Remembering Garth Brooks in Iowa City: Looking Back at His Set List [WATCH]

*The above photo is from Garth Brooks' World Tour in 1994, it is not from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

I don't think anyone who attended one of Garth Brooks' concerts at Carver-Hawkeye Arena had any idea at the time just how lucky they were... or that he might never perform in eastern Iowa again (he has since visited Ames and Des Moines). Let's look back on three shows that left Iowans awestruck.

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I stood in line outside Younker's at Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids when tickets went on sale for those concerts which were held in March of 1994. Originally scheduled for just one Iowa City concert, a second show was added, and when it was sold out, a third. The excitement of that morning was incredible, especially when the new ones were added and yours truly didn't yet have tickets. I persevered, along with the 45,000+ others who packed into Carver-Hawkeye Arena over three consecutive days. Each ticket was $17.75.

Thursday through Saturday, March 24 through 26, 1994, were the dates Garth Brooks performed in Iowa City. It was two years before he signed autographs in Nashville for 23 straight hours, and he was a megastar.

Alison Krauss (below) and Union Station opened all three concerts. In 2019, she was presented with the National Medal of Arts.

Garth "flew" in Iowa City, something I'd never seen an artist do in person before.

And oh how he performed. Though we can't quite relive those Iowa City concerts, let's enjoy the songs he performed in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Below is his set list from the final show on Saturday, March 26, 1994. I've also included videos of each song and live performances of nearly every one of them.

#1 Standing Outside the Fire (video from April 1994):

#2 Callin' Baton Rouge:

#3 American Honky Tonk Bar Association (video from 1993 CMA Awards):

#4 That Summer (video from 1993 ACM Awards):

#5 The Thunder Rolls (video from 1991):

#6 We Shall Be Free (video debut on 1994 Super Bowl):

#7 The River:

#8 One Night a Day (video from 1992):

#9 Shameless:

#10 Friends in Low Places (video from Chicago, 2014):

#11 The Dance (year unknown):

Encore

#12 Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up):

#13 Turn the Page (partial):

#14 She's Every Woman:

#15 Which One of Them (partial):

#16 You May Be Right (video from Central Park in 1997, with Billy Joel):