The Garth Brooks Croke Park gigs saga, from 2014 until now

Fiona Frawley

Pull up a chair and grab the good biscuits, it’s story time.

As Garth Brooks makes his triumphant return to Croker and hundreds of thousands of denim-clad, cowboy hat wearing super fans descend upon the streets of Dublin, we thought it as good a time as any to look back over the journey up to this point.

It all started back in 2014, in a series of events that are pretty much on the JC history curriculum at this stage, but just in case you need a refresher:

2014

When Garth Brooks announced his comeback tour for the summer of ’14, Irish demand for tickets was so high that five nights were organised at Croke Park – the first five night run in the venues history.

Shortly after this, Dublin City Council announced they’d only grant a license for three performances, which displeased Garth. Maybe he didn’t mean to cause a big scene but his refusal to play any less than five shows resulted no gigs at all going ahead, hundreds of thousands of tickets being refunded and a cowboy hat shaped chip on the shoulders of people across the country.

September 2021

It took our country 7 long years to recover emotionally from the infamous Five In A Row fiasco of 2014. Then, on September 13th of last year, we heard the first whisperings of Garth’s potential return. It started with Twitter speculation, until later that evening it was confirmed that that “negotiations are at an advanced stage” to bring Garth back for a series of 2022 gigs.

Big gig* news on the 5:30…

(No, it’s not the role of government envoy) https://t.co/RU9vlOXUzz

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) September 13, 2021

November 2021

On November 18th, it was confirmed. Garth Brooks would return to Ireland in September 2022. At that time just two gigs, Friday 9th and Saturday 10th were announced, but it was understood that planning could allow for up to five concerts. The nation held its breath.

Ireland waking up to see these Garth Brooks concerts confirmed pic.twitter.com/dsQPu2N2jj

— Eoin Ó Catháin (@EoinKeane101) November 18, 2021

November 2021

Now, the pièce de résistance. At about 9am on 25th November, Aiken announced one extra date (September 11th) had been added to GB’s upcoming Croke Park run. “Saw it coming”, most of us tutted over our tea and toast, not yet anticipating the chaos that would later unfold.

About 30 minutes later, a fourth date was added and we started to shift in our seats. “That’s getting a bit close now”, we thought to ourselves as we put the kettle on for a second time, and the 2015 episode of Reeling in the Years started playing in our heads.

Before 11am, two extra dates were added, bringing us up to a grand total of 5. Despite the additional dates, thousands of Garth fans remained in the queue hoping for tickets.

FIVE GARTH BROOKS GIGS pic.twitter.com/eo1tvbv3Jp

— Gavin O Callaghan (@gavinocal) November 25, 2021

September 2022

Almost eight years in the making, the time has come for Garth to make his triumphant return to Irish soil. Dublin Airport shared a clip of Garth arriving via private jet. Irish choirs welcomed him through the medium of song. It’s been a whole thing.

Welcome to Ireland @garthbrooks

This was the first song I wanted to cover with my choir after not being able to have in-person rehearsals for nearly 2 and a half years! #standingoutsidethefire #garthbrooks #garthbrooksinireland pic.twitter.com/XKqn5N50YL

— Róisín Savage (@RoRoSav) September 7, 2022

Believe it or not, there are still some tickets left for the gigs although they are low in availability. You can purchase them on Ticketmaster HERE.

There won’t be a friend left in a low place for the next five nights.

Header image via Instagram/garthbrooks