Country star may be back in force

Is Garth Brooks ready to rejoin the work force?

You couldn’t help but wonder during his energetic performance Tuesday at the Sprint Center arena in front of about 18,000 fans and the news conference he held shortly before the second of his nine sold-out shows.

Even if he didn’t come out and announce “I’m back!,” the 45-year-old country superstar retiree admitted that the success of this extended concert run -- his first in nearly a decade -- is causing him to think about how his semi-unretirement might continue to unfold.

The number of young fans at Monday’s concert was particularly encouraging as he explores resuming a more active music career at some point, and Brooks said he would consider playing additional multiple-date stints in key cities, including Minneapolis-St. Paul and Los Angeles.

He’s also keen on virtual touring. The Nov. 14 concert finale here will be simulcast in 300 theaters nationwide; that’s one model he finds hopeful.

“I’m trying to figure out how it’s going to get easier,” he said. “I can imagine bands in the future saying to me, ‘You actually traveled to the cities where you played?’ ”

He’s intrigued by other artists’ experiments in online distribution, having taken a risk himself by selling his albums exclusively through Wal-Mart in recent years.

“If I was a kid, I wouldn’t do albums,” he said. “I’d do a new song every four months. But I’ll forever be an album artist, and if that makes me a dinosaur, it’s OK.”

Strolling into a conference room in the arena Tuesday, Brooks apologized for getting stuck in traffic, and faced what must have seemed like a minuscule line of reporters before performing at the new facility.

In the seven years since he officially retired, the media’s hungry grasp has turned toward scandalized starlets and “American Idol” finalists. But that didn’t matter to Brooks, who considered the reaction at Monday night’s opening show proof that he is still a star.

“If we’d been as good as the crowd was, I think it would have been the greatest show of our career,” he said of himself and his longtime band. Saluting drummer Mike Palmer and keyboardist Dave Gant, Brooks said at Tuesday’s concert, “If I play for 100 years, I hope to be playing with these guys.”

The genial Brooks, hiding his silver hair beneath a baseball cap, admitted that his stamina’s not what it was a decade ago.

“The voice was gone after song two or three, but the great thing is, I don’t have to sing,” he said with a smile. “I came here to sing, but I came here to be sung to as well.” The audience did not disappoint, he said, helping him through the occasional lyrical fumble.

He almost seemed intimidated by the zeal of the Kansas City concertgoers, but appeared ready to match them. “Tonight, we’re gonna come out swinging!” he declared. Then he departed to exchange that baseball cap for a cowboy hat.

ann.powers@latimes.com