Galway GAA is this morning (Thursday ) expected to reveal that US country legend Garth Brooks will tog out in Pearse Stadium next summer, playing at least two gigs in the Salthill venue.
Speculation has been intense over the past few days since Galway GAA social media carried teasers for an imminent announcement about a mega-star to play the iconic stadium at the start of summer.
The country star is the top-selling, solo artist in US music history, and last time he was booked to play five nights in Croke Park, four years ago, he sold 400,000 tickets.
An official announcement from Aiken Promotions is expected later today to confirm two nights of gigs in Galway GAA’s headquarters in late May, 2027, with a possibility of two extra nights, subject to demand.
Brooks, originally from Oklahoma, has expressed a lifelong affinity with Ireland, and he is expected to also play Limerick, Kilkenny and Cork on his 2027 tour.
With several gigs planned for each of the four regional GAA stadia, up to a million of his Irish fans could turn out to see the star for the tour next year.
Public safety and planning authorities in Galway city are understood to be already planning for huge crowds of locals, visitors and cowboy hat sellers to swarm Salthill for ‘Garth in Galway’. They are hoping to avoid planning issues encountered when Brooks’ concerts caused a national controversy in 2014.
In 2014, ‘Garthgate’ was the biggest ever crisis in Irish entertainment history, when concert scheduling issues for Brooks’ sold-out, five-night comeback tour at Croke Park descended into a national meltdown that dominated news headlines and even prompted Dáil debates.
Croke Park had an agreement with its neighbours and city planners to host three concert events per year. When Aiken Promotions applied for licensing to host five consecutive nights, Dublin City Council restricted them to three.
Brooks issued a famous ultimatum: “five shows or none at all!”. In the end, all five shows were cancelled, but Garth triumphantly returned in 2022, when he sold out five nights in minutes.
After his 2022 extravaganza, Brooks promised next time he returned to Ireland, he would prefer to play smaller, more intimate gigs.
When Ed Sheeran played Pearse Stadium in May, 2018, it hosted 63,000 fans over two nights. Tickets for the regional gigs are expected to sell out within hours of being announced.
Securing the Brooks gig is a major coup for Pearse Stadium and the Galway GAA, following on from their recent high profile capture of Kerryman Éamonn Fitzmaurice to be the senior football team manager.
The Advertiser believes that dynamic ticket pricing will not be used in the sale of the Brooks tickets for the Irish tour next summer. Full details of ticket sales, prices etc will be made available by the promoters later today.
This will be the first time that Brooks has played in Galway or at the regional venues and could well set a trend for future European tours by major acts.
The concert will providers are already fielding enquiries from fans.
