Thousands of fans headed to Atlanta's brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday (Oct. 12) to see country superstar Garth Brooks perform. But many ticket holders are now calling for a refund after sound issues caused many to leave the show early.
Fans took to social media to voice their disappointment over the audio problems. Many reported a two-second delay between the audio and video. That delay made it hard for those in higher sections to keep track of what was happening. Others reported that reverb and muffled microphones made it impossible to keep up with what was going on.
@garthbrooks couldn?t really hear except the fiddle and some words, only way of knowing the song pic.twitter.com/eYsJvFD97r
— Christina church (@Nara1985) October 13, 2017
@MBStadium had the worst acoustics for the Garth Brooks concert. Not recommended! #concertinacan #GarthAtMBStadium #wasteofmoney
— Stephen Gorsuch (@StephenGorsuch) October 13, 2017
@MBStadium any word on a refund for @garthbrooks echo mess (concert)? Spent a total of $400 on tix, parking, gas, food, etc.. total waste.
— Bradley (@TankD61308) October 13, 2017
Sounded like Charlie Brown?s teacher the entire night... pic.twitter.com/5AZUtgpNf1
— Taylor (@Chai_Dinar) October 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/ronpca/status/918843079850975232
Many of the fans channeled their anger at Brooks himself, tweeting him directly. Brooks hasn't made a public statement about the show. However, the venue says they are looking into the problem.
"Garth Brooks played the first concert tonight at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and it was a spectacular show that tens of thousands enjoyed," the venue said in a statement. "We have heard some fan concerns about sound quality in certain sections of the upper concourse and sound engineers are looking into that now. We do know that a breaker was tripped that powered speakers in the parts of the upper level for a small amount of time and was resolved."
Still, many fans who have waited months or years to see Brooks in concert seem to be wishing for a do-over. The country star was reportedly recording the performance for his upcoming live album. It's unclear if the audio issues will have any effect on the project.