Thomas Rhett Flirts With Houston’s Rodeo Women in a High-Energy, High-Fiving, Selfie-Loving Concert: This is No Mere Country Music Bro

Thomas Rhett isn’t a bro. At least, he isn’t just a bro. The pop-leaning, chart-climbing country star has come a long way in the last few years.

He was fun from the start, crooning those country-pop hooks with that Georgia twang. But he’s definitely evolved.

Things have changed a lot for Rhett, even since his 2017 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo concert. Some things have stayed the same, like his charm, that perfectly styled I-woke-up-like-this coif and his crowd-pleasing “Vacation” antics. But his devil may care persona has given way to something a little more personal.

The result? An energetic, multi-dimensional performance.

There was no Bruno Mars cover this time in Rhett’s Rodeo return Wednesday night at NRG Stadium. But if a second had gone from Rhett’s discography to someone else’s, it wouldn’t have been worth it.

Since his last March performance in Houston, Rhett has welcomed two daughters. He and his wife Lauren adopted Willa Gray from Uganda in May of last year, and their daughter Ada James was born last August. His growing family hasn’t slowed him down on stage.

Rhett burned through an hour at RodeoHouston on Wednesday night, giving off sparks like it was nothing.

Rhett opened up with the sultry “T-shirt,” grinning through the lyrics, strutting the stage in a black bomber jacket. The singer kept that mood going, following up with the not-so-subtle “Make Me Wanna.” It’s a conversational song, and he talked more than he sang, his guitar slung over his shoulder. He was nonchalant, naturally.

But then the stage went dark, and the opening chords of “Life Changes” played. People screamed, cheered, whistled. It certainly sounded like a crowd of 60,000 at the mammoth football stadium. It was a high-intensity reaction to a low-key song.

Well, low-key in sound, hearty in meaning.

The song, which shares its name with Rhett’s most recent album, is a go-with-the-flow anthem. It’s a mellow, easy sing-a-long song that takes the listener from Rhett’s college days to his marriage proposal and beyond.

Ain’t it funny how life changes, Rhett asks. His response? “Life changes (yes it does) and I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Rhett paused, shouting “If you know the words, scream at the top of your lungs!”

People were more than happy to cooperate. There’s a clever little Easter egg hidden in those lyrics: “I wrote a little song about holding her hand and now everybody wanna die happy now.” But more on that later.

“This third verse is very much what it has been like over the last year, with my two girls,” Rhett said. That’s right, ladies and gents — especially ladies. Thomas Rhett is still a flirt, and he’s also a father of two.

Thomas Rhett, an All-In Showman

In a few songs, it was crystal clear that Rhett’s new family man status wasn’t going to interfere with his proclivity for the provocative. By song five, Rhett had shed his jacket. He crossed the Rodeo’s new star stage from tip to tip, asking each section of the stadium how they were doing. It was a unanimous great, judging by the cheers and applause.

“I recorded this song with my good friend Maren Morris,” Rhett said. Cue the high-pitched shrieks from women, ages 13 and up. That intro could only mean one thing. The ultra-danceable “Craving You” was up next. Without Maren, Rhett was going to need all the girls to sing, he said.

Easier sang than done. The stage lights flashed red and white through the Rhett/thousands of women duet. Rhett took advantage of the star stage, easing confidently up a tip as it raised high above the crowd. He bounced on his heels on the walk down.

You could tell Rhett was thrilled to see and hear the crowd’s reaction. But he was touched even more by the fans echoing his lesser-known works. “You know the words to songs that aren’t singles!” He was grateful, changing the lyrics in the wistful, enjoy-the-ride tune “Sixteen.” “My friends are off to Vegas” swiftly became “My friends are here in Houston!”

“Crash and Burn” was a toe-tapping ode to break-ups that ended just the way they should have. Rhett then turned to the what ifs, telling the crowd “Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a heartbreak before, Houston!” From the look of things, Bayou City was unlucky in love.

With a revelation like that, it was time for a “Vacation.”

That song is peak bro. It’s a freshman spring break in Cancun fever dream. It’s largely spoken, not sung, like if the Beastie Boys wanted to let loose after rush.

Thomas Rhett leaned into it, let himself get crazy with it. He ran off stage and toward the crowd, climbing up on rails. He high-fives the crowd, then runs across the stadium to the other side to do it all over again. He took selfies, both still and video. “Gigantic video selfie! Scream!”

It’s hard to believe that the heartfelt “Marry Me” came after that. It’s one of the most special songs to him, Rhett told the crowd. His next words were endearing, if a little awkward. For someone who was happy that Houston knew the words to songs that weren’t singles, he’d been watching Billboard closely.

“It’s the number one song in country,” Rhett said. “That’s 10 number ones.” But who’s counting, right?

Feedback lost the first few words of the sobering ballad, but Rhett recovered well.

The crowd sang along at its loudest of the night. The woman in the song may not want to marry Rhett, but there were likely plenty of takers in this Housotn audience.

His final song of the night was the one that arguably made him the most famous. “Die A Happy Man,” the very song referenced in “Life Changes,” was his finale. Rhett may “never get to see the Northern Lights or the Eiffel Tower at night,” but Houston filled the stadium with pinpricks of light from their smartphones.

Rhett broke the song for a moment. “I could die a happy man — how about y’all?”

After that concert, probably.