A headline reading "Notre Dame invites Garth Brooks to play first-ever concert in legendary stadium" was widely circulated this summer and appealed to many country music lovers in the area. Having seven diamond albums (beating out the Beatles with six diamond albums) and being America's best-selling solo artist are certainly accolades that shouldn't be overlooked. While I'm sure Brooks' performance will be beautifully executed, it may not appeal to music lovers outside of the country music genre. While we await this future concert that still doesn't have a date locked down at the time of writing, I look at the surrounding area and don't see many other nationally-known acts coming through Northern Indiana. Not counting festivals that local radio stations put on, large acts just tend to drive straight through Michiana on their way to their shows in Illinois or Ohio. One example of a band doing just that would be the Foo Fighters. Foo Fighters are a rock band founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl following the dissolution of Nirvana. They have top hits such as: "Everlong," "The Pretender," "Best of You," "Learn to Fly," "All My Life" and several others. The list goes on and on and spans many decades. This summer, Foo Fighters played in at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL for two back-to-back shows to sold out crowds. While there, I witnessed younger "Generation Z" kids, Millennials and Baby Boomers from all walks of life fully immersed in the three-hour set led by energetic frontman, Dave Grohl. Artists can occasionally have an "off" night but I can assure you with Foo Fighters, even a broken leg won't stop Grohl from keeping you entertained. (He fell off the stage at a past show and managed to finish the show and the remainder of that tour.) How great would it be to have an artist like the Foo Fighters perform at the University of Notre Dame? As part of the Campus Crossroads Project, the University stated that they are trying to get more use of the Stadium outside of the handful of home football games each year. While I think they are on the right track getting a well-known artist such as Garth Brooks, I'd like to pressure them to take it even further. Bringing in artists like the Foo Fighters or similar artists in the same genre could possibly appeal to an even larger number of fans. What if the iconic Notre Dame Stadium became a common stop for national touring acts?
Matt Frazier
Department of Biological Sciences
Aug. 4
