the good he'll do

Reluctant music superstar Zach Bryan heads to Houston on new U.S. stadium tour

Bryan heads to NRG as part of his huge stadium tour.

Zach Bryan/Instagram

Is the multi-talented Zach Bryan the greatest thing to happen to country music — or even music as a whole — in years? We’re absolutely biased in saying so, but let’s look at the numbers. Bryan’s May 19 show at Toyota Center, part of his Burn Burn Burn North American Tour, sold out immediately and marked the largest attendance for a country artist in Toyota Center history.

So yeah, he’s kind of a big deal.

Now, Houstonians can pack an even bigger stadium next summer as Bryan has just announced a big July 27, 2023 show at NRG Stadium in support of his wildly anticipated tour.

Dubbed The Quittin Time 2024 Tour, Bryan’s nationwide trek kicks off in Chicago at the United Center on March 6. He’ll perform with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit plus Levi Turner as supporting acts. The NRG Stadium show marks 19 just-announced additional dates.

Bryan fans should head to the pre-sale registration site here — like, right now — to get in line for the pre-sale, which starts Wednesday, October 18. Regular sales kick off on Friday, October 20.

This surprise NRG announcement follows yet another surprise from Bryan, who suddenly dropped his new Boys Of Faith EP, featuring Bon Iver and Noah Kahan, just weeks ago in late September.

His 2022 triple album American Heartbreak (a must-listen release) debuted at No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200, marking the biggest first week for a country album in 2022. Known for his epic live shows, Bryan released All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live from Red Rocks), a live album recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, on Christmas Day last year.

This year, the reluctant superstar scored the Academy of Country Music Award for New Male Artist of the Year. (That certainly calls his snub for Best Country Solo Performance in the Grammy Awards for “Something in the Orange” even more so). He released his eponymous, fourth studio album in August, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

His most recent single from the album, “I Remember Everything” (with fellow star Kacey Musgraves), managed to top the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, Hot Rock Songs, and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts all at once, being the first song ever to do so and literally making music history.

Not too shabby for a Navy brat from Oologah, Oklahoma (by way of Okinawa, Japan where he was born when his family was stationed there). Boasting the kind of country music origin story that seems written for a movie, Bryan himself was an active member of the U.S. Navy when he launched his career via YouTube in 2017 — while he was literally on the naval base. He was only just honorably discharged in October 2021 after eight years of service — and the fact that he signed to Warner Records and played the legendary Grand Ole Opry that year.

Oh, and adding to his everyman/folk American hero status: He made sure that the most expensive ticket for his Burn Burn Burn tour show was a mere $156 — a steal compared to what fans have been forking out (think $450 plus) before he took over.

“I believe working class people should still be able to afford tickets to shows,” Bryan declared on social media. “I am so tired of people saying things can't be done about this massive issue while huge monopolies sit there stealing money from working class people. Also, to any songwriter trying to make relatable music for the working class man or woman’ should pride themself on fighting for the people who listen to the words they’re singing.”

See? He’s kind of a big deal.

Crafting irresistible hooks and the kind of poetic lyricism that harks to John Prine, Bob Dylan, or Jim Croce, Bryan can take listeners through wine-fueled romance, bro trips, and the dark loneliness of the cowboy life track by track. Songs like “Tishomingo” and “Good I’ll Do” became instant Google and Shazam searches when they appeared on Yellowstone (Bryan performed on the Taylor Sheridan hit, too.)

His Quittin Time 2024 Tour follows his trend of playing — and usually selling out — major U.S. stadiums. He’ll perform in major cities like New York City (two nights), Los Angeles (three nights), and Chicago — illustrating his major crossover appeal. He’ll gig with the aforementioned Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Turnpike Troubadours, Sheryl Crow, The War And Treaty, Mt. Joy, Sierra Ferrell, The Middle East, Matt Maeson, and Levi Turner.

Here are the new additions to The Quittin Time 2024 Tour. Find the full tour dates, ticket information, and more

here.

March 30 Belmont Park, NY UBS Arena
March 31 Belmont Park, NY UBS Arena
May 31 Oakland, CA Oakland Alameda County Coliseum
June 2 Los Angeles, CA Crypto.com Arena
June 3 Los Angeles, CA Crypto.com Arena
June 4 Los Angeles, CA Crypto.com Arena
June 14 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High
June 20 Detroit, MI Ford Field
June 29 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium
July 17 Foxborough, MA Gillette Stadium
July 21 Orlando, FL Amway Center
July 22 Sunrise, FL Amerant Bank Arena
July 25 New Orleans, LA Caesars Superdome
July 27 Houston NRG Stadium
August 11 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium
August 26 Grand Forks, ND Alerus Center
December 12 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
December 18 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
December 19 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center

Movie Review

Meta-comedy remake Anaconda coils itself into an unfunny mess

Photo by Matt Grace

Jack Black and Paul Rudd in Anaconda.

In Hollywood’s never-ending quest to take advantage of existing intellectual property, seemingly no older movie is off limits, even if the original was not well-regarded. That’s certainly the case with 1997’s Anaconda, which is best known for being a lesser entry on the filmography of Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez, as well as some horrendous accent work by Jon Voight.

The idea behind the new meta-sequel Anaconda is arguably a good one. Four friends — Doug (Jack Black), Griff (Paul Rudd), Claire (Thandiwe Newton), and Kenny (Steve Zahn) — who made homemade movies when they were teenagers decide to remake Anaconda on a shoestring budget. Egged on by Griff, an actor who can’t catch a break, the four of them pull together enough money to fly down to Brazil, hire a boat, and film a script written by Doug.

Naturally, almost nothing goes as planned in the Amazon, including losing their trained snake and running headlong into a criminal enterprise. Soon enough, everything else takes second place to the presence of a giant anaconda that is stalking them and anyone else who crosses its path.

Written and directed by Tom Gormican, with help from co-writer Kevin Etten, the film is designed to be an outrageous comedy peppered with laugh-out-loud moments that cover up the fact that there’s really no story. That would be all well and good … if anything the film had to offer was truly funny. Only a few scenes elicit any honest laughter, and so instead the audience is fed half-baked jokes, a story with no focus, and actors who ham it up to get any kind of reaction.

The biggest problem is that the meta-ness of the film goes too far. None of the core four characters possess any interesting traits, and their blandness is transferred over to the actors playing them. And so even as they face some harrowing situations or ones that could be funny, it’s difficult to care about anything they do since the filmmakers never make the basic effort of making the audience care about them.

It’s weird to say in a movie called Anaconda, but it becomes much too focused on the snake in the second half of the film. If the goal is to be a straight-up comedy, then everything up to and including the snake attacks should be serving that objective. But most of the time the attacks are either random or moments when the characters are already scared, and so any humor that could be mined all but disappears.

Black and Rudd are comedy all-stars who can typically be counted on to elevate even subpar material. That’s not the case here, as each only scores on a few occasions, with Black’s physicality being the funniest thing in the movie. Newton is not a good fit with this type of movie, and she isn’t done any favors by some seriously bad wigs. Zahn used to be the go-to guy for funny sidekicks, but he brings little to the table in this role.

Any attempt at rebooting/remaking an old piece of IP should make a concerted effort to differentiate itself from the original, and in that way, the new Anaconda succeeds. Unfortunately, that’s its only success, as the filmmakers can never find the right balance to turn it into the bawdy comedy they seemed to want.

---

Anaconda is now playing in theaters.

movies film

the good he'll do

Reluctant music superstar Zach Bryan heads to Houston on new U.S. stadium tour

Houston's richest residents, best suburbs, and more top city news in 2025

Eagerly-anticipated Houston barbecue joint hosts weekend preview pop-ups

Trader Joe's sets Cypress opening date, confirms Bellaire plans

Movie Review

Meta-comedy remake Anaconda coils itself into an unfunny mess