Read
the songs. The clues are in the song titles of
the
Garth Brooks playlist. They tell us it was a Beer
Run
for Big
Money. It's
the
Same Old Story.
A
commercial decision, Digging
for Gold,
to sell a product that doesn't
exist, leaves
400 000 people distraught. People pay
hard-found cash, reportedly
to the tune of stg£21 million,
for this non-existent product – a ticket to a concert by American
country-pop
star Garth Brooks. They
scream Squeeze
Me In. These
tickets don't
actually exist, being 'subject to licence'. It goes Against
The Grain
to say it, but this American
Dream Ain't Goin' Down.
Ireland
didn't give Garth Brooks the Cold
Shoulder. No
matter who he asks
Why I Ain't Running, the
bottom line remains that together with the promoter, he fouled it up.
He
can sing Please
Come to Boston
and Please
Come to Denver, but
he won't sing
in
Dublin, at Croke Park, a major sporting venue that also hosts
concerts, in order to Do
What You Gotta Do to
make
money. It's
not a case of The
Old Man's Back In Town. More
a case of It's
A Roller Coaster
and Nobody
Gets Off In This Town.
Notions
of the economic benefit from the putative concerts break down under
scrutiny. Small monies into local peoples' hands as casual labour,
Workin'
For A Livin'.
Medium monies into local companies, mainly hotels and bars. Major
money to the seller of the non-existent tickets, to Garth Brooks and
his associates, much
of which leaves the island of Ireland.
There
is political leverage when individual desires are pooled together to
form a mass desire of 400 000 people. Yet the brouhaha does nobody
any good. It simply confirms Ireland as a play ground and a soft
touch.
In
a master stroke of Burning Bridges before you even get to
them, a combination of promoter, sports organisation and City Council
create a scenario worthy of Friends in Low Places. It's nobody
and everybody's fault. The guilty remain Anonymous and
ticket buyers will never met them Face To Face.
Ticket
buyers mouth Unanswered Prayers and
put up The White Flag. Garth
Brooks learns that
This Ain't Tennessee, singing
I'd Rather Have Nothing
than a compromise deal. The promotor, who originally said I've
Got A Good Thing Going, now
wonders what he'll do If Tomorrow Never Comes.
It
is a fiasco. Everybody is in the dark. There is no-one to Leave
A Light On. The
promoter
turns out not to be
Mr Right. The
Secret Track leads
to an empty stadium and
empty
pockets. It is a Shameless
episode.
Shameless,
because
nobody takes the blame. It's been a
Good Ride Cowboy and
now it's time to get off.
Will
We Bury The Hatchet? Only
after the monies are paid back, following unreasonable delays and the
deduction of service charges by credit card companies and others.
Garth Brooks might say That's the Way Love Goes
when you catch The Fever,
desire The Gift, get
into The Dance and
face the inevitable; The Change.
Nobody
is left Standing Outside The Fire.
Fan
options?
Limited.
You
May Be Right.
Buy
a Gareth Brooks DVD, invite your friends around and have a hooley on
your own terms?
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