Downtown Denver will be packed with Garth Brooks fans Saturday night.
84,000 of them, to be exact.
The country music megastar sold out his concert at Broncos Stadium at Mile High within 24 hours. The show is the largest ticketed event in the stadium's history — the 2011 U2 concert previously held that record at 77,000 tickets.
Brooks is the number-one selling solo artist in the country and has been named Country Music Awards’ “Entertainer of the Year” six times — not to mention the many other accolades he’s received over his decades-long career.
He kicked off his first-ever stadium tour earlier this year.
At a press conference Friday, Brooks said coming to Colorado has always been special for him.
“You think of who are those first five clubs that invested in you when no know knew who you were, well Grizzly Rose was one of them,” he said, referring to the popular venue in north Denver. “This is kind of where it started.”
Brooks will perform in the round in Denver. He thinks the large venue won’t detract from the music.
“The stadiums seem to be where the songs are in equal size,” Brooks said. “You’re singing ‘We Shall Be Free,’ it just seems to fill up the stadium.”
He promised he and his band will play all of the favorites, as well as some of the newer stuff.
When asked about Colorado’s unpredictable June weather, he said he wasn’t too concerned about getting wet.
“If it’s just rain, we’ll play in the rain all night long,” Brooks said.
The thing he’s most looking forward to in Denver is hearing the crowd.
“The thing that’s gonna blow you away is [the fans],” he told CPR News. “You just look at the set list and go, ‘Ok I guess I’ll start the next one and they’ll finish it. And you get to watch one of the most incredible things happen.’”
Fans better be ready to sing along with the song "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)." Brooks said that seems to be a favorite when he comes to Colorado, which is why they'll be recording it during the concert to include on a forthcoming live album.
Getting to the show won’t be easy. Paid parking is already sold out. Officials have asked that people take public transit or ride shares.
