Las Vegas Weekly

February 24, 2010 · 1:08 PM

The night Garth Brooks’ audience wouldn’t leave the theater

By Robin Leach

Garth Brooks performs at Encore Theater in the Wynn on Dec. 12, 2009.

Photo: Henry Diltz

Sometimes you get gossip as immediate breaking news, sometimes you get it late night for early morning use, and sometimes you get it early enough to spend the day checking it out. Once in a rare while do you get a gem, a prized nugget, as it were, that hasn’t slipped out in nearly two weeks. That’s the timeline behind this tasty tidbit too delicious to toss even if it’s from 12 days ago.

This is how I received it yesterday in a fascinating email: After two hours of playing onstage at Encore Theater in the Wynn, the lights came up, the show was over, and Garth Brooks went backstage to have dinner. Around 15 minutes went by when a stagehand came back and told Garth he wouldn’t believe it, but the audience was still there, standing like they were when he left the stage.

Thinking he was joking, Garth went out to check it himself, and it was no joke, the whole crowd was still standing, the entire crowd! Having such a loyal fan base and wanting to return their adoration, Garth grabbed his guitar, walked back onstage, and on Friday, Feb. 12, played another 45 minutes on top of the two hours he’d already performed.

Afterward, Garth said: “I’ve never seen anything like it in my career.” I haven’t ascertained if he then returned to his dinner or went out for a new one!

After this weekend’s NASCAR shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Garth’s next set of shows is March 26 to 28, with more dates in April, June, July and August. As we reported yesterday, tickets go on sale at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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