Garth Brooks to play acoustic concerts in 1,500-seat Encore Theatre

If Garth Brooks and Steve Wynn had anything close to a sticking point, ticket prices might have been the issue.

"This is where we really went at it," Brooks said Thursday.

But that as well as all the other details were sorted out leading the biggest-selling solo performer of all time to end his retirement with an extended engagement at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Brooks admitted he wanted cheaper tickets. He charged $35 for his first Las Vegas show, in 1991 at the Desert Inn, which stood where the Wynn does now.

The Wynn Resorts CEO said he told Brooks: "If you charge $25, someone in Las Vegas might think there's something wrong with you, you lost your voice or something."

Brooks eventually caved. But he made Wynn promise to set every seat at the same price and to reserve only 200 seats per show for hotel and casino VIPs.

"I've always been a one-ticket-price person," Brooks said.

Brooks' five-year residency of weekend acoustic shows at Wynn Las Vegas begins on Dec. 11.

For 15 weeks each year through 2014, Brooks -- accompanied only by his guitar -- will perform 8 p.m. concerts Fridays through Sundays at the Encore Theater, with a 10:30 p.m. show added on Saturdays.

Tickets for the initial five sets of shows (Dec. 11-13, Jan. 1-3, and 22-24, and Feb. 12-14 and 26-28) go on sale over the phone or through the Internet at 8 a.m. Oct. 24 at (702) 770-7469 or wynnlasvegas.com/boxoffice.

All seats are $125 plus $18 tax and fees.

To thwart scalping, advance tickets will not be available in person at the Wynn box office. They can only be picked up the day of the show by customers showing valid ID.

The residency ends Brooks' retirement from music, which he announced in 2001 to become a stay-at-home father to three daughters. It also marks the permanent replacement of Danny Gans, who performed in the 1,500-seat theater until his death in May. (Brooks, Beyoncé and Larry King have performed limited engagements there since.)

"This is Garth Brooks' home," Wynn said during a news conference at the theater Thursday, for which he and Brooks wore matching jeans and cowboy boots.

"I told him he couldn't afford me," Brooks said. "I was wrong."

Wynn would not reveal how much the deal cost.

"If I were to tell you that, I would probably lose my job with the stockholders," he joked.

However, he said, "I confess, I had to buy him a jet plane."

That Challenger aircraft will rush Brooks to and from Oklahoma, where he drives his youngest daughter, 13, to school every weekday morning. (In addition, Brooks said, start times of some of his shows might change to accommodate more important obligations -- such as soccer tournaments.)

"My life is not gonna change for the next five years," said the 47-year-old, "except I'm gonna get to play music."

The show, 90 minutes, will be a musical retrospective of Brooks' multiplatinum career. Occasional guests are possible -- especially his second wife and occasional collaborator, fellow country star Trisha Yearwood.

Brooks has sold more than 128 million albums in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. He was one of the most popular concert attractions during the 1990s.

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0456.