Garth Brooks meets with press before historic Birmingham concert — takeaways & parking info

Garth Brooks looked relaxed when he met with several Birmingham press outlets on Friday afternoon, 24 hours before his much anticipated sold out concert at Protective Stadium.  

Bham Now was there at the Protective Stadium Club Entrance to capture the gathering on Facebook Live.

Vital Info & Fun Facts

Before we provide you video and takeaways from the news conference, here is some vital information + fun facts for concertgoers.

• Parking — Bham Now published this handy guide last week, which has maps and directions to local garages and parking areas.
• Protective Stadium Has Been Very Busy — Opened Fall 2021 Protective is the home field for the UAB Blazers and Birmingham Legion. It has also hosted the TickerSmarter Birmingham Bowl, nationally broadcast USFL games and the high school state championships. 
• Inaugural Concert — The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour is the first concert at Protective, It will be historic!
• Cowboys and Aliens — If you want to make it a day over at the BJCC – Alabama Comic Con opens up in the morning
• 7 Years — The last Garth Brooks concert in Birmingham was at the BJCC back in 2015

Takeaways from the Garth Brooks News Conference

Brooks spoke to the press for nearly 20 minutes.

Here are some of our favorite comments:

About touring again after the global pandemic:

“I feel very happy and thankful that the pandemic is now into the endemic stage. And people are coming out and playing again. So it’s fun to get to watch these people come out.”

Thoughts on being the first concert at Protective Stadium

“You’re not competing with the past or the present, you’re competing with the future. We hope that when the second concert comes here (Protective Stadium), somebody argues that the first night was better. So that’s what you got to do. Come out here and put your best foot forward for country music.”

His fans

“The best crowd you will ever have in here will be tomorrow night. I’ll put them up against anybody. They’re the sweetest people. Our goal is to have them leave the stadium loving each other more than when they came here. These people are very, very sweet. We saw Central Park with over a million of them and only two arrests in Central Park at night. So we are very, very proud of the people that come to watch the show.”

What is he going to do in Birmingham before the show?

“We’re going to play ball, we play ball everywhere we go. It’s always good to get to see other sides of the people that you work with. And trust me sports bring out a totally different side, especially for musicians.”

He will have the best seat in the house

“Too many times people look for the Entertainer of the Year on stage. And the truth is, it’s the crowd. So it’s not a statement of humbleness, but a statement of honesty, I’ll put our crowd up against anybody. They make this thing happen. I have the best seat in the house.”

Favorite Song

“I do have a favorite song to perform live. It never changes. It’s Callin’ Baton Rouge.”

Watch the entire new conference:

Are you going to the concert on Saturday night? We’d love to hear from you on social media. Tag us at @bhamnow   Share your photos.  Make it a special night!