Billionaire Steve Wynn announced Thursday that he had talked Brooks into coming to Las Vegas for what’s envisioned as a series of intimate, solo acoustic performances that will begin Dec. 11 at Wynn’s 1,500-seat Encore Theater.
Brooks is named by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) as the best selling solo artist in US history, surpassing Elvis Presley (but still #2 after the Beatles) with audited sales of 123 million. All this on the strength of only six albums! Wow!!!
So why would a man being a the peak of his success just call it quits in 2001? The answer is really quit simple.
Following the collapse of his marriage, he’d promised his daughters (who were 4, 6 and 8 at the time) to make his family the top priority in his life until all three went off to college, and that simply wasn’t compatible with a hard-touring road hound like Brooks.
Many offers have been sent Brooks way and he has turned them all down, fans have pleaded with him for years, and still he wouldn't, but when Wynn first brought up the idea of playing in Vegas, “I said he couldn’t afford me,” Brooks told a couple dozen journalists and several hundred fans gathered in the Encore Theater looking on as Brooks and his new business partner sat on stools on the theater’s stage. After a well-timed pause, Brooks added: “I was wrong.”
Wynn's goal, to create a situation where Brooks could perform while still honoring his commitment to his family. “In order to accomplish this goal,” Wynn said dryly, “I will confess I had to buy him a jet plane.”
So Brooks will become Wynn’s weekend warrior. He’ll play one show Friday night, two on Saturday and one more Sunday, a schedule that allows him to take his girls to and from school every day. They’ve initially announced five weekends’ worth of shows, something of a trial balloon for the concept. He said they're only announcing dates essentially one quarter at a time so he can schedule them around his kids' school and extracurricular activities.
One reporter asked, “What was the reaction when you sat our family down and told them you were going back to work?” Brooks said his eldest daughter Taylor’s response was, " ‘Thank goodness!’ ”
Brooks is a believer in democracy at home as well as in politics, and described regular family meetings where “we sit and we talk about anything and everything” and where each member of the family can freely air complaints or concerns.
“We started talking about the Vegas deal,” said Brooks. “I said ‘Guys, here’s the opportunity that’s come up, here’s where we’re at.’ And when I explained it to them, all they did was look at each other, then Taylor said, ‘Can we go?’ I said ‘Yep,’ and they were in. That was it.
“The truth is,” Brooks said, pausing briefly, “I’m halfway through what I retired to do. And this last half might be even more important than the first half. So I’m not going to let anything screw that up. So I’ve got a guy here who’s been sweet enough to make it easy for me to do this.
“And if it doesn’t work, we’ll quit doing it. And again, I have to now think, am I supposed to be doing this because I’d be stupid to pass it up?” His eyes glance skyward. “We’ll just give it a shot and see.”
There is one flaw in the deal that clearly still gnaws at Brooks: ticket costs. Brooks is known for keeping prices on his concert tours ridiculously low by contemporary standards: $25 or less. Wynn had suggested tiered ticket prices, allowing some seats in the back of the theater to be priced more in keeping with what Brooks fans have been accustomed to, while the middle and front-row seats would be closer to what other top-name acts on the Las Vegas Strip charge. That idea also ran counter to Brooks’ philosophy that fans shouldn’t get preferential treatment just because they’re financially better off.
“But it’s a 1,500-seat theater,” Brooks said, “and my only response is, if you don’t like Vegas, or you think the ticket price is too high, stay at home. Because we’re still on the same plan: that when the children go to school, I’d like to fire the machine up again and tour. So stay at home and I’ll come to your place for a lot less money and hopefully everything will be good then. So it’s kind of like it’s their choice.
“You can tell that’s the only thing I really have a problem with,” he said with a resigned smile. “My job is for them to walk out of here going ‘Dude, that was worth it.’ ”
So save up your dollars if you would like to see "The Great Garth", before he comes fully out of retirement in six years from now.
Welcome back Garth!
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