For the Love of Garth

This is what a super fan looks like...

Getting a tattoo of Garth Brooks.

If he signs my arm, it's going to come right up my arm.

These are the Irish fans of Garth Brooks...

Every day I see him perform it lightens me up, like.

They'd do anything for the love of Garth.

I just dropped everything. Was line dancing in the bedroom.

After 17 long years, they were expecting his comeback concerts...

It was unreal just to say I have my tickets.

But it all went wrong...

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

..and now they're mad.

That really mattered to me, coming to see him.

Just devastated that it didn't take place.

I'm not happy.

I can't take it on board.

-They are the country folk...

-Us oul' culchies!

..the outsiders.

Should call you Kevin!

The original friends in low places.

No friends in high places round here, anyway.

-And watch out...

-We're in Dublin!

..they're coming to town.

Yee-ha!

For these Garth Brooks fans, this rainy day in July

is about to become the best or worst of the year.

They're waiting to hear their hero speak in an online

press conference beamed all the way from Nashville, Tennessee.

Back in January, when the gigs were announced,

Garth ticket mania went wild.

It was estimated that there was one ticket sold for every 15 people,

across the island of Ireland.

All over the country, fans were ecstatic.

No, we camped out for two days.

So happy that I had these tickets.

Even asked at a congregation, "How many of you are going to

"the Garth Brooks concert?" And nearly half the people were going.

The love of Garth inspired Irish fans like these

to smash box office records.

400,000 tickets sold, worth a whopping 26 million.

Now, look at these tickets carefully, folks.

"Subject to licence."

Blissfully unaware of what those words would mean,

crowds queuing in country towns like Dungannon

were just doing what Garth fans love -

gathering together to share an experience.

And no-one more excited than Roisin.

Yeah, that's her with the flag.

We started queueing from Sunday.

Went back to work on Monday at two o'clock and just said,

"Right, boys, book me off for the rest of the week. I'll be off.

"I have an important job to do."

She says, "What?" "I have to queue up for Garth Brooks tickets."

And I had six tickets in my hand, and I just cried.

And that feeling of sharing the excitement with other fans

is just as important to Roisin's sister Siobhan.

I was third in the queue,

and third person in the whole of Ireland to queue for tickets.

It was unreal just to say that I have my tickets for Garth Brooks.

In Letterkenny,

the Kirwan family are also preparing for the press conference.

For many fans, the love of Garth is usually a family affair.

And for Celine Kirwan, that's exactly how it is.

Young people come to Garth Brooks.

Middle-aged come to Garth Brooks.

Old people come to Garth Brooks.

Garth Brooks is an all-rounder.

The whole family were born Garth nuts,

although sanity is in short supply in their house.

I'm the only person in the house that has any kind of sense.

The rest of them are all lunatics.

The time for the press conference is fast approaching.

Karen Kirwan only wants to know one thing.

Just fed up now waiting on Garth Brooks to announce some dates

to be see if we're going to get to see a concert.

Though she's not convinced her da is going to set the Wi-Fi up in time.

Hear of a death going up the road, you'll know who died.

Murder in New Line Road, you'll know it was me dad.

Karen and her sister had a very different ticket story.

A lucky call to a local radio station got unbelievable results.

-RADIO PRESENTER:

-I know your agenda's very busy, Garth,

perhaps before you go you can say hello to Karen and Edel.

They camped out...

They didn't manage to get tickets...

-GARTH:

-You said they did not get tickets?

No, they didn't manage to get tickets.

Oh, God have mercy. I was like a psycho.

My poor child was freaking out

because he didn't have a clue what was wrong with me.

I was running up and down the kitchen, like.

And then I had to sit down. I was like, "Did he just say my name?

"Did he just address me on the radio, like?"

Karen and Edel, I will personally pay for four tickets

for each of you.

Make sure those girls pick a show of their choosing of those four nights.

"Singer's gift is just the ticket for lucky fans."

A simple namecheck from Garth Brooks

was enough to turn Edel into a local celebrity.

"They had friends in high places."

"Just him saying my name was enough.

I had my altogether then.

And then disaster. The gigs are cancelled.

Remember, "Subject to Licence"?

Well, the local residents complained.

-The licence has been denied.

-AMERICAN ACCENT:

-Garth ain't comin'.

It's the 10th of July, and Garth Brooks

has called a press conference to explain his side of it.

In Dungannon, fans are praying that their hero will save the day.

Come on, Garth!

Get in there, son!

Ireland should never be embarrassed.

Its people should never be embarrassed.

Most loving people on the planet.

I tell anybody that listens to me,

you want the greatest experience of your life?

Go to Ireland. They will eat you alive.

The Irish have my love for ever.

Garth Brooks in Nashville is sending love to Ireland.

In Letterkenny, Da is still having trouble with the connection.

AUDIO INTERFERENCE

In Nashville, Garth is at full throttle.

DISTORTED AUDIO

In Letterkenny...

AUDIO HUMS

Anyone in Ireland...

anyone on the planet is sad about this...

..you're not one billionth as sad as I am.

Finally, they have made the connection,

just as Garth is signing off.

And if the Prime Minister himself wants to talk to me...

..I will crawl, swim, I will fly over there this weekend.

But the fine words of Garth

have left the fans without definite answers.

Garth Brooks was willing to meet the Taoiseach over the concert.

That's no good to us.

-We're sitting here, with tickets in our hands...

-We are going.

-We're not going.

-We are going.

-We're not going.

-We are going.

Give us an answer. We want an answer.

That's all we want. Yes or no.

For the fans, uncertainty is hell.

Every day...

He was only going to grant the three shows.

He wanted all five nights or nothing.

..it gets worse.

Fingers crossed that the concert's still on.

We're hoping. We're hoping.

Until...

None of the five planned sell-out gigs would be going ahead.

Garth Brooks wrote...

All the fans have left are shocked reactions.

It's like somebody has handed you your dream.

I was just in disbelief.

They take it away.

Edel in Donegal is heartbroken.

Very sad.

Everybody getting together, just a bit of happiness in this country

instead of all the time, everybody down in the mouth.

For all of them, it's the memories of this 1997 gig,

that's what they are trying to recapture.

The last time Garth Brooks played in Ireland.

Back then, Edel would go to any length to see

the great man in the flesh, including risking her health.

The week he was coming, my appendix burst,

so I remember

I was trying to make them hurry up and make me better in the hospital.

I came round a bit,

but in the end I had to sign myself out to catch the bus to Dublin.

And there I got to see him and he was brilliant.

Worth every ach and pain.

Siobhan was desperate to see Garth Brooks this time

around at Croke Park because she missed this legendary 1997 gig,

unlike her sister Roisin and brother Martin.

My brother was a Garth Brooks fanatic.

Roisin was a Garth Brooks fanatic.

And he went to the first concert, but he died.

Christmas '99.

I want to relive his memories...

..of Garth Brooks' concert.

I want to see what he seen.

Because he came home and he talked about how great it was

and him jumping into the crowd and the crowd passing him around.

He actually laid down into the crowd

and they passed him over their heads.

And I just wanted to relive all that.

These fans have been deprived of the biggest Garth

get-together in two decades, and Roisin wants action.

This all should have been ironed out away in January

instead a fortnight before the gigs.

It's not on, you know.

We'll go to Dublin.

We'll go to Dublin.

It's Dublin - here we come.

Being into Garth Brooks is about being part of a community.

Some fans are still going to Dublin.

Their mission is to seek others like them

to help overcome their sense of loss.

And hopefully, achieve something positive from this mess.

You sort of feel now there's going to be closure,

that this is not going to happen.

We are not going to see Garth this weekend.

We're not going to see him on Tuesday night again.

It is disappointing, but it will put closure to everything.

He got us tickets for the Friday night.

Along for the ride are other Garth Brooks fans - the Quinns,

Sean and Kathleen, from Cookstown.

'It's a big disappointment.

'Big, big disappointment.'

We were expecting to come here Friday for a big day,

good night, and just devastated that it didn't take place.

For Sean, this trip to Dublin

is an opportunity to meet other Garth Brooks' fans.

It will be no substitute for the real thing,

but sure, we'll get a bit of a laugh, I'm sure.

Even Neil the driver has his own reason to go to Dublin.

I quite enjoy Garth Brooks myself.

I had my tickets and all for the concert too.

I got myself a pair of boots and all for Garth Brooks.

The Kirwans from Donegal have arrived well prepared.

BOTTLES RATTLE Oh, I like the sound of that.

CHEERING

But for Edel, the excitement is bittersweet.

A tune in the car has reminded her of the gift of tickets from Garth.

'Unanswered Prayers came on in the car,'

and everybody was singing back and he was singing to everybody.

I had to nearly stop the car, couldn't see out,

I was crying my eyes out like a baby, coming up the road.

Closure for these pilgrims comes with a traditional country remedy.

Something all Garth fans love to do -

gather together with new friends and sing his songs.

Garth Brooks is a first-class singer.

And all his songs, you can sing any of his songs.

Some artists, they might have one good hit and that's it,

Garth Brooks, you could sing 20 or 30 wee songs.

# I blame it on my roots

# I showed up in boots

# And ruined your black tie affair

# The last one to know

# The last one to show

# I was the last one

# You thought you'd see there... #

Another Kirwan, Gareth, has brought his guitar.

He performs as a Garth Brooks tribute act in bars and clubs.

But with a name like Gareth, some might say his options were limited.

When I was 12, me sister bought tickets to go to Garth Brooks

first time he came here to The Point.

I was 12 years of age and among thousands

and thousands of country music fans.

And I just latched onto it from there.

And after that I started singing Garth Brooks

and somewhere along the line I actually became a country singer.

# And the white line's getting longer

# And the saddle's getting cold

# I'm much too young to feel this damn old... #

After a 17-year wait,

the abrupt cancellation of the gigs has raised old suspicions

that the city slickers don't really care enough

about their country cousins.

'We are the culchies.

'If you're not from Dublin you're a culchie.

'Just country folk, you know.'

We're like the blow-ins to the city,

the country folk, the farmers, whatever, you know.

We party a bit different up here

compared to Dublin, as I'm sure you've noticed.

# Lord, I'm much too young to feel this damn old.

Back in her garage in Dungannon,

Roisin definitely likes to keep her country.

Country people are people who would work around the clock,

Saturday, Sunday, whatever days it may take. But town people,

eight to five and they're away home and their feet's up,

glass of wine in the hand for the night. That's the difference.

As long as I have a radio, I don't care.

And Garth Brooks is playing in the background, it's no problem.

Roisin rebuilds vintage tractors, so she's no stranger to hard work.

I stripped her down, sanded her, plastered her,

and started to build her again.

We put these tyres on ourselves and blew them up.

And before anyone says, "Girls don't play with tractors."

Roisin gets inspiration to do her own thing from Garth's music,

and one song in particular.

It would have to be Your Song cos he's actually

talking about a man singing to him on stage.

"Be who you want to be.

"And I inspired you by singing the music to you, like."

So, he's doing the same to me.

He's inspiring me to do my thing.

THEY SING

If Dublin is going to offer a real country experience this weekend,

they'd better do it right because for Edel, country music is personal.

My life's a country western song,

and it would make a hell damn good one, I tell you.

Anything that could happen, I've been through it all.

Things you wouldn't even think could happen, I've been through

all them too, but I've always come out a stronger person.

Two husbands, six kids, and one...

-AMERICAN ACCENT:

-D-I-V-O-R-C-E...

-NORMAL VOICE:

-..for Edel, life sounds like lyrics

from a Tammy Wynette song.

Well, I married my first boyfriend. Didn't work out after about 14 years.

So I had five kids with him.

I met Paul, and I married him too.

So, we've got a wee boy, Cillian.

I don't know how it happened, it just did.

Married the first one, married the second one.

SHE LAUGHS

SINGING

Yee-ha!

Yay, we're in Dublin!

Sadly, it isn't Baton Rouge - this is Croke Park, where Garth Brooks

was going to play until, of course, the residents put a stop to it.

Our fans have a little message for them.

Hi, residents. We're here.

'To me, I feel at the end of the day, Dublin and the residents,'

they didn't want him here.

So to me, they're to blame.

You know, here I am driving past Croke Park and thinking,

"The day that should have been in it.

"Shame on Ireland." I just think.

We should have been going into Croke Park

-instead of driving past it.

-I know.

Dressed in the very gladrags they would have worn to the gig,

the fans have come here to find some sort of closure,

and Croke Park is well and truly closed.

This here is just hard. It's heartbreaking.

-This is horrible.

-It's eerie...

-There's an awful eerie feel here, isn't there?

-It's just rotten.

Very eerie feeling.

It's horrible, isn't it?

It is, but there's an awful atmosphere here.

I don't like it.

The whole reason they came to Dublin

was to meet up with other Garth fans to share the disappointment.

But the only thing they've found here are very, very empty streets.

But look at this road. How many residents would we be closing in?

-Look - one car.

-I'm telling you, they're all away on holidays.

-They have to be.

-One car on the street.

I don't know.

Oh, that hurt.

Up until now, Roisin and Edel

believed Garth would indeed appear in Dublin like a resurrection.

I believe he's going to come.

I have a permanent black marker in my back and all for him to sign.

Garth, if you're here, come out. I want to see you.

I just want to jump up and hug you, give you a big kiss.

I still maintain he's going to turn up.

But we're all thinking the same... We're all deluded.

-We're all in the same boat.

-Didn't I say it to you or Siobhan?

-Mm-hmm.

-You're as deluded as me

thinking he's just going to pop his head around the corner.

-Know what I mean?

-CAR HORN BEEPS

The Cowboy hats, worn to show their love of Garth,

only give the locals an opportunity to poke fun.

-It's cancelled.

-Is it?

-Och, it is not.

-You're joking.

-It's not on.

-I wonder why.

-It's cancelled.

No, he's playing up in Quinn's tonight, so he is.

Oh, he's up in Quinn's tonight?

Up in Quinn's, all right?

That'll do, dude. See you later.

I don't like them being smart like your man saying,

"Oh, do yous want to hear him on the radio?" Like, that's not nice, like.

Quinn's Bar, the nearest watering hole to Croke Park,

clearly hasn't taken the side of the residents.

Well, we're just going to have to try and lift the mood

and have a good night.

I don't know how we get the mood lifted.

I don't know. I suppose when we get here now it'll be cancelled too.

HE SINGS

This local bar is welcoming Garth Brook fans with open arms,

especially those who want to spend some money.

And they've laid on a tribute act.

For the last two weeks, tribute acts have been raking it in

across the country, playing to fans who crave a bit of Garth

now the real thing isn't coming.

Lovely. CHEERING

Where'd you get that T-shirt?

Some people can see an opportunity in any situation.

Even at their lowest ebb,

this lady has turned up to sell the fans some T-shirts,

making a joke out of the gig that never was.

Give me a large.

There's no buzz, there's no atmosphere.

The only person we've talked to in there is trying to sell us T-shirts.

SHE LAUGHS

That's no way to welcome visitors into your city.

Yeah, I felt intimidated and unwanted and unwelcome.

We're pumping money into the Dublin community, you know,

why should they treat us like that there, like, you know?

They've bought the T-shirts, and a couple of drinks,

but nothing is going to soften the blow of an empty Croke Park.

We had to camp out for five days in the cold and the rain.

To stand here and not have Garth Brooks playing...

We went to the gates of Croke Park there,

and it just took the life out of the whole thing, like.

The party just died a death.

To go in and listen to a man impersonate him...

We should have that time, this is our time. This was what we want.

It's down to Gareth from Donegal to lift the mood.

It's all up to him now.

After all, he's singing for free.

# We call them cool

# Those hearts that have no scars to show

# The ones that never do let go

# And risk the tables being turned... #

Yee-ha!

# We call them fools

# Who have to dance within the flame

# Who chance the sorrow and the shame

# That always comes with getting burned... #

MUSIC: "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks

Despite the hangovers, tomorrow has indeed come.

Well, I mean, it's today.

Oh, you know what I mean.

Anyway, wearing cowboy hats and T-shirts

to show their love of Garth,

the fans venture into the city for a country music festival.

No, it's not some cynical attempt by Dubliners

to get them to spend money, of course not(!)

This is the OK Corral Busking trail.

All I know is, Dublin has put on a show,

a hoedown show and a busking trail,

so we're heading up here to see how the thing's going.

But it seems Garth Brooks is a bit of a standing joke.

-Any Garth Brooks, boys?

-Garth Brooks, we don't do any Garth Brooks.

-What?!

Dublin City Council won't let us play Garth Brooks anymore.

He's been banned, he's off all playlists.

Do you know any Garth Brooks?

-I don't know if I'm allowed to sing any Garth Brooks.

-Oh, right.

-Am I?

-I think so, yes. Why not?

-Sing one.

-I could get a tomato thrown at me.

-Not a bit, not a bit.

-We're in town for Garth.

-Yous came anyway.

-We came anyway.

-You found me.

-We found you.

-God help yous.

-Oh, you're OK.

All right.

# Sometimes late at night

# I lie awake...

ALL: # And watch her sleeping

# She's lost in peaceful dreams

# So I turn out the lights

# And lay there in the dark... #

'Garth Brooks has made that country music,

'not as a jazzy country music but as a country music that's not boring

'to listen to, and it's not full of'

old diddly-diddly stuff, like.

That kind of... It is good country music.

'If you sit down and listen to any of his songs

'saying he's our inspiration.'

# Tell that someone that you love

# Just what you're thinking of

# If tomorrow never comes. #

-That was lovely.

-Very good.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

Good girl. Thank you.

It's Saturday night back at the hotel

and these country girls are going to give Dublin city

one last chance.

Are yous ready? Let's rock this party.

Only this morning, Garth Brooks announced the first dates

of his world tour - ten nights in Chicago.

But these have only one night in Dublin to look forward to.

-Once tomorrow comes...

-It might never come.

If tomorrow never comes, well, once tomorrow comes, it'll be final then.

It's over. It's done.

No, it's not, cos we have to get to the world tour.

Aye, but sure what's the chances of that?

Ah, there's every chance. What was the chances

of him buying me my tickets?

-What was the chances of that?

-Yeah.

-One in like a zillion.

I would love to be able to do that.

-Just walk up to him and just thank him, like.

-Oh, aye.

Do you think you'll ever meet him, Roisin?

I'd say if I met him I'd just buckle at the two knees

and just go back down.

-Do you think you would?

-Oh, surely. I'm soft like butter.

Before the gigs were cancelled, it was predicted that Dublin

would have been a sea of cowboy hats.

Nearly half a million Garth Brooks fans

would have brought an estimated 50 million euro,

though for Karen a good time costs nothing.

Yee-ha!

But hold on a minute.

Someone has spotted Garth at an upstairs window.

Could it be friends in high places?

Nah, it's only a T-shirt.

LAUGHTER

At last, a real Garth crowd. You know how I know that?

Cowboy hats.

And the opportunity to overcome the absence of the man himself

by sharing their experiences.

We've been waiting 14 years, because we missed him the first time,

then we had children. We'd go and see him wherever he played.

Then he stopped touring for a long, long time.

It's not just the tickets for the concert,

we've paid for a night for the hotel, two nights,

flights, and all that.

It's now time for us to make our own entertainment, you know?

Sharing Garth with 80,000 others every night

is what these fans wanted from the gigs.

But here, meeting other fans is everything Siobhan needs.

Well, I'm meeting new people now and seeing how they're reacting,

their feelings towards it.

They're from a different part of the country to us.

I'm just trying to join in the party atmosphere. I'm trying to...

Because of the whole build-up of everything,

it'll be a gentle let down for me.

ALL: # The last one to know

# The last one to show... #

Finally, the girls have realised the only way to get Garth Brooks

on the streets of Dublin is to sing it themselves.

# The fear in his eyes

# I took his glass of champagne... #

Maybe our embattled travellers have found a little bit

of what they really wanted all along -

not Garth Brooks but a chance to get together

with a load of like-minded individuals

and have a right good shindig.

At the end of the day, you can take these honky-tonkers

out of the country,

but you just cant take the country out of these honky-tonkers.

Yee-ha!

We came up a wee small entry into a square.

I have to say, it was a bit of country, hillbilly,

bluegrass, the whole lot.

A bit of dancing, a bit of jiving. It was very, very good.

APPLAUSE

Thank you, that was Low Down.

So the only Garth Brooks to turn up this weekend

was what they brought to the city.

And, no, not just this cardboard cut-out.

But you can bet your bottom dollar

this lot will never lose their love of Garth, and that one day,

one day, they will see him play live again.

I still like Garth Brooks.

If he was back in Dublin, probably next month,

we'd probably go and look tickets again.

Sitting out again, deckchairs in February.

Yee-ha!

Already, Garth Brooks has added 20 more dates to his world tour

with an estimated value of nearly 40 million in ticket sales alone.

Immediate thoughts in the head were,

"Right, I'm going to have to find him on the world tour.

"Somewhere." That's just...

I'm going to get my Irish flag and I'm going to have it that high

at his gig that he will spot me in the crowd, that right, Garth?

SHE LAUGHS

But the last word is from Roisin.

If she can't be with her hero,

then Garth is going to be immortalised on her body for ever.

On the fifth of December, I've booked in and all to get a tattoo,

a portrait on my back of Garth Brooks.

I've a picture and all sent in with an American flag

and his date of birth on one side.

They're going to copy his autograph

and do it right in the middle underneath it,

and leave a wee blank for if he ever dies, like,

it'll go in on the other side.