Garth Brooks celebrates Stampede centennial with rare show

Country superstar Garth Brooks held a rare concert in Calgary last night for the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede.

Brooks, who quit touring full time in 2001, said he's enjoying life as a soccer dad, but also says he's starting to think about getting back on the road.

"It’s always been about the babies. Our youngest is a junior in high school now," said Brooks, who plans on returning to touring after his daughter graduates high school.

Brooks, who has three daughters and is married to songstress Trisha Yearwood, came out of retirement in 2009 and began a five-year concert deal in Las Vegas.

He said performing at the Stampede centennial seemed like a natural fit.

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"I love this place and I love this rodeo, they’ve always been good to me."

When tickets went on sale for the show in April, it sold out in seconds — the biggest sellout in the history of the Stampede.

Many were scooped up by scalpers, who immediately marked the price of the tickets up by 500 per cent.

"It aint worth it, I’ll tell you right now," said Brooks, when asked about the scalper prices at a pre-show press conference.

"I don’t like scalpers and, you know, I never have. No offense to them, I understand that everyone has to make a living but there are other ways."

At Thursday’s show dozens of fans were disappointed to learn their tickets were fakes.