Top 5 revelations from Garth Brooks' Arlington show press conference

One day before his sold-out show on July 30 at AT&T Stadium, country megastar Garth Brooks was doing what Garth Brooks always does the day before a show: meeting up with the media.

Casually dressed in blue jeans and a sweatshirt, Brooks hosted a press conference with about 20 reporters from local and regional media as far as Waco in the stadium's press room, where he leaked some highlights re: the Arlington stop on his 2022 Stadium Tour.

It's unusual for a musical act to hold a press conference the day before, especially when the show is already sold out. It's not like he needs to sell tickets. But Brooks is not your usual musical act.

These are the top 5 things Garth Brooks shared about the upcoming concert in Arlington:

1. The set list
Longtime fans will recall Brooks' trio of record-breaking, sold-out shows in 1993 at the now-gone Texas Stadium in Irving, the other house that Jerry Jones built, which were visual and theatrical wonders. Brooks flew over the audience via wires and utilized one-of-a-kind technology simulating a rainstorm in which audience members got wet.

"Back then, we weren't afraid to make any mistakes," he said. "We dropped five brand-new songs that people hadn't heard yet. Today, you'd be too scared to do that, right? I'm still looking for that renegade guy that I was back then, but it's kind of a balance. I know I need to play certain songs. I mean, nothing would piss me off more than going to a concert and just hearing a bunch of new stuff."

2. The backup band
Brooks' backup band will include members of the G-Men, a group of studio musicians who have performed on every Garth Brooks studio album, but have rarely performed live with him. The seven-piece band was inducted into the Musician's Hall of Fame in 2016.

"So the guys that do the records are different from the guys that do the tours," Brooks said. "I told them, 'You guys need to get out there and see what you've done.' They’ve done every record from "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" to "Dive Bar," but they've never gone on the road with us."

They'll join Brooks' current tour band, which includes veteran and new members. "There's five of us left from our 1988 shows. And then there are two guys from '91 and '92, and our fiddle player joined in 1994. We also just took on a kid named Bobby Terry. He’s the newest member."

3. FaceTime with Garth
Concert attendees will be given a code at Saturday's show for a chance to FaceTime with Brooks after the show. This has been a new feature during this tour which has proven to be hugely popular.

4. The show at AT&T Stadium will be recorded
Brooks revealed that the concert would be recorded, although he didn't say exactly for what.

"You don't come into this place without wanting to preserve history," he said.

5. Garth hearts Dallas-Fort Worth
Brooks spent much of the conference reminiscing about the area, saying, "This is where it started," he said, name-dropping venues such as the Crystal Chandelier, Borrowed Money, and Billy Bob's.

"I remember how hard it was getting my first show at Billy Bob’s," he said, recalling his first gig there in 1989. "I don't think you can (write) any page in any chapter of our story without talking about Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington. They've been a great home for us and thank God they continue to be."