Before ‘Friends in Low Places,’ Garth Brooks wowed Richland crowd for $6,500

On July 14, 1990, country legend Garth Brooks performed at the Richland Carnival, visiting Lebanon County as his fame began to skyrocket.

Only a year after the release of his eponymous album, Brooks was still a new arrival on the national country music scene. In a 1991 Lebanon Daily News column, Henry Homan remarked that “Richland was lucky, because at the time Brooks was booked for his summer gig here, he hadn’t yet [had] several chart-busting hit records.”

One such hit was “Friends in Low Places,” which would go on to be formally released on Aug. 6, 1990, and spend four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

“I knew that Garth Brooks had a record on the Billboard Magazine charts, but I had no way of knowing that he would become the biggest star in the nation in such a short time,” Homan later reflected in a 1998 column.

Attendees that Saturday night got to hear a sneak preview of the song, which went on to win the 1990 Academy of Country Music award for Single of the Year. In 2004, the song would top the Country Music Television list 40 Greatest Drinking Songs: Morning After, reflecting the song’s legacy years after its release.

In that 1998 column, Homan recalled serving as the master of ceremonies for the Richland carnivals and meeting Brooks. It was a rainy day, he said, so he did not record an interview with Brooks or get a snapshot with him as he would with most stars.

“I remember how reserved he was,” Homan reflected about the then-28 year-old country singer. “And he looked very young to me. Then I realized that he was concerned about the show and the problems the rain was causing. Garth is a perfectionist and he wants everything to go just right.”

Attendees to the July 8 show needed only pay $10 at the gate, with proceeds benefiting the Neptune Fire Company to purchase a new truck. Homan reported that Brooks was paid $6,500 for his performance, a low fee for someone who would go on to be the second-highest certified artist in the U.S. based on album-equivalent units (only topped by the Beatles).

Brooks’ 20-song setlist went as follows, according to a setlist.fm archive:

1. Not Counting You
2. I’ve Got a Good Thing Going
3. We Bury the Hatchet
4. Much Too Young (to Feel This Damn Old)
5. Alabama Clay
6. The Race Is On (George Jones)
7. Please Come to Boston (Dave Loggins)
8. To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before (Albert Hammond)
9. Everytime That It Rains
10. Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House (Dennis Robbins)
11. The Thunder Rolls
12. Nobody Gets Off in This Town
13. Mr. Blue (The Fleetwoods)
14. Same Old Story
15. If Tomorrow Never Comes
16. The South’s Gonna Do It (The Charlie Daniels Band)
17. Friends in Low Places
18. Wolves
19. The Dance (Tony Arata)
20. You May Be Right (Billy Joel)