Brooks & Dunn Review

Country legends Brooks & Dunn take RodeoHouston to the '90s with nostalgic set

Brooks & Dunn performed in front of this year's largest crowd to date.

Courtesy of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

I’ve probably overstated it to an annoying degree this year, but country from the ‘90s and early ‘00s has been the prevailing vibe at NRG Stadium in 2025, from Zach Top’s stadium-sized mustache-country revival to Post Malone’s pyro-packed pop twangers.

On Saturday, March 22, Brooks & Dunn pulled into NRG Stadium armed with 15 of their greatest hits to remind 71,265 fans of the duo's stranglehold on the country charts during the Clinton era.

Starting with the one-two punch of 1991’s “Brand New Man” and 1993’s “Hard Workin’ Man” releases. Each chart-topper came with big choruses, crunchy guitars, hair metal drums, and politely raunchy wordplay perfect for honky tonk dance floors and arenas. They were so prolific that by 2009, when all was said and done, a career-spanning greatest hits compilation spanned two discs.

Kix Brooks, 69, and Ronnie Dunn, 71, debuted next door at the Astrodome during RodeoHouston’s 1992 stand, and they remained an annual mainstay through 2010. Their iconic back-to-back stage pose is imprinted indelibly on generations of fans over 19 shows. The pair disbanded for close to a half-decade (personally coaxed back to the stage by Reba McEntire) and made their return to NRG Stadium in 2019 and 2023. The duo’s merchandise in the concourse turns the clock back to the ‘90s, complete with purple lightning and cow skulls.

Brooks & Dunn’s latest releases have included two editions of the Reboot album series, which has paired the duo with some of the biggest country acts on the scene, including Morgan Wallen, Kacey Musgraves, Megan Moroney, and Jelly Roll to reimagine hits like “Neon Moon” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” with new moods and attitudes. The best-selling country duo of all time hasn’t released an album of new material since 2007’s Cowboy Town, but they have teased the prospect of writing new songs in recent interviews.

Kicking off just after 5 pm, B&D launched into an extra punchy “Brand New Man,” delivering a wall of surgically catchy Nashville sound. Brooks hit the mic for “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone,” boosting it with some extra long notes, showing off a voice that’s now aged like a fine wine from the rodeo wine garden.

For most fans, Ronnie has always been the voice, while Kix has been the heart. The former handles the rascally tunes, and the latter laments his troubles at the end of the bar. Entering five decades into their partnership, their biggest hits now come with an additional helping of rumpled road-weariness. Brooks offered up a stripped-down “Lost And Found” after recounting the pair's early days over a cold can of beer, giving the fans a B&D history lesson.

“Hard Workin’ Man” got a hard rock makeover with four guitars upfront and some Motley Crue-biting drums. My theory has always been that the ‘90s country sound has more in common with ‘80s hair metal than we give it credit for, the mullet being the common denominator. “Play Something Country” from 2005’s “Hillbilly Deluxe” was released as a reaction to that era’s identity crisis, and 20 years later, its a quaint time capsule with the P. Diddy mention.

The crowd-pleasing “Neon Moon” provided the biggest singalong of the late afternoon, while “Rock My World - Little Country Girl” featured Brooks testing the limits of his lung capacity with an extended roadhouse harmonica solo.

With just one day left on the schedule, this year’s top drawing act has been Brooks & Dunn, with Parker McCollum, Journey, Zach Top, Grupo Frontera, Carin Leon, and Post Malone following close behind. We’ll see how Luke Bryan does at tomorrow’s final show.

Brooks & Dunn: 71,265
Parker McCollum: 71,205
Journey: 70,978
Zach Top: 70,865
Grupo Frontera: 70,775
Carin Leon: 70,603
Post Malone: 70,094

Setlist

Brand New Man
My Next Broken Heart
You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
Ain’t Nothin’ ‘Bout You
Red Dirt Road
Lost And Found
Never Forgive My Heart
Hard Workin’ Man
Play Something Country
Cowgirls Don’t Cry
Neon Moon
Rock My World - Little Country Girl
My Maria
Boot Scootin’ Boogie
Only In America

rodeohouston concert review brooks & dunn

Movie Review

Supergirl fails to take flight in a movie weighed down by grief

Photo courtesy of DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures

Milly Alcock in Supergirl.

Last year's Superman reboot brought a renewed sense of optimism for, if not the concept of the comic book movie, then at least the DC Comics universe. After more than a decade of DC films that felt mostly creatively bankrupt, the leadership of James Gunn gave the story a sense of fun. That included the brief introduction of Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, who’s now getting her own showcase in, naturally, Supergirl.

When we first met her in Superman, Supergirl was in rough shape, arriving at the Fortress of Solitude visibly inebriated. Nothing has changed at the beginning of this film, save for her aimlessly traveling around the universe with her rambunctious dog, Krypto. One of her random stops puts her in the same bar as Ruthye (Eve Ridley), who is looking for help tracking down Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) and a group known as the Brigands after they brutally murdered her family.

Kara is initially loath to offer aid, but when Krem shoots a poison dart into Krypto while escaping, her motivation goes way up, especially since Krem holds the antidote. Kara, with Ruthye doggedly following her, uses every means available to her to find Krem, a journey that is hampered by galaxies having different colored suns than the one that gives her powers, the yellow sun.

Directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, the film is a big step back in the fun category, not least because Supergirl is deep in her feelings for much of the film. Her personal trauma, which is detailed in occasional flashbacks, gives a reason for her depression, but fails to land fully. The story seems to want everyone to be sad, as it includes a child trafficking ring and multiple instances of families being murdered.

Milly Alcock and Krypto in Supergirl.Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

To try to counteract that downer material, the filmmakers give Supergirl many opportunities to show off her fighting skills. While still CGI-heavy, the action scenes contain enough of a semblance of reality that they feel exciting. Unfortunately, this is undercut by the inclusion of several slow-motion sequences, giving the impression that the filmmakers didn’t trust the actors to deliver the goods on a consistent basis.

Superman (David Corenswet) makes a handful of appearances in the film, and while his presence is welcome given how well the character came across in the previous movie, it also doesn’t allow Supergirl to become her own person. Almost everything she does is colored by either her cousin or her parents, and since her powers are identical to those of Superman, there is very little that makes her story unique aside from how she’s dealing with the fallout.

Alcock (House of the Dragon, Sirens) gives an appealing performance despite her character being drunk and/or moody most of the time. She definitely sells what Supergirl is going through, so if given a better story in a future film, she’s proven her capability. Schoenaerts makes for a pretty good villain, although he’s aided by a look that includes a face full of studs. Jason Momoa has a memorable supporting role as the bounty hunter Lobo, even if his character doesn’t add much to the story.

While not a full-on disaster, Supergirl does not continue the momentum that Superman started. With a story that’s more concerned with showing audiences death scenes than a hero saving people, the film doesn’t seem to understand the appeal of a character like Supergirl or how to make her someone audiences will return to over and over again.

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Supergirl is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

Supergirl fails to take flight in a movie weighed down by grief