Monday’s was the most emotional show for Brooks and his band

TIMOTHY FINN TFINN@KCSTAR.COM

http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/music/story/358510.html

For seven nights in a row, the crowds that have packed the Sprint Center have been as much a part of the show as the main attractions.

Monday night — the second Monday of the Reign of Garth — belonged to the band and its leader.

“The older you get in this business, the more you’re forgotten,” Garth Brooks said, with some wistfulness in his voice, right before he strummed himself into “The River,” igniting yet another biblical sing-along.

He couldn’t have felt too forgotten Monday evening, given the response he got most of the night. Instead, it seemed like he was anticipating the days ahead, when his evenings won’t be filled with volcanic adoration from 17,000 people singing his songs right back at him.

Monday wasn’t the longest show of the week nor was it the loudest and rowdiest, but it seemed to be the most emotional show for Brooks and his band, who now have one more night left in their nine-show run in Kansas City. In a way, Monday felt like Senior Night at Mizzou Arena or Allen Fieldhouse — like the beginning of farewell.

Brooks’ second-to-last show didn’t crack the two-hour mark, and the setlist didn’t crack 20 songs, but it included all the standards and the songs that have sent all eight crowds into orbit. As rowdy as some of them are, especially “Callin’ Baton Rouge” (which is begging for an Elders’ cover), none compares to “Friends in Low Places,” even after eight straight nights.

He followed that with “The Dance,” a tender ballad that inspires large grown men to slow-dance with their ladies and sing along. This is not your Toby Keith crowd.

Today, the Garth tour takes a day off, which is good news for Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, who delivered her opening set like a trouper despite an obvious vocal ailment. On Wednesday, he closes his residency here with a show that will be simulcast to 300 or so movie theaters across North America.

We already know the ending to that drama: euphoria, with a touch of melancholy.