Reunion Arena becomes Garth Country
Saturday, February 14, 1998. Dallas Morning News
Story by Story by Al Brumley

Fans flock to sold-out concert as Brooks opens tour in Dallas

They'll bury the hatchet, they'll rope the wind, they'll take swigs from their longneck bottles.

But Garth Brooks fans don't go in much for that frozen yogurt.

One hour after the Reunion Arena doors had opened Friday night, Lenequar Fisher and Gwendolyn Harris had sold only four large yogurts at their stand.

"I was just telling her, 'Boy, I'm bored,' " said Ms. Harris, 44. "I wish I was in beer."

Friday's concert - the first of three consecutive sold-out shows at Reunion and the opening night of Mr. Brooks' 1998 tour - did indeed find a lot of beer being sold, but the crowd maintained a mellow mood.

"Garth crowds are generally pretty good," said an emergency medical technician, biding his time munching popcorn with his partner. "But it is early yet."

The first fans showed up around 4 p.m., four hours before show time. Kerri Dighero, 19, and Tracy Yarbrough, 29, drove to Dallas from Nevada, Mo., (that's pronounced Ne-VAY-da, pilgrim) after winning tickets from a radio station.

Ms. Yarbrough was the seventh caller, and Ms. Dighero gave her the answer to the trivia question, "Which college did Garth attend?"

"Oklahoma State," Ms. Dighero replied, and the duo was off.

Friends at Miltech, where the two women work, collected $60 for the trip.

Miltech makes gun holsters, Ms. Yarbrough said. "Nylon sporting goods," Ms. Dighero clarified.

The women went to Fort Worth on Thursday for a night at Billy Bob's Texas, but "it was kind of a disappointment," Mr. Dighero said. "They were clogging - it was family night."

Meanwhile, as crowds gathered outside Reunion, most of the excitement came from the duel between KYNG-FM (105.3) and KPLX-FM (99.5), who parked across the courtyard from each other at the north entrance.

Both stations were blasting away stereophonically, but KYNG took things a step further by flinging rolled-up T-shirts at the KPLX complex with a giant slingshot. KPLX hurled back dirty looks.

The crowd was mostly middle-aged, though there were plenty of wide-eyed youngsters toting oversized concert programs and T-shirts.

Jacob Twombly, 11, of Denton said he's liked Mr. Brooks ever since he heard the song "Rodeo." His mom, Trish, said there was no question that they'd be going to the concert. "I'm his fan," she said, looking at her son, "so that's why we're here."

Joseph and Lisa Kubon drove up from San Antonio to see the show. They also have tickets for Saturday night's concert, but they couldn't go to the Sunday show because Mr. Kubon has a class Monday, and Ms. Kubon has to teach.

Mr. Kubon, 27, said Mr. Brooks won his wife and him over years ago with "the way he performs the music. The stories and the songs are awesome."

Mr. Brooks had announced at a news conference Friday that the concert would be the coming-out party for his new "G7" insignia. Oddly enough, though, none of the merchandise featured the new design.

But there were plenty of caps, shirts and bandannas being hawked nonetheless. And, of course, lots of fans showed up sporting their snazziest adult Western wear.

Brandon Bates, 18, of Carrollton had on a shirt straight off the cover of the musician's 1993 album, In Pieces. He got it for his birthday several years ago.

He said Mr. Brooks is his favorite entertainer. When asked why, he just grinned and shook his head. "I like his music," he said.