Country superstar Garth Brooks is performing five shows
in Portland in April 2015. This brings
back memories of 1993 when Garth performed twice in Pullman.
His back-to-back sold out gigs
were Saturday, Aug. 7, and Sunday, Aug. 8, 1993, in Beasley Performing Arts
Coliseum at Washington State University.
Garth’s shows were the
largest events ever held at the coliseum, Jim
Crow, then its director, to the Moscow Pullman Daily News. The shows set
the building record for attendance (11,800 for the first concert and 11,400 for
the second), gross sales, and were the first sellouts in coliseum's history.
This photo is of Garth
posing with Pullman's National Lentil Festival mascot Tase T. Lentil, portrayed by George
Sharp, then National Lentil Festival director and later to become Pullman Chamber
of Commerce executive director. It was taken in a Coliseum room before the
first Pullman performance.
As a promotional item,
George had post cards made of the photo and asked people in Pullman and on the
Palouse to mail post cards to family and friends inviting them to the 1994
National Lentil Festival. While the post card promotion was effective, it
caused confusion since some recipients thought Garth was going to perform at
the 1994 festival.
To clarify, Garth did not perform
at the 1993 National Lentil Festival. He was in Pullman and performed at WSU in
August 1993, but not as part of the festival.
George is now executive
director of the Olympia Lacey Tumwater Visitor & Convention Bureau.
Thanks to Pullman :: Cup of the Palouse blog for this story and photo.
