{"id":122673,"date":"2026-01-14T10:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/122673\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T10:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:20:08","slug":"houston-concert-watch-1-14-james-mcmurtry-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/122673\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Concert Watch 1\/14: James McMurtry and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

The lineup for this year\u2019s Houston rodeo was announced last week, and some folks are pissed.\u00a0 Which isn\u2019t surprising, since people can always find something to criticize about the mix of artists featured at the annual event.\u00a0 For a complete rundown, take a look at Jeff Balke\u2019s Houston Press story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The complaints are many: too much country, not enough country, too few artists of color, a non-Tejano (Mexican, but still) artist performing on Go Tejano day, and what the hell were the rodeo powers that be thinking when they book Creed?\u00a0 Then again, there are the traditionalists who lament the fact that the rodeo competition itself has taken a back seat to the music and wonder what business rockers and rappers have performing after the bull riding event.\u00a0 What was wrong with George Jones?<\/p>\n

The first Houston rodeo was held in 1932, in Sam Houston Hall, which had been constructed downtown for the 1928 Democratic National Convention.\u00a0 By 1942, the rodeo had relocated to the new Sam Houston Coliseum and added a featured musical act (in that year, Gene Autry) to the proceedings.\u00a0 From there, it was pretty much all country all the time until someone decided that a bit of diversity (both in music and ethnicity) was in order and booked the 5th Dimension in 1972, followed by the Jackson Five in 1973 and Rufus (featuring Chaka Khan) in 1976.\u00a0 Other changes in booking policies occurred during the same era, with more pop acts showing up at the rodeo, e.g. Sonny and Cher, Engelbert Humperdinck and Elvis.<\/p>\n

The point is, this type of debate has been going on for well over half a century, with the pendulum swinging back and forth from year to year.\u00a0 \u00a0These days, the Houston rodeo is no place for purists, those diehards who don\u2019t cotton to bareback and bull riders wearing protective gear, who think that the last decent music released was Merle Haggard\u2019s \u201cOkie from Muskogee,\u201d and who are mystified by the allure of fried Oreos and have no idea what a Trill burger might be.\u00a0 Time marches on, and so does the rodeo, one foot in front of the other.\u00a0 (Er, be careful and don\u2019t step in that!)<\/p>\n

Ticket Alert<\/p>\n

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Diana Ross is back on the road in 2026 after closing out last year with a performance on \u201cDick Clark\u2019s Rockin\u2019 New Year\u2019s Eve.\u201d\u00a0 At 81, Ross maintains a busy touring schedule with shows at major venues.\u00a0 In 2025, she performed at the Hollywood Bowl, the Montreux Jazz Festival and London\u2019s O2 Arena.\u00a0 Tickets are on sale now for her concert at the Smart Financial Centre<\/a> on Wednesday, March 11.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s shaping up to be a big year for Bruno Mars.\u00a0 He is set to release a new album, The Romantic, next month, after which he will embark on a stadium tour of North America, Europe and the United Kingdom lasting through October.\u00a0 Presales for Mars\u2019 concert on Wednesday, April 22, at NRG Stadium <\/a>start today, with the general sale set for Thursday.<\/p>\n

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What to make of the Rock the Country <\/a>tour, which touts itself as a \u201cfestival for the people\u201d?\u00a0 The vibe is populist and aggressively patriotic, as demonstrated by the tour\u2019s logo, a stern looking bald eagle captured in flight with an American flag clutched in his talons. A just-released announcement promises \u201ceight massive shows\u201d in \u201ceight small towns.\u201d\u00a0 And just in case you were wondering, organizers reassure us that the festival is \u201cwhere the beer flows, the love pours, and the music sparks like fireworks on the Fourth.\u201d\u00a0 Okey dokey.<\/p>\n

In the case of Texas, the dates are Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2, and the small town is Bellville, population 4,200, which is an hour or so west of Houston, just down the road from Cat Spring.\u00a0 The tour features different lineups at different locations, with the Bellville stop headlined by Kid Rock, Jason Aldean and Ella Langley.\u00a0 Tickets go on sale Friday, and a notice on the tour\u2019s website says that ducats are priced \u201cstarting at $2.50 down.\u201d\u00a0 Huh?\u00a0 Something to do with the upcoming semiquincentennial I suppose.\u00a0 And by the way, let\u2019s all begin to practice the pronunciation of and become familiar with the term \u201csemiquincentennial\u201d so that we won\u2019t sound like doofuses come this summer.<\/p>\n

When a band goes by the name of Five Finger Death Punch, you have to figure that it\u2019s a hard rocking outfit, as opposed to some sort of smooth jazz combo.\u00a0 For over 20 years, the Las Vegas act has cranked out hook-laden heavy metal, selling a bunch of records and causing many a head to bang.\u00a0 Tickets are on sale now for FFDP\u2019s (5FDP\u2019s if you prefer) concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion<\/a> on Sunday, September 27.<\/p>\n

Concerts This Week<\/p>\n

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Art Alexakis is generally thought of as a West Coast guy, but as the Everclear front man explained to Bob Ruggiero in a Houston Press interview<\/a>, he actually spent some time in and around Houston during his teenage years, living in Alief, Katy and Montrose and working at Ken\u2019s Crispy Fried Chicken on Westheimer.\u00a0 Now an alt-rock patriarch, Alexakis is still leading Everclear, who will perform on Thursday at the House of Blues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Singer-songwriter James McMurtry lives near Austin, which is fortunate for us because it means he plays in Houston on a fairly regular basis.\u00a0 Catch him on Friday at the Heights Theater<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ghostface Killah first gained fame as a member of the Wu-Tang Clan rap collective and then established a successful solo career beginning in the mid-\u201890s.\u00a0 Killah will be in Houston, performing at the House of Blues<\/a> on Saturday in support of his most recent album, Supreme Clientele 2, a sequel to Supreme Clientele, which was released in 2000.\u00a0 \u2018Cause Knowledge is Power:\u00a0 Ghostface Killah took his stage name from a character in the 1979 kung fu flickThe Mystery of Chess Boxing aka Ninja Checkmate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I was going on earlier about Diana Ross still touring at the age of 81, but Herb Alpert leaves her in the dust.\u00a0 The 90 year old trumpeter and bandleader will perform on Saturday at the Smart Financial Centre<\/a>, accompanied by the Tijuana Brass.\u00a0 Alpert\u2019s recordings with the TJB are cultural touchstones.\u00a0 Who doesn\u2019t remember the naughty-but-not cover of the album Whipped Cream and Other Delights?\u00a0 Or hearing \u201cSpanish Flea\u201d as the theme song of \u201cThe Dating Game?\u201d\u00a0 A coworker even told me that, in the days when doctors would pass out \u201cdiet pills\u201d to those who were trying to lose weight, she would wait for the rush to kick in, crank up \u201cTijuana Taxi\u201d on the stereo and vacuum the entire house.\u00a0 Twice!<\/p>\n

This article appears in Private: Jan 1 \u2013 Dec 31, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The lineup for this year\u2019s Houston rodeo was announced last week, and some folks are pissed.\u00a0 Which isn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[53253,53254,50793,30529,575,51170,2867,30943,28448,53255,52999,53256,53257,53258,53259,53260,226,56,58,57,30496,53261,18911,53262,53263,278,53264,53265,53266,53267],"class_list":{"0":"post-122673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-5th-dimension","9":"tag-art-alexakis","10":"tag-bruno-mars","11":"tag-chaka-khan","12":"tag-concerts","13":"tag-creed","14":"tag-diana-ross","15":"tag-ella-langley","16":"tag-elvis-presley","17":"tag-engelbert-humperdinck","18":"tag-everclear","19":"tag-five-finger-death-punch","20":"tag-gene-autry","21":"tag-george-jones","22":"tag-ghostface-killah","23":"tag-herb-alpert","24":"tag-homepage","25":"tag-houston","26":"tag-houston-headlines","27":"tag-houston-news","28":"tag-houston-rodeo","29":"tag-jackson-five","30":"tag-james-mcmurtry","31":"tag-jason-aldean","32":"tag-kid-rock","33":"tag-music","34":"tag-rock-the-country","35":"tag-rufus","36":"tag-sonny-and-cher","37":"tag-tijuana-brass"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}