THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240540
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO AND ROY BAHLS, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: 75 lines
What makes country legend Garth Brooks popular enough to pack a 14,000-seat coliseum for 3 shows? Just ask his fans.
According to his mama, young J.D. Dunham has been bouncing off the walls of their Portsmouth home since the first of December, when he found out Garth Brooks was coming to town.
Thursday night, the boy was in overdrive.
Dressed head to toe for the occasion in a black cowboy hat, Old Glory shirt, jeans and pointy boots, the 4-year-old was all over the plaza outside Hampton Coliseum. He stopped once or twice to bang away on a miniature guitar, then, with his little sister in tow, was off again.
``He's dressing like me now,'' J.D. said. ``I like his rockin' songs.''
``This child is a Garth Brooks nut,'' said his mother, Michelle.
J.D. wasn't alone. By 5:30, several hundred other fans were waiting for Brooks to kick off the first of three sold-out concerts.
Country music's supernova of superstars is living proof that history does repeat itself: In October 1993, the last time he played around here, he pulled off an identical hat trick, selling out three nights at the coliseum.
Troy Hedspeth, Virginia Beach's ``Little Man of Country,'' was at one of those shows. Hours before Brooks was to take the stage Thursday, the up-and-coming crooner was selling copies of his own CD, autographing pictures and gearing up to perform on an outdoor stage set up by radio station Eagle 97.
The last time Brooks was in town, Hedspeth got to meet his hero.
``My grandmother won two backstage passes,'' Hedspeth, 14, said from under his black hat. ``He's my idol and inspiration. He got me singing.''
Hedspeth hoped to have the early arrivals singing, too. Considering the carnival atmosphere, that wouldn't be too hard.
While TV news crews set up for remotes, two radio stations broadcasting from the coliseum gave away tickets, T-shirts, posters and bumper stickers. People passing by a NASCAR racer, on display for this night, stopped to peer inside. A full, golden moon reflected in the waters of the plaza's big fountain.
The party, however, wasn't confined to the plaza. Out in the parking lot, other Garthheads jump-started the evening with pre-concert patter and tailgate parties.
Mike Simeone, his 13-year-old daughter Amy - who was supposed to be doing her homework - and their friends Glenna Craft and Jeannette Brown, all from Chesapeake, were parked and partying by 5 p.m.
It was their first Garth Brooks concert.
``He has such energy,'' Craft said. ``He's such an entertainer. KISS was his favorite band. You can't compare him to the twangy sound of (country music) 20 or 30 years ago.''
Tickets for the three shows were snapped up in less than 90 minutes when they went on sale Dec. 7. Brown was in the right place - Blockbuster Music at Chesapeake's Greenbrier Mall - at the right time. A random drawing was held to decide the order of sales. No. 700 was the first called; she was holding 713.
``Thirteen's my lucky number,'' Brown said, laughing.
What's the secret of Brooks' staying power? Why is the Oklahoma native so popular when other performers, country and otherwise, are struggling to fill venues smaller than the 14,000-seat coliseum?
It's a combination of things, Craft said, but mostly it's because he's the real deal. There are no affectations with Brooks, on stage or off.
``He didn't come from a rich family,'' she said. ``When you don't lose touch with where you came from, that says something.''
``That's why we love him,'' Brown said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by IAN MARTIN, The Virginian-Pilot
``This child is a Garth Brooks nut,'' Michelle Dunham of Portsmouth
said of her 4-year-old son, J.D., who saw his idol perform Thursday.
``I'm gonna raise some hell. We're gonna have some fun,'' said Garth
Brooks before delivering on both counts to the delight of thousands
of fans at a soldout show in Hampton Coliseum Thursday.