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

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doesn't match the first movie's enthusiasm

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films like M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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