Garth Brooks Gives Houston Mad Love in Epic Houston Rodeo Opening Night: Country Music Superstar Can’t Stop Praising H-Town in Emotional Concert

Houston’s been missing Garth Brooks for more than two decades. Tuesday night on the RodeoHouston stage, Brooks said he’s missed us just as much — and he didn’t miss a beat.

It’s been 25 years since the country music titan took the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo stage. It’s exciting but nerve-wracking seeing old friends for the first time in awhile, Brooks told the sold-out crowd near the end of the show. There’s worry that you’ve changed, or that they’ve changed.

The superstar singer-songwriter shouldn’t have been worried. Tickets to the show sold out in 18 minutes when they went live on December 1. The entire crowd seemed all in on one of the most anticipated opening nights in Houston Rodeo history. But what was Brooks thinking about us?

“Houston, you have changed,” Brooks said. “You were damn good then. You’re unfreaking-believable now!”

Ditto, Garth Brooks. Ditto.

His performance took off a little after 9 pm. The lights fell, and the Rodeo’s new star stage rolled out onto the middle of the floor. The five points of its star were bent upward. Red lights pulsed around the outlines of the bent stage. Then, fireworks went off to two sides. Bursts of red, and white.

Then Brooks got on stage.

From the get-go, he was all confidence on the all-new, high-tech, state-of-the-art concert stage. He’d seen it for the first time on Monday, posting a Facebook Live video of experience on his popular channel.

It’s a pretty kickass upgrade, a key addition to what Brooks calls “the greatest cowboy party ever invented.” Not a bad endorsement for the Houston Rodeo. Brooks didn’t hesitate with the first song. He got straight to the point with a high-octane version of “Rodeo.”

The massive screen at the back of the stage lit up with videos of Houston Rodeo events, broncos bucking their riders and cowboys digging their heels in as they rode bulls. Haven’t you heard? They call the thing rodeo.

Brooks had a huge presence from the start, made even bigger by that statement-maker of a stage. The stage could have done all the work, made anything look slick. But it didn’t need to.

Brooks was hell-bent on making sure everyone in the crowd had the time of their lives — and you could just tell that by doing that, he was having the time of his life. After almost every song, Brooks took his white cowboy hat off, looked up into the crowd and beamed.

Houston always made Brooks feel at home because the city “always made me feel like the music was enough,” he notes. And it is. But that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate a damn good performance — and Garth Brooks knows just how to give one.

The show was compact but concentrated. It came in at just under an hour. Brooks knew just how to play it every song, making the most of the stage and his God given talent. “The River” was belted out against a backdrop of blue and the pinpoint lights of thousands of cellphones. Brooks must have seen some people lift their phones up because shortly into the song, he broke tune to shout, “Yeah, light ‘em up! Light the whole place up!”

You could say people were into it. At one point, Brooks swung his guitar over and began clapping to the music. Members of the audience somehow managed to incorporate rhythmic clapping into their iPhone swaying.

A George Strait Moment

The crowd was pumped up through everything, from “The Thunder Rolls” to “Callin’ Baton Rouge.” Brooks paid tribute to his hero George Strait with “The Fireman,” which really got fans dancing.

Audience participation was at its highest for, you guessed it: “I’ve Got Friends in Low Places.” Brooks took a pause after one song late in the set, noting that there’s always the concern of peaking too soon in a performance. He asked the arena to help him out with his next song.

“I hope it’s one you already know,” he said.

He played one chord. One chord. That’s all it took for screams and cheers to fill the sizable arena, for fans to leap to their feet. The screen filled with a flashy green logo for The Oasis, the center point of the boozy ballad. The entire sea of people belted out the lyrics, not just saving their vocal chords for the chorus. Tuesday night at NRG Stadium, thousands of people learned that it’s impossible not to throw your head back while singing “Oasis!”

Brooks just went with the energy, tacking on an extra verse developed in a Texas honky tonk. People were so committed to singing that country music classic that no one really understood what the new lyrics were. It didn’t matter. The standing ovation made that clear.

While Brooks had said “I could do this all night,” there just wasn’t the time. He followed the vibe of the crowd, and took things from fast-paced to slower, more personal.

The ending was stripped down. Early in the night, Brooks had shared that Houston made him feel like music was enough. Toward the end, he said, “You make me feel like just being me is enough.” He called it a night gently, crooning “The Dance,” a wistful love song from his first album.

As the Ford pickup truck pulled up to take him off stage, Brooks ran down each side of the stage and to every tip of the star to say goodbye. There wasn’t really a need. The stage rotated — everyone would get a chance to see him go. But he wanted to say goodbye to all of Houston.

For now. The lucky will get to see him in a few weeks’ time for his much-anticipated bookend Rodeo closing night show. After a performance like this for openers, it may feel like an eternity.

But it’s a heck of a lot better than 25 years.