Garth Brooks Drops in at Irish Pub, Gives Low-Key Performance [Watch]
Garth Brooks has been enjoying his extended stay in Ireland this month. In addition to performing sold out shows at Dublin's Croke Park — he'll close out his run with shows Sept. 16 and Sept 17 — the country megastar has been taking in all the city has to offer, including the local pubs.
The "Friends in Low Places" singer stopped by Dick Mack's Pub recently and offered up a surprise a cappella performance of his signature song, 1989's "If Tomorrow Never Comes."
Brooks was without his signature hat for this impromptu rendition, rocking simply a zip-up sweatshirt and T-shirt while singing unaccompanied in a corner of the pub.
The intimate performance is reminiscent of his Dive Bar Tour in which Brooks sporadically played some small, hole-in-the-wall venues. Although interrupted by the pandemic, he performed eight shows across the nation in "dive" bars like Joe's on Weed Street in Chicago and Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas.
It's a stark contrast from the massive stadiums shows he's played this year, including in Ireland. The "Callin' Baton Rouge" icon has sold more than 400,000 seats collectively for his five-show stint at Croke Park. As Brooks puts it, it's a dream come true.
"I’ve dreamed about this night… IRELAND, you were even better than my dreams! I’m in LOVE with YOU," he writes on Twitter.
The Oklahoma native was originally scheduled to perform in the Emerald Isle in 2014, but those shows were canceled when the local city council failed to grant the necessary permits for the show. The 2022 dates are essentially makeup concerts for those that were nixed. They are also serving as the final dates of his massive three-year Stadium Tour.
Stateside, Brooks is in the midst of putting together his bar and restaurant venue in Nashville. An opening date for Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk has not been set, but an Instagram post says it should be opening soon. Fans can expect the venue feel like an elevated honky-tonk or, as Brooks likes to say, the "Chick-fil-A of honky-tonks."