After delivering a SXSW keynote at Austin’s convention center downtown, March 17 mega country artist Garth Brooks hinted about delivering a secret show in town.  Then just a bit after 10 PM Brooks tweeted a photo of a wagon wheel with one broken spoke with the message “let’s get started.”

Brooks showed up at the 52-year-old honky-tonk about 11 p.m. with body guards greeted by Broken Spoke proprietor James White. Afterwards the mega country star performed a whole set of greatest hits beginning with “Friends in Low Places,” along with  George Jones’ “He Stopped Lovin’ Her Today,” George Strait’s “Amarillo By Morning,” and Merle Haggard’s “Fightin’ Side of Me.” Audience participation reached a fever pitch when Brooks sang Joe Nichols’ “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” as more than 500 people sang the lyrics from the Broken Spoke’s dance floor, with their smart phones raised above their heads.

Between songs, Brooks told his audience, “If I had known there were honky-tonks like this back when I started out, I never would have left.” He also said “You all have fun like this every day,” and “I haven’t done anything like this in a hundred years.” At the end of his set, Brooks told the audience “It’s never good to end the night with a down song, except this one,” and he sang “The Dance.”  The crowd demanded an encore, and afterwards Brooks handed over his acoustic Takamine guitar to White as a parting gift. “I didn’t know he was gonna give me a gift too,” White said afterwards. “I will always remember the day Garth Brooks played on stage at the Broken Spoke. He was right on every song. It was so crowded I could not leave the stage, but I really did not want to. It was exciting. Completely unexpected. That’s the way he rolls!”

More than 50,000 fans are expected to attend Brooks’ outdoor concert tonight on Auditorium Shores.