**UPDATE: GARTH HAS ADDED SHOWS TO THIS STOP ON HIS TOUR **

When Garth Brooks last played St. Louis, the Kiel Center had been open for two years in downtown St. Louis. A vacant space once used as the Kiel Opera House sat adjacent. It would be 15 years before that area would return to glory as Peabody Opera House.  Garth announced today that he will be returning to St. Louis in 2014 for shows on December 5 and 6. He’ll be playing the same stage he played in 1996, although the building now carries the Scottrade Center name. His wife, Trisha Yearwood, will be the opening act. Tickets will go on sale next Friday, October 24 at 10 a.m.

All tickets will be priced at $71 and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The ticket price breaks down as a base price of $57.15 plus $4.85 tax plus a $3 facility fee plus a $6.00 service charge.

It’s fitting that St. Louis finds a spot on the tour announcing Garth’s return to country music. When Brooks last played St. Louis, his youngest daughter had just been born less than four months prior. In 2000, Brooks famously announced that he was retiring from country music until his youngest daughter graduated from high school. Allie Colleen graduated this year. In July, Garth held a press conference to announce that he would be releasing new music and would be embarking on a world tour.

Brooks opened his tour with 13 shows in the Chicago area in his attempt to stage “the biggest tour ever”. U2 currently holds the record with their 360° Tour that lasted from 2009-11 and grossed $736 million from 7.3 million ticket sales. Billboard says Garth is well on his way, grossing $12 million in his Chicago stops. Garth set a record with 180,000 tickets sold for his Chicago run and then recently broke that with 188,000 ticket sales in Minnesota.

While other markets where Garth has played multiple shows have seen tickets available on the secondary market for below face value, it’s doubtful that will happen in St. Louis. With only two shows announced so far, you’ll want to be ready to go next Friday to buy tickets. Kevin C. Johnson at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recommends heading to Ticketmaster.com/GarthBrooks to make sure you are set up with an account to fast-track your ticket purchase next Friday at 10 a.m.

There are several ways to win tickets to one of the Garth Brooks shows in St. Louis.

Win Tickets from 92.3 WIL

Garth-tober at 93.7 The Bull

Garth has notoriously shied away from releasing his music digitally. Along with his tour and new album, he also announced a plan to release his music digitally. Brooks has definitely had time to think about this move and made the most of it. The Garth Brooks Digital Bundle is available for $29.99 from GarthBrooks.com and GhostTunes.com. It includes the following:

• Instant download of the new single, “People Loving People” and the bonus track, “Send ‘Em On Down The Road” from MAN AGAINST MACHINE
• Other song downloads from MAN AGAINST MACHINE as they become available prior to album release date
• AND! All 8 studio albums (Includes: Garth’s self-titled debut album, No Fences, Ropin’ The Wind, The Chase, In Pieces, Fresh Horses, Sevens, and Scarecrow)
• AND! The NEW Double Live 25th Anniversary Edition (30 songs/30 videos)
• AND! Download MAN AGAINST MACHINE on album release date
• PLUS! The NEW 2015 album on album release date

At $29.99, it’s worth it to buy this even if you already own physical copies of all the albums just so you don’t have to spend your time converting them into MP3 files.

The package also includes 30 videos.

Here are are some of my favorite Garth Brooks videos available across the internet.

“The Red Strokes” music video

Released November 1994 on In Pieces. Won Music Video of the Year in 1994 from the Academy of Country Music

Garth in Las Vegas talking about singing with James Taylor

 

Garth singing “The River” at the 1992 Country Music Awards

 

“Friends in Low Places”

 

Jay Leno shows Garth his first television appearance 

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