All last week I had to put up with people asking me why in the hell I was covering the Garth Brooks show.

“It’s no secret you’re not a country fan,” one person told me.

The answer is simple. You see, here at the fine entertainment desk of the Iowa State Daily, we don’t just pick and choose the concerts we want to cover. If that were true, who would cover Lyle Lovett? (Oh wait, Kris is a big fan.)

But back to my point. As a concert reviewer, you have to give as unbiased of a review as possible. It wouldn’t make any sense to just review the Beastie Boys and Rage.

Essentially, our goal is to give a review of the performance, not in the context of the music. This can pose as quite a challenge when you’ve grown up hating a particular style.

More importantly though, reviewing a show in which you’re not very familiar with can be quite a learning experience. That’s why I am going to share with you what I learned from Garth Brooks this weekend.

First of all, the myth that all country songs are about getting rejected and chewing tobacco (not in any particular sequence) is not a myth after all. I had no idea there was actually a song called “Copenhagen.”

The scary thing was watching the women laugh about it like it was bringing back some old memories or something.

Oh, and I finally made the discovery of what happens to all those pairs of 28″ waste jeans that you see every April on the 50 percent off rack.

They just put them all in a big box and ship ’em off on country music tours for all the band members to wear.

That brings up another point. What do women see in that man? I haven’t seen a guy dance like that since the Fat Boys’ videos.

Finally, and this is a compliment, I must admit that I was completely amazed by the energy of Garth’s audience. Not once did anyone on the floor sit down, which is a lot more than I can say for the Bush fans last year.

Anyway, I survived, but you won’t see my byline under the Reba story.

On with The Pit.

Finally, there is something going on in the Ames local music scene! Check out my feature on Good Things (just right over there to your left) to get a glimpse of one of Iowa State’s hottest new bands.

Also in local news, Junkpoet drummer Rich Lyon played his final show with the band last Saturday when they opened for Billy Goat at the Safari.

Former Stonefish drummer Paul Thompson will replace Lyon, who’s brother Jay fronts the heavy metal quartet.

Junkpoet released their second disc, Chicken? All You Can Eat, just two months ago.

Wednesday will be an exciting night for music in central Iowa. Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage of course, but don’t forget Jars of Clay and The Samples in Pella.

The show is at Kuyper Field House and tickets are only $19.50. The Gufs are also on the bill. For further information, call (515) 628-5243.

Leo Kottke will be at the M-Shop and Acoustic Junction at People’s the same night.

New music this week includes long awaited releases from Journey and Phil Collins.

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Corey Moss is a freshman in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale. He is the assistant to Kris, a true fan of Lyle Lovett.