Superstar heats up Portland> Singer Garth Brooks kicks off 5-night gig

PORTLAND — Garth Brooks fever hit town on Tuesday night and the singer kept a Cumberland County Civic Center crowd fired up throughout his two-hour show.

“Garth! Garth! Garth!” the audience shouted after the country music superstar raced around the stage singing his recent rock ‘n’ roll-flavored hit, “The Fever.”

Surrounded by a light show that looked like something out of the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” the Brooks tour landed at the civic center on Tuesday for the first of five performances this week. The entertainer broke an attendance record at the venue by selling 40,000 tickets for the shows.

Soon after stepping onstage, Brooks made it clear that his mission was “to raise some hell and have some fun” in Portland. He and his seven-member band did a little bit of both.

During performances of his uptempo smashes, “Rodeo” and “That Summer,” Brooks sang, yelled and screamed lyrics from the stage, and his fans loved every minute of it. He also climbed a rope ladder high above the stage as he ripped through “Ain’t Going Down Til The Sun Comes Up.”

Although known for his high-energy stage antics, Brooks is also very capable of mesmerizing fans with tender ballads. The musician particularly showcased the strength of his voice during performances of “The Change,” “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” “The River” and “The Dance.”

He also changed gears and belted out the gospel-flavored favorite, “We Shall Be Free.”

However, it was the upbeat Brooks tunes that received the most response and the singer kept delivering them as he wiped sweat from his face.

“Let’s kick this thing up a notch or two,” he said before breaking into “Papa Loved Mama.”

Brooks, whose music has a strong 1970s influence, wrapped up Tuesday night’s show with covers of Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” and Don McLean’s classic “American Pie.”

At a press conference before the show, Brooks summed up what he would like to see in the faces of his Maine fans this week.

“I like to see the people out there either just laughing their butts off or just sitting there staring at the floor soaking up every word — thinking about what it means,” he said.