Garth Brooks still has it. Whatever it is, it’s still there.

I went to the Nov. 6 show, the second of nine in Kansas City, and it was a rowdy place. Trisha Yearwood got up and performed first as everyone stood up and sang along to an excellent set of her biggest hits. Then she left the stage, and the crowd grew restless.

Before long, 18,500 people were doing the wave while stomping the ground, kicking chairs and screaming for Garth for 15 minutes straight. Eventually someone came across the PA system to try and calm us by saying Garth would be out in five minutes. Half an hour later, he came out to an earsplitting ruckus.

Garth played all his old stuff in addition to his new No. 1 hit, “More Than a Memory.” As expected, the crowd’s response to the first few notes of “Friends in Low Places” was awe-inspiring. “The Dance” was an inspirational journey as always and I loved every minute.

His rapport with a crowd was something to witness. We experienced the full gamut of emotions, from him getting teary-eyed as he announced it was the first time his daughters were able to be there to watch him live in concert, to him screaming at the top of his lungs, sprinting across stage and raising hell like the old days. He was quick to elicit collective laughs from the crowd and was amazed at how loud it was.

Throughout the show, virtually the entire audience was standing and singing right along with Garth. The sound was great, minus a few technical glitches early on, and Garth was on fire.

It was good to still see Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle and Mike Palmer on drums, two very old fan favorites. Garth also announced his bass player Mark Greenwood hails from Topeka, an added touch to the show.

From having his first new single in years be the first song ever to debut at No. 1 on the charts to having nine sold-out concerts in one place, it is obvious that Garth is not a has-been and never was one. It’s still planet Garth and we’re just living in his shadow.

“If Tomorrow Never Comes,” Garthstock 2007 in Kansas City was “Wild as the Wind” while holding a “Longneck Bottle” and “Standing Outside the Fire” with my “Friends in Low Places.”