Last Night: Alan Jackson At Reliant Stadium

Last Night: Alan Jackson At Reliant Stadium

Be sure to check out our slideshow of  ALAN JACKSON and the final day of RodeoHouston.

By the time Alan Jackson's 2012 RodeoHouston season-closing show was over, his missing moustache already had its own Twitter account. No, it was not I who created the account. I was too busy watching the show, and bemoaning the foods that I would miss in my diet until next year's rodeo starts up again.

His newly clean-shaven face aside, Jackson's pure country was just what I needed to level myself off from a week of SXSW in Austin and the constant barrage of hipsters, drunks, punks, and corporate skunks. And that's saying something, since the RodeoHouston crowds aren't exactly the most stress-relieving. Maybe it was the fact that Jackson's set was a slice of normalcy in an otherwise frazzling week.

Opening with the meat-and-potatoes party country of "Good Time," he helped bid adieu to Texas spring break in front of an audience of a little more than 61,000. Jackson, Reba and season openers Alabama were arguably the most traditional country artists of this past month, with a wink and a nod to Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton.

​Besides being able to help us time-travel with cuts like "Chattahoochee" and "Little Bitty," the man delivered the wistful, heartstring-tuggers "Remember When" and "Drive (For Daddy Gene)" on Sunday.

Most surprising was his newest single "So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore", which stood in stark contrast to the relative sunniness of the rest of his set.

The song, now making the rounds on country radio, is a departure from the aw-shucks good-ol'-country-boy act and embraces a bare-bones emotionality that the world hasn't seen from Jackson, probably since the tears-and-beer wail of "Here In The Real World."

Let's hope Jackson's upcoming album, the first on his own new indie label, has the same weight too. There is no reason why Jackson can't have a second life as a mean son of a bitch on record.

Personal Bias: I needed this RodeoHouston set to act as a sort of Xanax after the past week of work. Thanks, Mr. Jackson, I am for real.

The Crowd: Damn, you guys just didn't think wearing sunscreen this week at the beach was a good idea, huh?

Overheard In the Crowd: A lot of tykes on the MetroRail home were not happy about school going back in session from Spring Break, but the parents seemed pretty stoked.