Fresh Magic From Same Ol’ Brooks

Garth Brooks has always made it known that he was a country singer who wanted to touch his audience with the energy and spectacle of rock bands like KISS and Queen.

But who ever figured there was also a little bit of David Copperfield in him?

How else to explain how Brooks seems to enthrall audiences time after time in ways so surprising that “magical” is the only word that fits?

Consider his fast-paced, high-octane appearance Wednesday at the Forum, the first of six sold-out shows on a Southern California swing that will be seen by nearly 100,000 fans.

Although he doesn’t approach the character and craft of a Willie Nelson or a Merle Haggard as either a writer or a singer, Brooks is the most popular performer ever in country music.

This distinction has been accomplished through his uncanny way of singing self-affirming songs about everyman desires and doubts with an intimacy and conviction that make them seem like your own story--or at least sweet sentiments that you wish were your own.

It was a key group of songs on his early albums--from the gentle, romantic devotion of “If Tomorrow Never Comes” to the feel-good idealism of “The Dance” to the underdog bravado of “Friends in Low Places”--that propelled him to superstar heights.

Although Brooks’ albums continue to sell in the millions, he no longer dominates the sales charts. His latest album, “Fresh Horses,” is on the lower rungs of the country Top 10 after six months in the stores--trailing even his own year-old greatest-hits package.

Brooks is less essential on record because he has not been able to consistently find or write songs that speak as deeply to the experiences of his listeners.

It’s no wonder, then, that the savvy showman started off the Forum show--part of his first tour in nearly two years--with a song, “The Old Stuff,” that salutes the early tunes and the early fan connection. He also stated early in the two-hour show that he is proud of the old songs and was going to play a lot of them.

Indeed, it’s rare to see a major record-seller sidestep his new material as much as Brooks does. Only three of the 20 songs Wednesday were from the “Fresh Horses” album, compared to the six to eight you’d expect.

Although the old songs--played with vigor by his seven-piece band and served up with unrelenting enthusiasm by Brooks in his flashy, flamboyant stage setting--still connect, it’s important for artists to give their fans new reasons to believe in them. It’s that quality that lifts a show from mere entertainment to something memorable.

And that element was a long time coming Wednesday--the encore, in fact.

Standing alone on the stage with his acoustic guitar, Brooks tried to make that intimate audience connection of old by singing Bob Seger’s nostalgic “Night Moves.” But he didn’t bring anything special to his interpretation, and the song just felt listless.

But then he pulled the rabbit out of the hat by turning to--of all things--a song that was once so overexposed that you didn’t think you’d ever want to hear it again: Don McLean’s “American Pie.

It’s a nine-minute song about loss of innocence that was written in the early ‘70s after the turmoil of the ‘60s--from the Kennedy assassination to the breakup of the Beatles--and Brooks must have sensed there was something in the nostalgic and inspiring tale that would speak to today’s country-pop audience.

He was right.

The Forum crowd seemed mesmerized as their hero used the song to celebrate the way the human spirit regains its hope and idealism despite seemingly crippling disillusionment.

Brooks brought the band on stage for a final bow, but it was obviously the end of the night. There was no way anyone could follow that masterful concert moment. Even a magician knows his limits.

* Garth Brooks plays tonight at the Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, 8 p.m. Sold out. (310) 419-3100. Also Saturday through Monday at the Pond of Anaheim, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim, 8 p.m. Sold out. (714) 704-2400.