the traveller returns

Chris Stapleton shreds through fifth RodeoHouston show with Tennessee whiskey-fueled, outlaw country ride

The dreariest, rainiest day at RodeoHouston this season (Thursday, March 16) cosmically coincided with Chris Stapleton's return to the neon cow and pony show. Maybe five songs in his growing discography match a sunny day, with the rest better suited for sepia-toned confrontations on prairies or a chilly kitchen table divorce request.

One of the biggest-selling country acts in recent history, Stapleton's pop culture seemingly knows no bounds of ubiquity. For the coming decades, generations will talk about hearing Stapleton throughout their lives. Sunday mornings spent fending for yourself in the kitchen for breakfast while Mom and Dad are blaring "Tennessee Whiskey" from the bedroom. The single mom in the school pick-up line wearing dark shades, playing "Broken Halos" until Spotify cries uncle. The emo cowpoke feeding the internet jukebox repeated plays of "Fire Away" at Buffalo Wild Wings at lunchtime. Making an NFL head coach projectile cry during his rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl.

Since his widescreen LP debut in 2015 with Traveller, Stapleton has done nearly everything in the industry besides winning a Tony or an Oscar. It wouldn't be surprising if somewhere under all that dirty blonde beard and Stetson is a Broadway show about a cattle rustler with a heart of fool's gold or a dirgy film score to end all film scores.

By the way, Traveller currently sits at No. 56 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, a mere eight years since the album's release. That kind of longevity is usually reserved for the likes of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (#133) and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (#29). His last album, 2020's Starting Over, is down at #79.

Photo courtesy of Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

Stapleton's bluesy country melancholy matched the rainy Thursday night.

Consistently stunning in his songwriting and studio pairings, Stapleton is in his myth-making era, the soundtrack for heartbreaking or babymaking, splitting the difference between Waylon Jennings and Otis Redding.

He's long crossed that imaginary, arbitrary pop threshold that most country artists find themselves in and went and made songcraft appreciated again. He paved the way for the likes of Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers to top charts with ragged hearts and found time to collaborate with Justin Timberlake and Joy Oladokun.

Stapleton's big-time intimacy suits RodeoHouston like a well-worn pair of ropers and for his fifth performance since debuting at NRG Stadium in 2017. Opening with "Parachute," Stapleton and his four-piece band – with the legendary Paul Franklin – turned the stadium into the world's most expensive backyard ice house.

He always seems to channel ZZ Top whenever he enters Harris County, and on Thursday night, he was finding ways to interweave Billy Gibbons licks into nearly every song. There was a wink in "Second One To Know," a spiritual callback in "Arkansas," and his beard is pretty ZZ as it gets.

Eight years since its album debut, "Nobody To Blame" is the sound of Stapleton in a lab distilling the history of outlaw country into four minutes, showcasing his guitarwork as it chugs along.

So many people complain about rodeo shows for one nitpicky reason or another when many times, these are the first musical experiences that most kids even undergo. These are the kind of rodeo shows that inspire a kid to tug at their parents' sleeve during the show and ask for a guitar and set someone on a musical journey.

This was my fifth Stapleton show, and even I am pondering hitting up a pawn shop this weekend for a guitar.

"Fire Away" saw the crowd of 72,634 match Stapleton's glow from the stage with the lights from their phones, creating a bed of twinkling cellular stars in the stadium, so much so that even Stapleton seemed overcome by it.

Stapleton and company savored every sip of set closer "Tennessee Whiskey" as the Ford fleet arrived to whisk them off into the night. RodeoHouston books actual musical acts, and Thursday night was a reminder of how magic one of these communal experiences can be.

Setlist

Parachute

Second One To Know

Hard Livin’

Starting Over

Millionaire

Arkansas

You Should Probably Leave

Nobody To Blame

Worry B Gone (Guy Clark cover)

Fire Away

Broken Halos

Tennesse Whiskey

Phone Flip

Texas dine-in theater chain switches from paper to phones for ordering food

Alamo Drafthouse/Facebook

Alamo Drafthouse will allow phones, but only for one reason — so far.

Despite Alamo Drafthouse’s famously strict no-phone policy, the dine-in movie theater chain soon will require customers to use smartphones to order food and beverages via QR code.

The Texas-based dine-in theater chain says that beginning in mid-February, it’s ditching its longtime old-school ordering system — jotting down your order on paper, then pressing a call button that summons a server to grab your order and then deliver it.

“Yes, it means you’ll need to use your smartphone and a custom-built ‘dark screen’ to order food or drink during the movie,” Alamo says in an FAQ post on its website. “This doesn’t mean we’re changing our rules on talking or texting during the movie.”

Variety reports that mobile ordering has already been tested in several Alamo markets and is expanding to certain other theaters this month, with plans to roll out the system to every theater throughout the year.

Forty-four Alamo theaters operate nationwide, including five in Austin, five in Dallas-Fort Worth, one in Katy, and two in San Antonio. The chain’s 45th location is opening soon in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The theater chain says the new digital ordering system — enabling guests to use a smartphone to browse a digital menu, place an order, and pay for the order — will improve the Alamo experience. A dark-screen QR code lets you scan the code to tackle ordering tasks while keeping your phone screen extremely dark or mostly black. This prevents “screen glow,” which can annoy others in a darkened theater.

“Putting ordering control directly in our guests’ hands allows us to move faster and more efficiently, creating a smoother, more responsive experience without added distraction,” Alamo says.

According to Variety, servers will still bring food and beverage orders to guests. And the chain says if you run into a problem with your phone or order, a greeter or manager will be ready to help.

“There will be newly structured roles for hourly staff at theaters, but this switch to mobile won’t take away any jobs,” Variety reports. “Alamo isn’t implementing any layoffs, and all base wages will remain the same.”

“It’s worked great in testing so far,” according to Alamo, “and we’ve been pleased that the vast majority of guests use the system quickly and efficiently.”

Alamo stresses that the new ordering system won’t kill the chain’s firmly stated no-phone rule. Therefore, you still won’t be able to scroll social media posts, make or take a phone call, or send a text once Alamo’s no-phone-zone warning pops up on the movie screen. If an Alamo worker catches you violating the policy, you’re ejected immediately without a ticket refund. Alamo says its employees are trained “to distinguish between a dark ordering screen and disruptive phone use.”

The move to mobile ordering is one of the biggest changes at Alamo Drafthouse since Sony Pictures Entertainment bought the chain in 2024. Sony didn’t divulge the purchase price, but media outlets estimate it was anywhere from $174 million to $258 million.

Another major change happened in early 2025, when Alamo laid off 15 corporate employees and an untold number of hourly theater employees.

alamo drafthouse movies

the traveller returns

Chris Stapleton shreds through fifth RodeoHouston show with Tennessee whiskey-fueled, outlaw country ride

Phone Flip

Texas dine-in theater chain switches from paper to phones for ordering food

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Staple Heights wine bar and restaurant will shutter after 6 years

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