Houston just doesn’t get much credit when it comes to entertainment.  As SXSW sucks up all the publicity for the myriad of concerts and events that unfold in Austin this time of year, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo flies under the radar with the entertainment media.  However, every year they host some of the biggest concerts and crowds in Houston.  Also noteworthy, it is THE LARGEST rodeo in the WORLD  with 78 years of history under its belt buckle, 22,000 volunteers and over $150 million raised specifically for education scholarships. Yeehaw!

This is all great stuff, and let me tell you, nothing compares to the experience of going to the rodeo.  After you’ve ridden every ride at the carnival and had a few corn dogs, you watch cowboys from around the country ride bucking broncos and race around barrels. Then you’re ready to settle in your seat and, (yawn) wait for the show to begin.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s always an impressive line-up.  This year boasted Lady Antebellum, Toby Keith, The Jonas Brothers, Mary J. Blige, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, and last night – The Black Eyed Peas!  However, if I’m honest, for all the years I’ve gone to the rodeo to see various acts, it’s typically a very low-key, ho-hum concert.  Part of that is the set-up.  A stage-in-the-round is impressively pulled out into the middle of the arena on thousands of tons of dirt and the acts are driven out to the stage in the bed of a Ford pick-up truck.  The set up results in such a lack of intimacy because the crowd is so far from the stage, and the few people they let onto the Reliant Arena floor are kept so far back it’s almost not worth it. 

As we headed in for my son’s first rodeo concert last night (he’s a huge Black Eyed Peas fan), my husband and I warned him, “Don’t expect that people will be into the music and jumping around or anything. It’s a lot more low-key than a typical concert because of the set-up.” 

To our pleasant surprise, we happened to be wrong this time.  The Black Eyed Peas were amazing. The crowd was totally into every word and note. Reliant Arena rock ‘n rolled as folks danced, threw their arms up in the air, and screamed like they were at a winning-season Texans Football Game (and we only have had one of those).  It was electric.  70,000 people took in the sold-out concert, and they were fully engaged! The change in atmosphere begged the question, why?  What was so different about last night as compared to many of the concerts we’d been to in years past?  Here’s my take:

a) The Black Eyed Peas are amazing entertainers.  They engaged the audience and truly connected.  We already know their repertoire is great, but their live performance leaves one knowing that they not only have catchy beats and tunes, but tremendous stage presence.  In a setting like the Houston Rodeo, that level performance is the key to engagement in a large arena.  That would be Lesson #1:  Book performers who can bring it in a live setting.  Period.

b)  The rodeo invested in a new stage last year, and it’s made all the difference.  Our friends over at LD Systems had something to do with that – and I was thoroughly impressed. 

The back drop of LED Screens and its design allows the crowd to see the action on the stage, even when it’s rotated away from them.  But, what really seemed to make the difference for me personally were the three thrusts that were added to the circular stage – where the performers could engage the audience in a more intimate way.  It helps when your performers know how to utilize that type of extra space. The Black Eyed Peas used it to their full advantage.  Even if the stage was rotated away from one side of the arena, somebody from the group was out on one of those thrusts bringing it to the other side.  The re-design was a huge upgrade – and the LED panels that made up the headers, between screen panels, the stage skirt and the backdrop really made for an impressive display of experiential technology. Go here for photos of the stage: http://www.ldsystems.com/rodeosfestivals/09events/hlsr/hlsr09.html

My final thoughts about the whole thing as I looked around the arena last night were Wow!  Look how far we’ve come!  When you find you’re looking at the IMAG more than directly at the performer on the stage, you realize how much you’ve come to depend on technology to make you feel closer to the artist at a concert.  When they turn all the lights off and everyone takes out their cell phones instead of their lighters, you realize how far we’ve come in just 10 years when it comes to engaging and involving an audience in a performance.

My son was totally enthralled.  He took it all in and had a blast.  I kept thinking that he has no memory of lighters and the days when you brought your binoculars so you could get a better look at the artist.  And, in another 10 years – if he follows in his mom’s footsteps- he’ll be amazed at whatever new technology will be featured and think of last night as merely old school.

-       Rachel Quan, Houston