Bun B Concert Review

Bun B, Ludacris, Keith Sweat, and more throw epic birthday bonanza at RodeoHouston

Although his birthday isn’t for a couple more weeks, Houston rapper/burger slinger Bun B used his fourth time as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s resident Black Heritage Day music curator to throw himself a Birthday Bonanza concert on Friday, March 7 — and it was an odd lineup with some awkward technical glitches.

Before the show started, tributes were given to Sylvester Turner and Sheila Jackson Lee. Then, TSU’s Ocean of Soul and Prairie View A&M’s Marching Storm bands teamed up and gave dual, thundering sets before joining forces and performing together for the announced crowd of 69,667.

After a bunch of fireworks and pyrotechnics went off a few minutes before 9:30 pm, a clip package of celebs giving Bun birthday wishes played on the screens. This package included comedians (Cedric the Entertainer, Gary Owen), rappers (Slim Thug, Paul Wall) and a predictably creepy message from wrestling legend The Undertaker. Then, Ennio Morricone’s “Man with No Name” theme started playing and Bun came out rocking a long leather coat with fringes and a cowboy hat that once again had the Monster Energy Drink logo on the front. He and his band started things off with “Get Throwed.”

Bun B Birthday Bonanza RodeoHouston 2025

Photo by Marco Torres

Bun B closed the show with Int'l Players Anthem.

Unlike his previous “Takeover” shows, the concert didn’t have a clear musical theme. For the past few weeks, Bun has gotten clowned on social media for his all-over-the-place lineup. (Facebook trolls were mocking up flyers announcing other possible artists, including Ice JJ Fish and Milli Vanilli.)

However, the lineup did give off a Black dad’s Spotify playlist kind of energy, and it did seem like Bun (soon to be 52) booked a lot of favorites from his library. First up was So So Def’s resident boy band Jagged Edge, who did a medley of their late ‘90s/early 2000s hits. After that was a surprise performance from Do or Die, a Chicago rap group who was signed to Houston's Rap-A-Lot Records back in the day. They performed their hit tune “Po Pimp,” which Bun said he often performed during sound checks. Both acts dressed Black-dad casual, like they were going to their kids’ soccer game after this.

If there was one artist people were truly anticipating, it was R&B temptress Coco Jones. Coming out in an all-white ensemble, including shiny cargo pants and a cowboy hat, she led the crowd with a couple bars of “Here We Go (Uh Oh)” before doing “Taste,” from her upcoming album Why Not More? Jones was the first of several artists who had audio problems during the show, switching mics halfway through when her voice wasn’t picking up all over the stadium.

At this point in this show, Bun B came back out in a beige waistcoat with the UGK logo bedazzled on the back, looking like a land baron on Gunsmoke. “I believe I look like a million dollars in here,” he said, before introducing surprise performer Tommy Richman. Richman, who had a show earlier that evening at White Oak Music Hall, stopped by to do his TikTok hit “Million Dollar Baby.”

Local gospel great Yolanda Adams came out next, in a white zip-up and spangly jeans, singing during an In Memoriam package of Black people who died recently (like Turner) and who’ve been dead for a while now (like DMX). During this performance, one of the background singers’ mics was louder than Adams’s, something she appeared to pick up on.

After performing a couple of her peppier gospel numbers, Adams asked Bun, “Don’t you think it’s time to bring out the slabs?” A quartet of slabs rolled up next to the stage, carrying some local rap legends, as Bun performed a couple UGK tunes. Then, Bun brought out Houston MC Don Toliver, who arrived in a red Ferrari. Once he hopped out (wearing what looked like a black leather tracksuit with fringes and a blue handkerchief around his face), he performed several songs but also struggled with microphone problems.

Next, Bun introduced another surprise performer: T.I. All dreaded up and wearing what looked like a pleather outfit, the Atlanta vet did a boisterous set, pulling out a lot of his 2000s hits and saying, “I’m the king, bitch!” every once in a while.

Keith Sweat was next, giving the right amount of old school energy as he sang hits from his New Jack Swing heyday. Sweat prematurely left the stage at one point, thinking his set was over. But when the music for “How Deep Is Your Love?” began playing, he returned. He saved face by asking the crowd, “You thought I was finished?”

An Ali Siddiq video appeared once as Bun introduced Ludacris, the final performer of the night. Just like his fellow ATL rap god T.I., Luda gave an energetic performance (in cowhide-looking shorts!). He pulled out all the classics, including “Stand Up” and “Move B***h,” before leading the entire audience in singing “Happy Birthday” to Bun. Bun closed it out as always with UGK’s “Int’l Players Anthem.”

Yeah, it was a weird night. There were audio and visual glitches, a lineup that had everything from Dirty South legends to quiet-storm mainstays to one-hit wonders to gospel singers making a joyful noise. Bun took an ambitious swing with this one, assembling a grab bag of his favorite artists for a freewheeling show that appealed to many demographics. I wouldn’t mind if he did it again — but those mics better be sorted out next time.

Setlist

Get Throwed, Bun B

Let’s Get Married (Remix), Jagged Edge
Promise, Jagged Edge
Where the Party At, Jagged Edge

Po Pimp, Do or Die

Here We Go (Uh Oh), Coco Jones
Taste, Coco Jones
ICU, Coco Jones

Million Dollar Baby, Tommy Richman

The Battle Is the Lord’s, Yolanda Adams
Church Doors (Remix), Yolanda Adams

Diamonds & Wood, Bun B
Murder, Bun B

BANDIT, Don Toliver
After Party, Don Toliver
Lemonade, Don Toliver

Rubber Band Man, T.I.
24’s, T.I.
U Don’t Know Me, T.I.
Whatever You Like, T.I.
Bring Em Out, T.I.
Live Your Life, T.I.
What You Know, T.I.
About the Money, T.I.

I Want Her, Keith Sweat
Make It Last Forever, Keith Sweat
Twisted, Keith Sweat
Nobody, Keith Sweat
How Deep Is Your Love, Keith Sweat

All I Do is Win, Ludacris
Stand Up, Ludacris
Yeah, Ludacris
How Low, Ludacris
What’s Your Fantasy, Ludacris
Move B***h, Ludacris

Int’l Players Anthem, Bun B with group

Movie Review

Avatar: Fire and Ash returns to Pandora with big action and bold visuals

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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