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Fans were so eager to see Garth Brooks and wife Trisha Yearwood together in a Facebook Live concert Monday night that the overloaded site crashed again and again. And again.
"Garth, did you break the internet?" was the frequent fan commentamid the breakdowns, as 3.4 million viewers tuned in.
For the patient, and those able to reload the page, the stuck-at-home-casual husband-and-wife team gave an emotional, soulful"Inside Studio G" concert for fans watching from their own homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
"We're all in this together," Brooks said, after tearfullywatching Yearwood sing a resonant"Amazing Grace."
Here are the high points of the hour-long home concert:
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Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks gave a Facebook Live concert.(Photo: Garth Brooks/Inside Studio G.)
This was down-home casual. Brooks sported scruffy facial hair, a cap and a Detroit Mercy Lacrosse hoodie sweatshirtwhileYearwood worea Nashville Predators hockey shirt and occasionally threw on her reading glasses. At one point between songs, Yearwood reached over and removed some "fuzz"from her husband's beard.
"I got you," she said.
Brooks made it clear he's been suffering from cabin fever as the national call to stay at home continues. After one guitar riff, a smiling Brooks declared, "I need this worse than anybody."
There's a silver lining to being at home.
"You get to play your guitar walking around your home because got nothing to do," Brooks said.
Brooks called out for requests and his legion of fans obliged, some 50,000 requests, most far out of the usual songbook. "Whiskey To Wine" and "Thicker Than Blood" ruled,but the duo gamely took on George Jones and Tammy Wynette's "Golden Rings" and the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga song "Shallow." Theycrackedup at parts, but nailedthe "Shallow" harmony.
"OK, no more requests," Brooks said with a smile after the song ended. But they followed that up with a perfectly suited version of Ed Sheeran's "Perfect." Songs like "Hallelujah" and Yearwood's vocals "Amazing Grace" took on deeper meaning.
Trisha Yearwood performs at The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize tribute concert at DAR Constitution Hall on March 4, 2020, in Washington.(Photo: Shannon Finney, Getty Images)
Even Brooks was visibly surprised when Yearwood asked to take hisguitar out for a spin.
"I wanna play. Do not panic," she said, helpingthe instrument from her husband's neck.
"I've never seen you play," said Brooks.
"You'll see why I quit playing," she said to the unseen audience."Just love me. This is all about community, it's notabout being perfect."
Yearwood then hit a plaintive version of Linda Rondstadt's "Long, Long Time" that had Brooks (again) getting tearful.
Yearwood started out her career performing studio demos with the rising singer-songwriter Brooks. As the two bantered about the early days, Yearwood started mentioning all the songs that Brooks pitchedto have her record, only to take them back and record himself.
"You gave me a lot of songs that you took back," she said. "That's alright, I'm over it."
"I didn't know we were going to go there on this one," said Brooks.
Yearwood didn't blink, starting to listthem off: Thunder Rolls," Victim of the Game," Shameless.
"You pitched me 'Shameless'," said Yearwood of the 1991 Brooks hitonwhich she ended up singing harmony vocals. "This is therapy for us."
Y
Brooks started the concert not quite sure if his guitar-playing fingers could take a half-hour concert. At the end of an hour, he had to be told by his off-camera handlers that the two were close to going on beyond the booked time.
"This thing flew by. I have overstayed my welcome," said a surprised Brooks.
The two bade the fans goodnight with Brooks' parting words. "Everyone love one another."
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