Well, well, well… look who’s back.
Last night, Cross Canadian Ragweed made their glorious return to the stage at Oklahoma State’s Boone Pickens Stadium, blowing the lid off a sold-out crowd that had been waiting over a decade for this moment. If you were there, you know — the energy? Off the charts. The Red Dirt spirit? Alive and louder than ever.
This wasn’t just a concert. It was a homecoming. A resurrection. A Red Dirt revival.
With fellow Oklahoma legends Stoney LaRue and the Turnpike Troubadours opening the show, and Coach Mike Gundy himself introducing the headliners, it already had the makings of a historic night. But then — surprise appearance from Dierks Bentley? Yeah. That happened too.
And just like that, Cross Canadian Ragweed didn’t just take the stage… they took back their crown.
Outside of a surprise Mile 0 Fest set earlier this year, Cross Canadian Ragweed hadn’t played a proper show since 2010 at Joe’s on Weed Street in Chicago. But when they started teasing something last year — a website refresh after nearly a decade of digital dust — Red Dirt fans knew something was brewing.
Then came the official announcement: One-night-only at Oklahoma State. Except… it wasn’t one night for long. That single show turned into four sold-out dates, with nearly 200,000 fans expected to roll through. The demand was unreal. So much so, they’ve now added an encore show at McLane Stadium in Texas.
Let’s be clear: Cross Canadian Ragweed didn’t just return. They roared back. And clearly, fans have been starving for it.
Now here’s where things get interesting. You’d think another Oklahoma country legend would’ve jumped at the chance to headline Boone Pickens, right? Especially one who went to OSU, earned All-American javelin honors (three times!), and has stadium-packing chops like Garth Brooks.
But nope. Garth passed. Why?
“Logistically, it’s not possible to play there,” he told O’Colly TV.
“The problem with Boone Pickens is it’s built exactly opposite for concerts… It’s not built for how we play in the round.”
Wait, what? A 60,000-seat football stadium can’t host a concert because… it doesn’t perfectly fit your in-the-round setup?
Garth, my dude… come on.
Listen, I get it. Garth has a thing with the 360-degree setup. It’s his trademark. His preference. Fine. But to suggest that Boone Pickens is “impossible” because it doesn’t cater to your specific layout? That’s a stretch — and kind of tone-deaf.
Artists like Jason Mraz, Incubus, and Casey Donahew have all played there. And now Cross Canadian Ragweed just proved the setup works perfectly fine for a massive country show. You know what it takes? Adaptability.
Besides, Garth’s played venues that weren’t in the round before. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. So let’s not act like this is about technical limitations. It’s about refusing to compromise.
Which, hey — you do you, Garth. But maybe don’t tell fans it’s “impossible” when a bunch of other artists just did it, including a band that hadn’t played together in 14 years.
Ironically, the true impossible feat wasn’t the stadium setup. It was getting Cross Canadian Ragweed back together after years of deep-rooted personal and professional conflicts. That’s the hard part. That’s the miracle.
But they did it. And they did it in Boone Pickens Stadium, no less — the same place Garth deemed unplayable.
And you know what? The whole thing was electric.
Massive respect to Garth’s catalog — we’ll always scream “Callin’ Baton Rouge” and “Friends in Low Places” at the top of our lungs. But maybe next time, just admit you don’t want to play Boone Pickens. Don’t act like it’s some insurmountable Rubik’s Cube of stadium architecture.
Cross Canadian Ragweed figured it out. They sold it out. And they reminded us all why Red Dirt runs deep — and louder than ever.
