Back in 1997 -- when Garth Brooks invaded Sioux Falls the first time -- one man witnessed the entire thing.

Former Argus Leader reporter Bob Keyes attended all six – we thought it was eight – concerts.

Today Bob lives in his native Maine, where he’s the arts reporter for the Portland Press Herald.

When I heard on Friday that Garth Brooks was adding a bunch more shows, I immediately thought of Bob. So we gave him a call and interviewed him on The Patrick Lalley Show to revisit the experience.

You can listen to the whole interview below to get Bob’s perspective on what that was like.

By any measure, it was rugged. It doesn’t really matter what act you’re watching, eight is a lot of concerts and physically draining.

Now, I’m no Garth Brooks fan to be sure – and Bob really isn’t either – yet he said it was a fantastic atmosphere for fans and pretty entertaining.

Even that many times in a row.

I don’t think I could do it.

As for Bob? He’s done pretty well for himself since moving back to Maine. In fact, he just won a big prize for arts journalism. Read all about it here.


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