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    RodeoHouston 2020

    Midland brings honky tonk charm to opening night of RodeoHouston 2020

    Johnston Farrow
    Johnston Farrow
    Mar 3, 2020 | 11:39 pm

    Country trio Midland rode into NRG Stadium and set the tone for RodeoHouston 2020 in front of a respectable 56,188 ticket holders, harking back to seasons of yesteryear when country music ruled the old Astrodome just next door.
     
    The last two years at RodeoHouston, the city’s biggest annual music event, were an embarrassment of riches with Garth Brooks and George Strait playing respective years, a combined 250 million album sales and record setting attendance figures between them. So when the RodeoHouston 2020 lineup was first announced, it was not hard to feel a bit of a letdown.
     
    The thing is, the RodeoHouston entertainment talent booking team rarely misses, and the Dripping Springs, Texas band completely makes sense as this year’s opener. The trio, comprised of old friends, Cameron Duddy, Jess Carson, and Mark Wystrach, play songs that could easily fit next to RodeoHouston performers from 20 to 30 years ago.

     

    Their two full-length albums, 2017’s On the Rocks and 2019’s Let It Roll, recall the best of old school Country Music Television with a welcome dose of vibrant Eagles harmonies — which makes sense with the band’s time living in California before they decided to give country music a go.
     
    Midland songs are rich with country music history and all the clichés that go with it, as if they were meant to be played on AM C&W radio stations in that Permian Basin town. But the trio does those clichés very well and their biggest hits feature songwriting topics that make the genre great: hard living, too much boozing, broken hearts, and carousing on a hot southern Saturday night. Throw in some modern day hipster cowboy threads and semi-ironic mustaches, and the old sound is new again, a fresh respite from all the commercial country pop tunes that have saturated the market since Garth Brooks donned a cowboy hat.
     
    Set opener “Playboys” had the former actor Wystrach channeling the smoldering good looks of a young Billy Ray Cyrus. The band came out with the requisite rodeo gear — brightly colored sequined jackets, shirts optional of course, bringing a retro pastiche to their upbeat honky tonk. On the Rocks highlight “Burn Out” slowed things down to a waltz, a song that wouldn’t be out of place on George Strait’s Pure Country soundtrack.
     
    “We’re a 21st century honky tonk American band,” Wystrach said before the song of the same name. A little trebly on the vocals, he redeemed himself on an ascending vocal bridge breakdown. “Cheatin’ Songs” brought on those Dwight Yoakum comparisons with an easy vocal flow, sharp Texas twang, and layered melodies. Of course, the message of infidelity which runs through decades of country tunes brought it home. Follow up, “Mr. Lonely,” was a lost CMT classic from 1992 featuring some nice on-stage chemistry between the three of players.
     
    “Fast Hearts in Slow Towns” recalled peak ’70s Don Henley songwriting with some gorgeous harmonies. Dedicated to “all the families out there,” “Electric Rodeo” brought up the best ghosts of Glen Campbell’s slow burning torch songs. “Make a Little,” easily one of the band’s best songs, was played with a sightly faster tempo, morphing it into a Garth Brooks swing. It was a highlight of the night.
     
    Much like another geographically named country act, Alabama, “Eastbound and Down” rollicked, and made fine use of two points on the center stage star with players rising into the air for some decent guitar solos. “Roll Away” featured a fine vocal turn from electric rhythm guitarist Jess Carson. “Drinkin’ Problem,” the band’s biggest hit, flashed us back to the ’80s, Wystrach hamming it up with a wink and a nod to the camera and a slightly awkward shimmy that fit the theme of the song.
     
    “We are just three friends that starting playing in stanky little bars that you would never let your kids into," Wystrach told the crowd, alluding to how far the 2018 ACM New Vocal Group of the Year had come before kicking into a cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” with bassist Cameron Duddy taking a turn on vocals and drums.
     
    The night ended with the quiet “14 Gears” under the glow of beautiful lighting design by the ever professional LD Systems crew in charge of the RodeoHouston audio and visual spectacle. For some reason, the band rolled out on a pickup to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” as the stadium had filed out, but by then, Midland had delivered the goods.
     
    If there was any criticism to be had, something many young bands and first time RodeoHouston acts struggle with, is that the players could have made use of the full stage and interacted with the stage more. It felt as if they weren’t quite sure how to consistently use the space throughout the entirety of the show. Seeing as this was likely one of the biggest shows Midland played in their career up to this point, it’s something they’ll definitely grow into as their audience grows.

     

    Overall, the performance reminded us that the increasingly diverse RodeoHouston's go-to bread and butter will always be big sounding country acts that can bring the hits and provide a solid hour-plus set to cap off a fun evening at NRG Stadium.

     

     Setlist
    “Playboys”
    “Burn Out”
    “21st Century”
    “Cheatin’ Songs”
    “Mr. Lonely”
    “Fast Hearts in Slow Towns”
    “Out of Sight”
    “Electric Rodeo”
    “Make a Little”
    “Eastbound and Down”
    “Roll Away”
    “Drinkin’ Problem”
    “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” (Tom Petty cover and the Heartbreakers cover)
    “14 Gears”

    Bassist Cameron Duddy jumped in on vocals.

    Midland RodeoHouston 2020
      
    Photo courtesy of RodeoHouston
    Bassist Cameron Duddy jumped in on vocals.
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    Movie Review

    New Superman movie forges into the future while honoring the past

    Alex Bentley
    Jul 11, 2025 | 3:30 pm
    David Corenswet in Superman
    Photo by Jessica Miglio
    David Corenswet in Superman.

    When the character of Superman was invented in 1938, it was perhaps easier to see the world in good and bad terms. Fascism was already on the rise in Germany under Adolf Hitler, and the idea of an all-powerful superhero who stood up for people in need was a welcome one. In the nearly 90 years since, though, the world and the character have undergone multiple evolutions, and the thought of someone who is purely good is often met with cynicism or worse.

    The new Superman, written and directed by James Gunn, puts the superhero (or metahuman, as the film calls him and similar creatures) squarely in the midst of the modern world, with geopolitical conflicts, mega-corporations, and social media all combining to make the altruism of Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) questionable. That skepticism even extends to his coworker/girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), whose knowledge of his exploits puts her in a tricky position personally and professionally.

    Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is out to dominate the world and take down Superman, with his eponymous corporation and vast group of underlings dedicated to doing both. Superman is generally a one-man fighting crew, but he’s occasionally aided by a group calling themselves the Justice Gang, comprised of heroes many have never heard of like Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), a version of Green Lantern; Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), a flying metahuman; and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), who knows all kinds of technology.

    One of the best things about this new version of Superman is that it mostly dispenses with introductions, putting the audience in a world where Superman is already a well-known quantity who’s adored by many and hated by some. Gunn has used his new position as co-CEO of DC Studios to honor the past of the hero and take him into the future. With the 1978 John Williams theme song echoing throughout and Corenswet giving off Christopher Reeve vibes, it’s clear Gunn wants audiences to feel nostalgia while still getting something new.

    He also appears to want viewers to fight against the negativity that the modern world can bring. The plot involves manipulation of the public, usually at the hands of Luthor, through bombastic talk shows, political theater, and social media, the latter of which — in a great joke — comes to involve hundreds of typing monkeys. The film could be read as a rebuttal of many real-world ills as, despite Luthor’s machinations, many choose to continue to believe in the goodness of Superman.

    There is a lot going on in the film, but somehow it never comes off as overly complicated. Superman’s relationship with Lois Lane and Luthor’s attempts at taking him down are given the most prominence, with everything else supporting those two main things. The Justice Gang is a fun addition, with Mr. Terrific becoming the breakout hero of the group. The addition of the (CGI) dog Krypto provides levity, poignant moments, and unexpectedly great action scenes. The only part that gets somewhat short shrift is the crew of The Daily Planet, with everyone besides Lois and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) getting little more than face time.

    Being the new Superman is a lot to live up to, but Corenswet is completely up to the job. He, like Reeve, plays the character as someone who is earnest but not naive, a quality that comes through even when he’s in the middle of fight scenes. Brosnahan is also fantastic, providing a nice balance to the relationship while also proving the character’s own worth. Hoult makes for a great new version of Luthor, and Gathegi nearly makes the case that Mr. Terrific should get a starring film of his own.

    Just as he did with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Gunn has shown that success can be found through making characters people want to see. Not everyone in this Superman will be familiar to viewers, but in the end a group of people working together toward a goal that serves the common good is one worth watching and cheering for.

    ---

    Superman is now playing in theaters.

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