Charley Crockett Review

Texas crooner Charley Crockett covers King George at RodeoHouston debut

Charley Crockett

Courtesy of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

If Zach Top looked and sounded like he was transported straight from the rodeo lineup in 1995, Monday night’s headliner Charley Crockett would have been perfect in 1972, holding his own during an afternoon matinee with Glen Campbell in the Astrodome.

Turning in a career-spanning set, an introduction for the newbies and a heart hug for the diehards in the crowd, Crockett’s cinematic sound translated effortlessly inside NRG Stadium. You know when Bob Tallman -- the voice of RodeoHouston -- says he loves that you’re in the right building.

One of RodeoHouston’s most esoteric picks in some time, the San Benito-born Crockett has released 14 albums since his debut in 2015. Crockett’s latest album is Lonesome Drifter, and it comes less than a year since 2024’s $10 Cowboy and its direct sequel Visions of Dallas. On Crockett’s last few records, he’s dipped into genteel, countrypolitan shades of sound: gorgeous strings, angelic backing vocals, Elvis Presley-style gospel flourishes. Sporting production by outlaw royalty Shooter Jennings, Lonesome Drifter is his first on major label Island Records and a definitive career statement.

Just before 9:30 pm, Crockett drove his damn self out to the starred stage in a classic Ford Thunderbird to meet his band, the Blue Drifters, kicking off with the world-weary “Game I Can’t Win,” the opening cut from Lonesome Drifter.

Crockett’s striking voice diverted into country music after he explored blues and soul textures early in his career. That was most evident on Monday night’s “I’m Just A Clown” and “Hard Luck & Circumstances,” two early standouts. Like kindred spirit and RodeoHouston alum Leon Bridges, Crockett bridges the gap between classic soul and country. He followed up James Hand’s rockabilly rave-up “Don’t Tell Me That” by riding one of the points of the starred stage into the air for “Life Of A Country Singer,” one of the most biting songs from the new album.

Crockett may have become the first man on Earth to cover Link Wray’s feral “Juke Box Mama” in a football stadium on Monday night. The latter has been in his live repertoire for the past year. The cowboy swinger “Trinity River” has been a constant in Crockett’s discography, debuting back in 2015 on A Stolen Jewel and reappearing on 2022’s The Man from Waco album. We’d like to see him revisit it in 2029 if he can.

Seeing Crockett on such a large stage was surreal for an avowed fan like myself. I’ve seen him in venues smaller than an NRG Stadium men’s room, the late Montrose honkytonk Goodnight Charlie’s, and at music festivals in Georgetown, Texas. Just a year ago, Crockett headlined the backstage patio at the Armadillo Palace and returned to play the 713 Music Hall in the early fall.

There have been many George Strait covers in 2025 at RodeoHouston, including efforts by Brad Paisley and Zach Top. King George’s influence looms large here, where he’s played in front of millions of people. Earnest and swaggery at the same time, Crockett ended his debut rodeo appearance with “Amarillo By Morning.”

This cowboy (and his bride) rode away not on a horse but in a Thunderbird.

Setlist
Game I Can’t Win
One Trick Pony
Good At Losing
I’m Just A Clown
Sidewinder
Hard Luck & Circumstances
Spade
That’s How I Got To Memphis
The Valley
Jamestown Ferry
Don’t Tell Me That
Hold It
Life Of A Country Singer
Juke Box Mama (Link Wray Cover)
$10 Cowboy
Welcome To Hard Times
Trinity River
Lonesome Drifter
Run Horse Run
Five More Miles

Amarillo By Morning (George Strait cover)

charley crockett rodeohouston concert review

Movie Review

Billie Eilish takes fans behind the scenes in immersive 3D tour film

Photo by Henry Hwu/courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Billie Eilish in Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

In 2021, at the tender age of 19, singer Billie Eilish was already the subject of a documentary, The World’s a Little Blurry. At that point, she had only released one album, so the film threatened to feel too early for such treatment. The ensuing five years have only made her a bigger star, though, so in many ways that movie now feels prescient for the person on display in the new concert documentary with the unwieldy title of Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

Directed by Eilish and blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron, the film takes viewers inside Eilish’s 2024-2025 tour in support of her latest album, 2023’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. Filmed mostly at her series of shows in Manchester, England, the movie is a showcase for Eilish’s music, but it also serves as a smaller exploration of the type of person she is, as well as the impact she has had on her legion of fans.

The draw of the film is the use of Cameron’s beloved 3D technology, which he has employed in each of the three Avatar films. Unlike in those films, where the 3D has the odd effect of making the visuals too realistic for their own good, the technique brings an intimacy to the large-scale show that underscores the unique bond the singer has with her supporters.

Eilish and Cameron go back and forth between performances at the concert to behind-the-scenes sequences, detailing the enormous effort it takes to put on a show like that and how Eilish spends her time getting ready for it. As in The World’s a Little Blurry, this film continues to portray the singer as down-to-Earth, someone who yearns to maintain the connection to her fans that she’s had since she released her first single, “Ocean Eyes,” 10 years ago.

And as the many emotional songs in Eilish’s concert playlist prove, the feeling from the crowd is mutual. While Eilish has multiple bangers like “Bad Guy,” “Therefore I Am,” and the Charli XCX collaboration “Guess,” it’s the sad songs like “Everything I Wanted,” “Happier Than Ever,” and the Oscar-winning Barbie anthem, “What Was I Made For?” that hit the hardest. The depth of feeling emanating from her many sobbing fans singing along to crushing songs cannot be understated.

For audiences of the film, though, it’s the breadth of camera angles and shot choices that make it truly dynamic. There are cameras everywhere, including in the crowd, inside a cube at the center of the stage that rises and descends, following Eilish as she traipses every inch of the long, rectangular stage, and even a small one Eilish uses to bring an extra personal touch to the in-arena screen. Combined, they capture the complete energy of the concert, something that is not always the case in a film of this type.

Eilish has almost as many movies — two — as she does albums — three — which borders on overkill for a singer of her age. But both her music and the movies show her to be a person who knows the responsibility of being a celebrity, someone who understands that her fans are the reason she’s famous at all. Her career may go up or down from here, but it’s clear she’s already made a huge impact on those who love her most.

---

Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D opens in theaters on May 8.

movies film