It’s becoming increasingly rare for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to snag a bona fide piece of living country music history like Hank Williams Jr. to hold court on its starry revolving stage.
If Willie Nelson’s 2020 appearance at RodeoHouston was tantamount to the Pope himself visiting NRG Stadium, Hank Jr. isn’t too far off. Beyond Willie and Bocephus, time is slowly taking other iconic options off the table. We’ve patiently waited for Dolly Parton to return since 1978, and Reba seems to be biding her time for a grand return. Past appearances by godheads Garth Brooks and George Strait were the hottest tickets in town. And while rodeo regulars like Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn come close, only one artist shares DNA with “Luke The Drifter”.
Now pushing 75, Hank Jr.’s proprietary family blend of outlaw country is more popular than ever, with fellow 2024 performers like Jelly Roll and Whiskey Myers updating the outlaw sound for a generation of fans who are just as apt to namecheck Travis Scott as they are Zach Bryan. Houston rapper That Mexican OT and Hank Jr. look like they raid each other’s closets, not to mention Williams’ personal brand has always been flashier than most of his peers. He wore enough disco-ready gold chains and diamonds in the ‘70s to make a Bee Gee blush.
Just after 9:15 pm Williams hit the stage in front of a crowd of 60,553 — covered in the word ICON on both his baseball cap and his guitar strap — and launched into “Are You Ready For the Country?” which he and fellow genre monster Waylon Jennings wrested control of from Neil Young sometime in the mid-’70s. The toe-tapping “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” elicited the first true sing-along of the night, sponsored by Tuesday morning’s hangover.
The family history lessons of “Move It On Over,” “The Conversation,” and “Call Me Hank” saw Williams in a reflective mood, which seems to be a prevailing theme. There’s something about him bragging about his lengthy musical history and various awards during “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” that grows frustrating as his legend status was cemented decades ago. The culture clashes of the past decade and change aside, no one’s stripping those accolades away, even if he seems to think so. We got cooking again with a thunderous “Kaw-Liga,” complete with Williams trading in his electric guitar for a flaming fiddle solo.
A solo storyteller acoustic medley starting with “Outlaw Women” and “Dinosaur” culminated with “A Country Boy Can Survive” which saw him in storyteller mode, whizzing through the past 70 years of life on Honky Tonk Earth.
“Rich White Honky Blues” came from 2022’s album of the same name. The project gave Williams’ signature sound a raunchy, rabid blues makeover courtesy of producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Whenever Williams has taken sips from his old man’s stash of influences, he seems the most at home, as if he’s taking the sound to places Senior never got to venture.
Barroom anthem “Family Tradition” sent Houston’s party class out into the muggy night, sealing the show with a sloppy kiss at last call. The Wiliams family traditions are in fact safe, even if Hank Jr. might feel otherwise.
HANK WILLIAMS JR. SETLIST
Are You Ready For The Country?
O.D.’d In Denver
Weatherman
Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound
Move It On Over
The Conversation
Call Me Hank
All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight / I Like Girls / On The Hunt / Gimme Three Steps
Waitin’ On The Bus
Kaw-Liga
Outlaw Women / Dinosaur / There’s A Tear In My Beer / All Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down) / I Walk The Line / A Country Boy Can Survive
Born To Boogie
Rich White Honky Blues
Family Tradition
Courtesy of The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
Hank Jr played before a crowd of over 60,000.
