Garth Brooks, country music’s consummate stadium act, is going back to his roots this summer with a series of dive-bar shows — starting with one in Chicago.
WUSN-FM (99.5) and WEBG-FM (95.5) announced Monday that the superstar will perform July 15 at Joe’s on Weed Street, 940 W. Weed. Tickets will be distributed through contests on the radio stations.
On a video on his Facebook page, the music superstar said his seven shows at modest taverns across the country will celebrate his new single “Dive Bar.” His performance of the song at Joe’s will air July 15 on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
Although smaller and more intimate than Brooks’ usual arenas and sports stadiums, Joe’s might not meet many fans’ definition of a “dive bar.” The 20,000-square-foot Near North Side sports bar, with its five party rooms and self-proclaimed “full on-site sound and lighting system and incredible AV capabilities,” is quite a bit bigger and slicker than your average dimly lit, corner neighborhood haunt decorated with ancient Old Style signs and even older barflies.
Acts who have played the so-called dive bar in the past include Eric Church, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, and in April, Joe’s was voted nightclub of the year — a national honor — by members of the Academy of Country Music.
“Sometimes, man, [a dive bar is] your church,” Brooks said in his Facebook video. “A church is people who are like you that are searching, and sometimes you need a shoulder to lean on. That’s what a dive bar is. That’s what a good one is anyway.”
