Garth Brooks Kicks Off Flood Relief Benefit Show Series Tonight

Garth Brooks returns to full-band, live performing for the first time in years tonight in Nashville, Tenn. Tonight's concert is the first of nine sold-out shows at the Bridgestone Arena.  Brooks is coming out of a self-imposed retirement in order to raise over three million dollars to repair the damage caused by the May 2010 flooding in the city. 

Although he recently started playing occasional, subdued weekend solo concerts in Las Vegas, Brooks has only very rarely performed in the full-blown arena manner since his retirement in the early 2000s. His guitar smashing, pyrotechnic-heavy performances (all borrowed from Kiss, just sayin') helped make him one of the biggest-selling musical acts of all time.

Brooks vows not to return to a full-time recording or touring schedule until his daughter turns 18, somewhere around 2015; but maybe, just maybe, the record-setting speed at which all of these shows sold out will sway him to add just a few more dates in some other lucky cities.

Garth Brooks 2010 Nashville Concert Dates:

December 16 - Bridgestone Arena (two shows)
December 17 - Bridgestone Arena
December 19 - Bridgestone Arena
December 20 - Bridgestone Arena
December 21 - Bridgestone Arena (two shows)
December 22 - Bridgestone Arena (two shows)