Garth Brooks Does His Job Well In Nashville
6 Days. 9 Shows. 140,000+ fans. 1 superstar entertainer. $5 million raised and counting. Those are some pretty staggering statistics that prove what good can be done when a community comes together to help it’s own. That’s just what Nashville has done since the devastating floods hit in May, and recognizing the community spirit in Music City, Garth Brooks wanted to do his part to help out.
In case you’ve been hibernating for the last month or two, let us give you a quick recap. In late October Garth announced that he’d hold a benefit concert in December in Nashville to benefit the flood relief efforts. One concert turned into nine as tickets were scooped up by the thousands within minutes. Making this truly a community effort, the venue donated the space and operating costs for the shows and more than 140 volunteer crew members turned out to set up and tear down the stage. StubHub, an online ticket brokering company, agreed to donate all profits from secondary sales to the relief efforts. Fans traveled from around the United States – some even further – to see Brooks back in action, which in turn dumped an estimated $10 – $15 million into the Nashville economy. Between ticket and merchandise sales alone, over $5 million went directly to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee which will help over 100 organizations throughout the flood-affected areas.
Molly Sudderth, a spokeswoman for the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the nine concerts “are a wonderful Christmas gift for the city… This will be the best December the city has ever had.'' (via The Tennessean.)
The magnitude of the concerts was not lost on the stars, as some of country music’s biggest names came out to see their genre’s top performer. Kix Brooks, Ronnie Dunn, Reba McEntire and Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley were all spotted at different shows throughout the week while others took to their Twitter accounts to reveal their thoughts on the shows they saw…
Easton Corbin – Hanging with Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood
LoCash Cowboys – GARTH=AMAZING!
You can support Garth & his project by sending this pic to everyone
Matt Stillwell – On my way to see Garth Brooks!!! Can’t wait!!!
Lady Antebellum – GARTH!!!!!!!!!! Witnessed history being made!!!! ~Hills…
At Thursday night’s opening show Garth told the crowd “You guys have done your job, and you've done it very well. I appreciate what you've done. Now it's our turn to do our stuff.” And so Garth and his band did their stuff and they did it very well. Flood victims no doubt appreciate what Brooks has done. And the fans… with 9 shows that were nothing short of phenomenal, the fans were left with no choice but to tip their hat to Garth and say ‘good ride cowboy, good ride.’
You can read our reviews of the two shows that we attended HERE and HERE and see our photos HERE.
In recognition of his contributions, Garth was named Person Of The Week by ABC News. You can watch their coverage of Garth’s flood relief efforts HERE.
