Talk about The Dance...
It's the saga that made The Iliad look like a local row, that has exercised and enthralled at least one person you know (who should know better) since summer 2014, and arguably deserved its own episode of Reeling in the Years on Bealach a hAon.
Well, there's no doubt that Garth Brooks will feature in the 2022 lookback come 2030 - and, more immediately, no doubt that his, and his fans', Croke Park dream is about to come true.
But just in case you need a catch-all of how we got to here, the cog notes are below.
"Them was days, Joxer, them was days," as the man himself will surely say down on Jones Road this weekend.
1) "Bob Doyle, the manager, said, 'If we're going to show ourselves to people again, I sure would like the venue to be perfect and for everything to be kind of like it was to show them no time has passed'. And I said, 'Well, if you want a place like that, I would think it would have to be Croke Park'."
Garth Brooks in an interview with RTÉ Entertainment when the first two comeback gigs were announced for the first time in January 2014. News of another three would follow - and a lot more besides.
2) "For us, it is five shows or none at all. To choose which shows to do and which shows not to do, would be like asking to choose one child over another."
The heat is on in July 2014 as the singer sets out his stall after the decision by Dublin City Council to allow only three of the proposed five shows later that month.
3) "Garth Brooks' response to the licence for the 3 rather than the 5 concerts was not an ultimatum; it was simply an expression of genuine concern for his fans. The complete misrepresentation of Garth Brooks as a person and as an artist is ill-informed and is scandalous."
Promoter Aiken Promotions issues a strongly worded statement a few days later as the controversy rages.
4) "I will fly, beg, crawl... on my knees."
Brooks makes an emotional appeal for a breakthrough at a press conference in Nashville.
5) "I just received the news the Irish council cannot change their earlier ruling to not allow the licenses [sic] for all five shows. To say I am crushed is an understatement. All I see is my mother's face and I hear her voice. She always said things happen for a reason and for the right reason. As hard as I try, I cannot see the light on this one. So it is with a broken heart, I announce the ticket refunds for the event will go as posted by TicketMaster."
Brooks' statement as the saga ends. Or so we thought - for around an hour.
6) "I'm not trying to be dramatic, but my wife would sit here and tell you, 'I've never seen him ache like that for anything other than loss of family'. I mourned that and I still am, to tell the truth. Hurts like hell."
Brooks in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in November 2014. There's still another seven years of ifs, buts and maybes in the tank...
7) "The message we got from Garth's people is we need to talk urgently and get these Irish concerts sorted soon."
A 'concert source' gets the Croke Park rumours up and running again for summer 2017, as reported by the Irish Sun in May 2016.
8) "We know of no such plans on his schedule."
July 2016 sees Brooks' spokesperson dismiss reports of Cork shows in summer 2017. Cut to five years later...
9) "I'd love to do five, but I'd also love to be 6'5" and have abs."
And he's back! In Croke Park! November 2021 sees Brooks flying in for a press conference as he announces at least two concerts in Croke Park for September 2022.
Country musician Garth Brooks has said he would love to play five concerts at Croke Park, but thinks that would be impossible.
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 22, 2021
The singer is in Dublin ahead of at least two concerts at GAA headquarters next September | Read more: https://t.co/2QdrOFGvbs pic.twitter.com/0Hj1YFHbdH
10) "The Stadium Tour and this chapter of our life will end in - what I have told anybody that will listen - the greatest place to play music. And the fact that it's Croke Park makes it even better."
Closing out the same press conference as Irish hacks wonder whether the tour should be renamed God Loves a Trier.
Harry Guerin
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