So….when I get asked “Who is the biggest celebrity (or nicest celebrity) you’ve ever met?”, I always answer with, well, it’s a toss-up…Carrie Underwood, Ed Sheeran…or Tom Wilson (who played Biff Tannen in Back to the Future).
All that changed Friday afternoon…
The answer is now…and probably forever will be….Garth…Brooks.
First off…can we just talk about how awesome Garth Brooks is? Those shows this weekend were incredible, right?
Alright…let’s get back to the most surreal moment of my radio life…
Friday afternoon, I go the Garth Brooks/Trisha Yearwood Press Conference, which was 
surreal enough in itself….and as the press conference starts, I realize holy (swear word)…I’m going to be really close to Garth Brooks.
…and there they were…Garth Brooks…and Trisha Yearwood…and the first thing they did was apologize to everyone for being 6 minutes late….are you kidding me? No name bands have been hours late with no apology, and these two megastars are apologizing for 6 minutes?
It was like that from the beginning of the press conference…there was no air of superiority about them…no air of celebrity…they were like friends you hadn’t talked to or seen in over 20 years.
Then…I asked a question…I surprised myself by doing that…and I certainly didn’t think I’d ever be called on…
“Raisin’ our babies”…such a great answer…
Then I asked a second question…
Garth and Trisha now know my name…they know my name…they know a “Kurt on Star 102.5 in Des Moines” exists. Inside, I am freaking out…freaking…out.
The press conference ends…and they tell us that we’ll have 1-on-1 time with both of them…now, I’m really freaking out….but then I thought, they have both been so nice…so cordial…so genuine…so sweet…this is going to be all good!
Walking up to Trisha Yearwood was surreal…and yes, I held my own phone in selfie-mode for the entire 2+ minutes (which after 90 seconds, my arm really started to get tired, ha ha).
Do you know how excited my wife was when she saw that she got a Trisha Yearwood shout-out?
I know it sounds mushy in the beginning…but it’s true, the love that Garth & Trisha display towards each other is so genuine…so heartfelt…it makes everyone in the room feel good.
Then, it was time to interview Garth Brooks….the only thing going through my head was…. just don’t keep saying “Holy ****, you’re Garth Brooks”.
Now, some of my friends have asked…seriously, those are the questions you asked? Yes…and here’s why:
- Ummm…it’s Garth Brooks…was a tad nervous.
- What does each song mean to him? He’s answered that 10000 times.
- It was within 2 seconds of meeting him that I realized, this shouldn’t be an interview…this should be a conversation…and as you can see, he had fun with it.
Oh, he gives the best shoulder rubs…
Kurt, why are you smiling like a doofus? Oh, it’s just the most surreal moment of my life…
I think he was asking me at this point…are you okay? (inside my head, I”m saying “noooooo….Garth Brooks is touching my shoulder).
I walked out of the press conference…and just couldn’t believe it. I had met Garth Brooks…and Trisha Yearwood…and it was the coolest…and yet most normal thing ever. They were both so nice…so down-to-Earth…so….so….so just what you hoped that they would be…and they were…and more.
Saturday night….my wife and I went to the 7:00 show…and OMG…hello Des Moines. We parked at the Capitol and did the DART shuttle ride, which I’m glad we did, because riding through the East Village, down Grand…it was amazing…Des Moines was so alive…people were everywhere…you could feel the excitement everywhere you turned.
The concert…incredible…we all know this…
Garth….Trisha….thank you for the incredible shows….thank you in advance for the shows to come…and we look forward to seeing you coming around again.
AWESOME is as AWESOME does!
