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    rodeohouston 2024

    RodeoHouston reveals 2024 lineup starring Jonas Brothers, Blake Shelton, and a Bun B takeover

    Steven Devadanam
    Jan 11, 2024 | 7:13 pm
    Jonas Brothers

    The Jonas Brothers return after a more than 10-year break.

    Photo courtesy of Jonas Brothers

    Houston, it’s finally here. We now know the entertainment lineup for this year’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo concert series, running February 27 – March 17 at NRG Stadium.

    RodeoHouston 2024’s roster is history-making, as multiple rap acts take the stage for the first time ever in one season. Houston rap icon Bun B will return for a final installment of his two groundbreaking H-Town and Southern Takeover shows. But this year, rapper, Newstonian, and Rodeo Uncorked! Boss bidder 50 Cent will headline Black Heritage Day.

    Other notable names include country and pop culture star Blake Shelton, who leads off on Opening Day, and the Jonas Brothers, who last played the rodeo more than 10 years ago. Country fans can look forward to the familiar faces Brad Paisley, Zac Brown, and Luke Bryan, who’ll mark his 10th rodeo show this year.

    Of the 20 performers, half are rodeo newcomers, including 50 Cent and Nickelback. By the numbers, the 20 acts boast 56 Academy of Country Music awards, 47 Country Music Association awards, 17 American Music Awards, and 15 GRAMMY Awards.

    As mentioned, singer and former The Voice host Blake Shelton serves as the headliner for Opening Day on Tuesday, February 27. Carly Pearce follows the next day for Armed Forces Appreciation Day on Wednesday, February 28. Country act For King + Country take the stage the next day on Thursday, February 29.

    Then comes Black Heritage Day on Friday, March 1, with 50 Cent up in da club and, let’s hope, poppin’ some bottles. Already a player on the rodeo scene, 50 Cent made headlines last year when his own Champagne, Le Chemin du Roi Brut, was named Grand Champion Best of Show at the Rodeo Uncorked! competition. Bidders threw $325,000 at his Champagne, a rodeo record.

    HARDY, who’s making waves as a versatile country and rock songwriter and performer, follows 50 on Saturday, March 2. Ivan Cornejo performs on Sunday, March 3, followed by country music prince Hank Williams, Jr., who’ll headline First Responders Day on Monday, March 4.

    Folk-country artist Oliver Anthony and his beautifully bushy beard take the stage on Tuesday, March 5; rapper Jelly Roll drops rhymes on Wednesday, March 6. Luke Bryan, making his 10th rodeo appearance, headlines Volunteer Appreciation Day on Thursday, March 7. EDM fans can catch the Jamaican-vibed trio Major Lazer the next day on Friday, March 8.

    Saturday, March 9 sees Lainey Wilson on stage, with favorite Los Tigres del Norte roaring on Go Tejano Day, Sunday, March 10. Southern rockers (and the pride of Palestine, Texas) Whiskey Myers hit the stage on Monday, March 11.

    In his hotly anticipated, potentially final headlining rodeo show, hip-hop monarch and burger king Bun B will perform on Tuesday, March 12, in what we can only hope will follow the star-studded “Takeover” theme and round out a historic trilogy for Houston’s Trill OG.

    “I wanted people to see that rap and the rodeo could coexist in the room with no one feeling awkward," Bun B tells CultureMap. “I wanted rap to be in the rodeo on a night that didn't say, 'okay cowboys, stay home.' The rodeo has fought very hard to be inclusive. So we fought very hard to be inclusive as well. We did not want to block people out. That was never the case. What we wanted to show actually was that rap music is probably the most inclusive music culture. And I think we've done a pretty good job of that so far and I think this year will prove it even more, to a point where we'll look back one day and we won't even remember precisely when there wasn't rap at the rodeo. That's my dream.”

    “We've proven that rap music can be a part of the rodeo no matter what night you put it on,” he continues, “no matter who you present it to rap has room at the rodeo. The rodeo has made room for us and we're doing right by them.”

    In quite the pivot, the following day sees rockers Nickelback make their rodeo debut on Wednesday, March 13. Fans of the Zac Brown Band can catch them the next day on Thursday, March 14.

    Expect a legion of female fans to pack NRG on Thursday, March 15 as the Jonas Brothers charm the crowd; the always-charming, rodeo fave Brad Paisley follows on Friday, March 16.

    Eric Church, country star singer-songwriter, and entrepreneur, will close out the rodeo on Saturday, March 17.

    Get tickets for this year’s shows online on Thursday, January 18 in two waves: 10 am and 2 pm. Wave 1 covers February 27 – March 7 performances; Wave 2 tickets are for March 8 – 17 shows. Online waiting rooms will open at 9:30 am for Wave 1 and 1:30 pm for Wave 2. Waiting room customers will be randomly selected to enter the store and purchase tickets for the 10 am and 2 pm waves.

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    Movie Review

    Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

    Alex Bentley
    Dec 12, 2025 | 2:30 pm
    Emma Mackey in Ella McCay
    Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
    Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

    The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

    The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

    Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

    Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

    Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

    What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

    Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

    Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

    ---

    Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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