no shoes, no sweat

Kenny Chesney and No Shoes Nation chill out at RodeoHouston with a beachy, beer-lovin' vibe

NRG Stadium quickly became No Shoes Nation when Chesney took the stage.

Kenny Chesney RodeoHouston 2023 Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

Every time Kenny Chesney graces the revolving RodeoHouston stage, it offers us all a slice of carefree beach life in the middle of a bustling neon and concrete jungle.

The unofficial rodeo dress code loosens a bit. A little less Cavender's and more Port Aransas beach shop during spring break. Square-toe boots give way to actually exposed toes, even with a sMarch cold front blowing down the carnival alleyways.

If you squint, the most coddled dirt in Harris County — found on the floor of NRG Stadium — could be mistaken for ruddy beach sand, at least from all way up top in the RodeoHouston press box.

On Wednesday March 15, Chesney's "No Shoes Nation" yacht (and the accompanying Blue Chair Bay Rum bus) docked at NRG Stadium for his ninth RodeoHouston performance on the star stage, in front of a crowd of 72,078.

Chesney's had a somewhat lengthy layoff from the rodeo, last appearing here in 2016. COVID, of course, likely delayed a sooner return. Early in his career, he was a rodeo mainstay each year when he was another 'hat act' looking to be the next George Strait.

His relationship with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo dates back to the Astrodome in 2001, putting him in rare air amongst this year's lineup of upstarts and young bucks.

In starker perspective, 2023's season opener Parker McCollum was just an eight-year-old in the Conroe area when Chesney debuted next door at the Dome in 2001.

Chesney stepped out to beachy, upbeat tunes like "Beer in Mexico."Kenny Chesney RodeoHouston 2023 Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

The easy brush to paint 54-year-old Chesney with is the "Jimmy Buffett in Bedazzled Jeans." Dive into his discography, and you find devastatingly heartfelt passages hidden next to the "gulf and western" pirate anthems about chasing rum on a weekday and running romantically aground. Living for the night but always dreading the next day's inevitable hangover.Chesney

On Wednesday night, Chesney jumped out of his Ford chariot and returned to the RodeoHouston stage, offering us a "Beer In Mexico" from 2005's The Road and the Radio, with his sturdy touring band locked in the pocket for a hits set.

One of Chesney's secret weapons live has long been having an arena rock-ready touring band. Fans had complained that last weekend's top act, the Turnpike Troubadours, had been plagued with sound issues, but Chesney's road-tested was born and raised on stages bigger than even this one.

The flirtatiously reggae "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven" would perfectly fit into a custom Spotify 'This is RodeoHouston' playlist, along with "Somewhere With You" and its chiming arena-tonk vocals.

"When the Sun Goes Down" was a stark reminder that Chesney was one of the more cheerful solo acts on the rodeo bill this season. He's happier bounding across the stage with an imaginary drink in his hand like a motivational speaker on a booze cruise. It also made for a longer setlist than most.

"Tonight they told me that this night was my ninth night playing the Houston rodeo," Chesney said from the stage, mentioning his vast collection of HLSR belt buckles, gifts from each headlining set. "We hope to make it to ten real soon."

We've not seen the last invasion of No Shoes Nation at RodeoHouston, not with the Gulf Of Mexico this close by. Hoist that rum-soaked flag — and pass the SPF 100.

Setlist

Beer In Mexico

Reality

Til It's Gone

Here And Now

Summertime

Everybody Wants to Go To Heaven

Somewhere With You

I Go Back

Get Along

When The Sun Goes Down

All the Pretty Girls

Living in Fast Forward

Young

American Kids

Setting The World On Fire

Don’t Happen Twice

Movie Review

Sheriff Bob Odenkirk is back in over-the-top new action movie 'Normal'

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Bob Odenkirk in Normal.

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the first three John Wick movies, has essentially had a blank check to do what he wants in the movie landscape since 2014. In recent years that has meant writing the action series Nobody for Bob Odenkirk, who has turned from a comedian into an unlikely action star in his sixties. Kolstad and Odenkirk are teaming up again in Normal.

A film that tries to evoke Fargo in multiple ways, Normal finds Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) serving as a temporary sheriff for the small town of Normal, Minnesota after the previous sheriff died. Knowing he’s just a steward until a new sheriff is elected, Ulysses takes a live-and-let-live approach to the job, letting the deputies (Ryan Allen and Billy MacLellan) do the grunt work and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, including Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler).

A bank robbery attempt by two non-citizens upsets his best-laid plans in more ways than he can imagine. Not only is he forced to confront a crime not often seen in a town like Normal, but the robbery uncovers secrets that turn the film into an all-out bloodbath. Soon, almost everyone in town becomes involved in what comes to resemble a war, along with — you guessed it — Yakuza henchmen from Japan.

Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Kolstad, the film is a slight twist on the everyman-turned-hero character Odenkirk played in the two Nobody films. While Ulysses is in law enforcement, he prefers to use words instead of weapons, and it’s only when he’s pushed to the brink that he crosses that line. Naturally, his skills are beyond what anyone would expect of him, allowing him to match up well with people half his age.

The film is not a comedy in the traditional sense, but instead aims for laughs by catching the audience off-guard with its ultraviolence. Some characters are dispatched in shockingly unexpected ways, with one of the only natural reactions to the jarring nature of their deaths being laughter. That’s not necessarily the case for other killings, which range from blasé to sadistic, and the only reason they count as entertainment is because the filmmakers have primed the audience to accept them as such.

After a relatively solid setup, where Wheatley and Kolstad seem to take their time getting to know the main characters, the second half of the film is pure action that dispenses with good storytelling. Like many action movies, there are double crosses, surprise revelations, and more, but the filmmakers don’t seem to care about making sense of any character arcs. All they care about is delivering mayhem, and they succeed on that front.

Odenkirk has perfected the mild-yet-intimidating nature of his action characters, and it is satisfying to see him get the better of those who have done him wrong. He doesn’t run or jump like fellow 63-year-old Tom Cruise, but — with the help of fast-paced editing — he still makes for a credible action hero. The only other actors of any note in the film are Winkler, who’s a nice presence with his sardonic personality, and Lena Headey, whose small role doesn't match up with her experience.

You have to have a certain mindset to enjoy a film like Normal, but if you can abide its over-the-top bloodiness, it’s a serviceable action film. Few would have expected Odenkirk to take on these kinds of roles at this late stage of his career, but he’s making the most of his opportunities.

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Normal opens in theaters on April 17.

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