilled because it feels like it is meant for you and you feel closer than ever. And it was AWESOME to be in a huge event. As humans, we NEED this, we CRAVE this, it is built into who we are. We need community, and that has been stolen from us for some time.  Was it worth it in the end?  It was, but would I do it again? Nope!  Now, for some rest...  :)