He still claims to have friends in low places, and now he'll find out if he still has friends way up here in Minnesota. Country music superstar Garth Brooks, who retired from touring in 2001, will return to Minneapolis for four concerts in two nights at Target Center on Nov. 14 and 15.
Tickets for the shows go on sale Oct. 3 at 10 a.m. for $70.50 (that's including fees) through AXS.com, the arena box office or by calling 1-855-411-4849. The performances will be at 6:30 and 10:30 p.m. both of those nights, a Friday and Saturday. His opening act will be his wife, Trisha Yearwood.
Brooks has been gradually working his way back from retirement, starting with a stint in Las Vegas that resulted in a CBS TV special last November. He kicked off his first tour in 16 years with an 11-show stand in the Chicago area earlier this month, and he just completed another multi-night run in Atlanta this past weekend.
The last time Brooks performed in Minneapolis was also at Target Center in 1998. That one was a nine-show run. More shows could be added this time around if those first four sell out right away (and they probably will). To his credit, he could probably charge twice what he's asking for in ticket prices and still sell out.
Music fans under the age of 25 probably don't know it -- and music fans not into mainstream country music probably chose to forget it -- but ol' Garth is one of the best-selling performers and recording artists of all time. He has sold almost 70 million albums total, which puts him right behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley. He also broke numerous records in ticket sales during the 1990s.
