Beats Meet Broncos

Rave on: The Chainsmokers turn RodeoHouston into world's largest nightclub with an electro beat

A middle-aged man stood outside NRG Stadium, dressed in the traditional garb worn by the majority at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Sunday evening: a patterned button down shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots.

But his hat revealed that this wasn't an ordinary night. It read, "Make America Rave Again," a cheeky allusion to the show 74,280 people had just witnessed thanks to the electronic dance music DJ duo, The Chainsmokers.

Thanks to an early start time on a Sunday, many families touting sons and daughters familiar with the Top 40 radio hits of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall stuck around to check out the first EDM act to play RodeoHouston. The hour-long set turned NRG Stadium into the world's largest nightclub with big electro beats, pyrotechnics and fireworks, fog machines, and a trippy laser and light show. It immediately followed bull riding and mutton bustin'.

At first, it didn't seem as though the combo of cowboys and dancefloor bangers would mix, as the duo came out to stage with a bare table of four CDJs and a single microphone, not a single stringed instrument in sight. Taggart did sing vocal hooks on a handful of songs, but the setlist was comprised entirely of prerecorded selections, many just snippets mixed into one another.

Taggart even alluded to his strange surroundings at one point. "I know the expression is this isn't your first rodeo, but this really is our first rodeo," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen dance music in a situation like this."

But if a DJ's job is to get people moving, then The Chainsmokers succeeded by mastering the first rule of the craft — know your audience. The setlist not only included their biggest songs (No. 1 single "Closer," top 10 singles "Paris," "Don't Let Me Down," "Something Just Like This" and "Roses"), but a mishmash of songs familiar to everyone including "Rock And Roll All Nite" by Kiss, "Gonna Fly Now" from the film Rocky and "Under The Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They were obviously playing to the youngest in attendance by including tunes from emo rock (Panic! At the Disco), punk pop (Blink 182) and hip-hop (T.I., DJ Khaled).

While it may have left a segment of country diehards scratching their heads underneath their cowboy hats, the performance that amounted to two self-admitted party bros dancing on on a table and twiddling knobs was better received than anyone anticipated. The go-for-broke, expertly-choreographed visuals helped sell the entire package.

"Make some noise if this is your first rave," Taggart directed the crowd. And make noise they did, attendees turning NRG Stadium into a dance party, with a surprising amount singing along to many of the songs in the wide-ranging set.

Once one got over how weird it was to see two guys throwing down massive beats in the middle of a dirt pile, it was a lot of fun. Taggart and Pall were well aware of the irony of it all, at one point dropping the theme of Disney's The Lion King, with the former snickering that he couldn't believe he had just played it at a rodeo.

RodeoHouston deserves credit for thinking outside the box with its programming, knowing full well that families would be out on a Sunday to take in the sights. It was an ingenious way to keep butts in seats, or in the case of Sunday's performance, wiggling in the aisles.

Electric Daisy Carnival, eat your heart out.

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Setlist Note: Artists at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo generally have a setlist made available to media. The Chainsmokers did not, so this list was compiled thanks to good old Shazam. Songs that were not found or known are marked as such.

“Paris (Remix),” The Chainsmokers
“Don’t Let Me Down (Remix),” The Chainsmokers
“Inside Out (Remix),” The Chainsmokers
Unknown track
“Feel Your Love,” Flux Pavilion & NGHTMRE feat. Jamie Lewis
“Follow (Zomboy Remix),” Bro Safari
“Until You Were Gone (Skruz & Saturn Remix),” The Chainsmokers feat. Emily Warren
“Let ‘Em Know,” Datsik feat. Armanni Reign
“Rock and Roll All Nite (Remix),” Kiss
“Weaponize,” Pegboard Nerds & MIU
“What You Know,” T.I.
“Thief,” Ookay
“All We Know,” The Chainsmokers
“Gonna Fly Now (Rocky Theme) Remix,” Bill Conti
“Pop Dat,” 4b & Aazar
“Sweet Nothing,” Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch
“Cinema,” Benny Benassi X Skrillex feat. Gary Go
“Kanye,” The Chainsmokers feat. SirenXX
“I’m God,” Clams Casino
“All I Do Is Win,” DJ Khaled
“Split (Only U),” Tiesto & The Chainsmokers
“Show Me,” Tiesto & DallasK
“Can’t Get Enough,” Lookas
“Under The Bridge,” Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Roses,” The Chainsmokers feat. ROZES
“Setting Fires,” The Chainsmokers
“Paris,” The Chainsmokers
“Paris (Pegboard Nerds Remix),” The Chainsmokers
“What’s My Age Again,” Blink 182
“Wylin, Part 2,” Cesqueaux
“Tremor (Sensation 2014 Anthem),” Dimitri Vegas & Martin Garrix & Like Mike
“Bang,” WAVEDASH
“Closer,” The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey
“Closer (Wuki Remix),” The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey
“I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” Panic! At The Disco
“Ride,” Twenty One Pilots
Unknown track
“Something Just Like This,” The Chainsmokers & Coldplay
“King of Africa (The Lion King theme),” Douser
Unknown track
“Boozy,” Stoltenhoff
“Yellow (Remix),” Coldplay
“Don’t Let Me Down,” The Chainsmokers feat. Daya

The hour-long set turned NRG Stadium into the world's largest nightclub with big electro beats, pyrotechnics and fireworks, fog machines, and a trippy laser and light show.

The Chainsmokers Houston Rodeo fireworks 2017

Photo by Michelle Watson/CatchLight Group

The hour-long set turned NRG Stadium into the world's largest nightclub with big electro beats, pyrotechnics and fireworks, fog machines, and a trippy laser and light show.

houston-rodeo concerts

Movie Review

New movie Friendship pairs Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in a bizarre bromance

Photo courtesy of A24

Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship.

Comedian Tim Robinson has gained a cult following thanks to series like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave, in which his brand of cringe comedy is on full display. The former Saturday Night Live writer/performer has had a few small movie roles over the years, but he’s now getting his first starring role in the off-kilter Friendship.

Robinson plays Craig, a mild-mannered suburbanite with a wife, Tami (Kate Mara), and son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer). Craig has a boring life that involves little more than going to his middle manager job while wearing the same clothes day after day, anticipating the next Marvel movie, and helping Tami out with her at-home floral business.

He gets a jolt of energy when Austin (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood. The two men seem to hit it off, with Austin — a weatherman at a local TV channel — even taking Craig on a couple of impromptu adventures. But when Craig commits a couple of faux pas at a group gathering at Austin’s house, their bond starts to fracture.

Even though the film is written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, it’s clear that Robinson had a big influence on the style of comedy it features. There are no big set pieces with a slew of jokes coming one after another. Instead, the film forces the audience to try to vibe with the very particular type of wavelength it’s giving off, one that could almost be called anti-comedy for the way the laughs come out of left field.

The 100-minute film is full of random comedic moments, like Steven kissing Tami on the lips, Craig being obsessed with his plain brown clothes, a group sing-along, and more. More often than not, it’s the way Craig reacts to both normal and abnormal situations that gets the laughs. The character is needy and oblivious, two traits that combine to make many of his actions cringeworthy.

Perhaps most importantly for this type of movie, many things in the story go unexplained or don’t make sense. Seemingly crucial elements are brought up only to fade away just as quickly, while other parts that appeared to be throwaway sections get callbacks later in the film. DeYoung and Robinson are determined to keep the audience on their toes the entire time, never knowing what to expect next.

Robinson has the perfect face for a story like this, one that’s bland enough to blend into the background but memorable enough to sell the jokes. His demeanor is also excellent, never becoming too expressive, even when he gets angry. With long hair, a mustache, and a certain swagger, Rudd is a great complement to Robinson. Only in a film like this would an everyman like Rudd be considered the suave and cool one.

There will be some that will see Friendship and come away wondering what the hell they just watched. But anyone who goes in knowing that they’re about to witness a comedy that challenges their sensibilities will likely have a great time.

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Friendship is now playing in select theaters.

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