The current reigning ‘Hillbilly Hippie’ queen of modern country-rock Lainey Wilson landed at RodeoHouston for a verified sold-out Saturday matinee.
Wilson’s fashion influence was evident when you entered the rodeo grounds, with spangly jackets, glittered bell-bottoms, and turkey feather-festooned cowboy hats ruling the day. The heavens, thankfully, blessed us with a fashion-friendly cool front overnight. Much like Kacey Musgraves’ defining appearance in 2019, Wilson’s audience was a multi-generational affair with moms and daughters decked out just like the headliner. These kinds of crowds are always affirming because no doubt this is someone’s first rodeo concert.
Wilson and Carly Pearce were the only female artists on this year’s RodeoHouston bill, a fact that has not gone unnoticed especially during Women’s History Month. There seems to be an unofficial two-female limit each year, and you’d have to go back to the 2011 season for the high water mark with six female-fronted acts on the lineup. You can likely pencil in Megan Moroney for 2025, and hopefully she’ll be joined by more than just one other fellow female.
The assertive “Tanya Tucker fronting AC/DC” vibes make Wilson a compelling artist to watch, but she’s far from an overnight success story. By the time she charted in 2021 with “Things A Man Oughta Know” the 31-year-old Nashville veteran had already written songs picked up by Thompson Square, Luke Combs, Ashley Cooke, and Flatland Cavalry. She won Entertainer of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards and earlier this year took home the Best Country Album honors at the Grammys. Later this month, Wilson heads off to Australia to continue her hippie-billy domination.
Wilson’s reinterpretations of the universal themes in the female experience are resonating with fans. NRG Stadium was packed to the gills before the first bull gave an unlucky cowboy a concussion. She has endeared herself to the Spotify generation’s ears for namechecking Tacomas and Tecovas like any great urban cowgirl.
Almost 75,000 attended Wilson's rodeo debut.Photo courtesy of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
Saturday afternoon’s thunderous strutter of an opener “Hold My Halo” set the tone, incredibly more metallic than it is on record. During “Hillbilly Hippie” the denim-dripped Wilson attacked each corner of the revolving stage’s five points like Bruce Dickinson. “Smell Like Smoke” had Wilson slinging a guitar and taking the NRG crowd out of the stadium and into a smoky Louisiana roadhouse. Anyone who came into Saturday’s show thinking Wilson was a shrinking pop star was set straight.
“Country’s Cool Again” is a modern reworking of Barbara Mandrell’s 1981 single “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” which itself was a reaction to the early ‘80s fascination with twang in the wake of “Urban Cowboy”. Wilson closed “Watermelon Moonshine” with a few bars of “Strawberry Wine”, a winking homage to the last generation’s ode to underage drinking and memorable exploits. Country time is a flat circle, with artists reinterpreting the same feelings and experiences every few years.
“Y’all look more like Lainey Wilson than I look like Lainey Wilson,” an emotional Wilson said, recounting the last twelve months of her career. Playing the RodeoHouston stage is not a milestone that emerging artists take likely. On Thursday night Jelly Roll himself took a moment to soak in his own 70,000-plus crowd. It’s an affirmation of making it in an industry that only continues to grow colder and cutting.
On Saturday afternoon, a crowd of 74,940 people — this year’s biggest to date — were lucky enough to witness the birth of country music’s newest star. Naturally, she rode out of NRG Stadium on a horse, doing a victory lap around the stage.
Setlist
Hold My Halo
Hillbilly Hippie
Road Runner
Smell Like Smoke
Country’s Cool Again
Watermelon Moonshine > Strawberry Wine
Riders In the Sky > Wildflowers and Wild Horses
Attagirl
Things A Man Oughta Know
Wait In the Truck
Heart Like A Truck
Milly Alcock and Krypto in Supergirl.Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures