Brooks & Dunn
RodeoHouston
NRG Stadium
March 22, 2025
If you spend time with any country music fans, you’ve probably heard those who wax poetic about the ’90s country music scene. Heck, you may be one of them. I know I am, and Brooks & Dunn are a big reason why.
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn started making music together in 1988 and helped set the tone for the mainstream-friendly, neo-traditionalist era that people look back on so fondly with their debut album from August 1991, Brand New Man. It’s an album that plays so well from start to finish that – fun fact – the first time I heard it, on a car ride from Houston to San Antonio, I was sure it was some kind of “best of” album.
The Country Music Hall of Famers opened their 22nd RodeoHouston set – “It’s good to be back in Texas y’all, not to mention at the world’s biggest honky tonk,” said Brooks – with two tracks from that album, “Brand New Man” and “My Next Broken Heart.” Of course, those weren’t the only ones. The duo hit all four of the number one singles the album spawned, which included set-list staples “Neon Moon” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” toward the end of the show.
“I’m sure it’s in our contract somewhere we gotta play both of them before this show’s over, right?” joked Brooks.
Brooks tends to be the unsung hero of the two since Dunn’s distinctive twang is lead on almost all of the pair’s songs. But Brand New Man also features “Lost and Found,” his first go at singing lead for the duo, a top ten song in its own right that (of course) made the setlist, as did the lovelorn, Brooks-led “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone.”
Following “Red Dirt Road,” a love letter to small-town America Brooks called “his favorite song Ronnie and I ever wrote together,” he noted that a RodeoHouston set is supposed to be tight. The downside of the condensed setlist is the songs you don’t get to hear. The upside, though, is that the hits kept coming throughout the show: “Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You,” “Play Something Country,” “Rock My World (Little Country Girl)” and “My Maria,” to name a few.
Another song that made the cut was “I’ll Never Forgive My Heart,” which made it after Dunn said his wife, Janine, requested a “real, down-in-the-dirt country song” – and specifically, this song, which she wrote with Dunn and Dean Dillon for Brooks & Dunn’s 1994 album Waitin’ on Sundown. Interestingly, “I’ll Never Forgive My Heart” was followed by “Hard Workin’ Man.” Still an undeniably country song, but one that the band played with arena-rock-concert, bring-the-house-down energy.
The duo is currently on their Neon Moon Tour, and Dunn explained that this RodeoHouston show was the end of a two-week run that “started out in California, then we worked out way through Texas, went to Lubbock. They tried to blow us up.” He was, of course, talking about their cancelled Lubbock show early this month, which had to be rescheduled due to an explosion at Texas Tech. If you don’t know about it, as Dunn also said, “Just Google it.”
Almost getting almost blown up wasn’t the only issue they’ve contended with this month, as Dunn also said he got COVID and strep throat.
“We call it strovid,” he said, adding, “If you hear the wrong notes tonight, we’ll blame it on that. Any other time it’s just me.”
Dunn was wry about his ability to hit notes during the show, joking about going for it on “Neon Moon” and passing out, and later saying, “Let’s do something that’s hard to sing with high notes” before launching into “My Maria.”
Not one of the 71, 256 people in attendance seemed all too concerned about any note issues, everyone there was too busy having a grand time singing and dancing in the aisles, especially when Brooks & Dunn played “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” – everyone’s go-to line dancing song since ’91, last night played in an instrument-heavy arrangement that included Brooks showing off on the harmonica – before they closed the show with “Only in America.”
Brooks & Dunn announced their turned-out-to-be-temporary retirement in 2009 and played their turned-out-to-not-be last concert in 2010, and I’m sure there was a moment there where fans mourned the idea of Brooks & Dunn never returning to the RodeoHouston stage. Luckily, that didn’t last too long. As was clear last night, the fans are hardly done with Brooks & Dunn, and for now, they’re not done with us.
Set List
Brand New Man
My Next Broken Heart
You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You
Red Dirt Road
Lost and Found
I’ll Never Forgive My Heart
Hard Workin’ Man
Play Something Country
Cowgirls Don’t Cry
Neon Moon
Rock My World (Little Country Girl)
My Maria
Boot Scootin’ Boogie
Only in America
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
