Garth Brooks’ televised Notre Dame concert, Garth: Live at Notre Dame!, will air on Sunday, Dec. 2. The rainy and frigid outdoor show, which served as Brooks’ first stop on his upcoming Stadium Tour, was a mix of highlights, challenges, and euphoria for the country music icon.
“It felt cold,” Brooks told PopCulture.com at a recent media event. “And it felt like you were always kind of starting over, ’cause in the middle you can only play to 50 percent of the crowd at a time. What I remember most is them singing, and how joyous their voices felt.”
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Brooks had a chance to preview the TV special in its entirety ahead of time, and admitted he is blown away by how well everything turned out.
“I’m a guy that’s always going to tell you how it is, and if this sounds egotistical forgive me,” boasted Brooks. “I’m amazed. Other than a couple shots where the rain kind of gets blown off the roof, it looks like it’s cold, but it doesn’t look like it’s bad or anything, and they are fantastic. And the helicopter shots are amazing. It’s neat. There’s what you think happened and what really went on, and what really went on was even better than what I thought happened, according to these frames.
“And the band,” he added, “I’m amazed how good the band sounds, being 30 degrees out there and all the instruments going out of tune – they did a great job.”
The seasoned performer acknowledged that, even after so many years, he still gets nervous before he watches himself on TV.
“Out there live, they kind of know you, flaws and all, and they still show up,” Brooks explained. “And that’s the sweetest thing you can give somebody is, is them being themselves and it’s okay. That’s the sweetest gift. But when you play on TV, there’s people that are tuning in that might know you or might not, no matter how long you’ve been in the business. So, that pressure’s a little more, and all you want to do is represent country music and yourself the best you can.”
Garth: Live at Notre Dame! wasn’t Brooks’ idea, but he quickly saw the potential after CBS approached him.
“We never film anything until the end. So Notre Dame will be at the beginning and the end for us stage-wise,” Brooks said this past October.. “Stuff will go back to the drawing board, [to] modify the stage. The last thing I like is to see something on TV and then go and see the exact same thing if I pay a ticket to go sit outside and watch these things. So, we’ll go back to drawing board right after Notre Dame.”
Brooks has already revealed a few dates and cities on his upcoming stadium tour, including stops in St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Find dates at his official website..
Garth: Live at Notre Dame! will air on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
Photo Credit: Getty images/Tim Mosenfelder
