Last Night: Trace Adkins At RodeoHouston

Photos courtesy of Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

Aftermath admits that before Wednesday night, we were by no means experts on the bellowing country crooner known as Trace Adkins. After the show was over, however, we felt like buying every album he's ever put out.

Not only did the man lose one of his fingers working on an oil rig, he got shot in the chest by one of his ex-wives and never pressed charges. If that doesn't make him the most authentically American country act going, we're not sure what the other requirements are.

Wednesday was Armed Forces Appreciation Night at the Rodeo, and as we walked around in search of fried M&M's - which we found, and don't recommend - we noticed that the majority of the patrons were in uniform, and most of them had those huge stuffed-animal prizes won from those impossible carnival games.

It made Aftermath reconsider our future for three seconds, until we realized that we could buy the same size stuffed animal for ten dollars cheaper and not have to go overseas. Anyways, this is all beside the point.

When we got to our seats after a considerable amount of confusion with the Rodeo staff, they were announcing Officer Mike Thornton, a Navy SEAL who won the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1982 for his actions in Vietnam. He received a standing ovation, and then the most patriotic act we've ever seen occurred.

A huge American flag came down from the ceiling, but that's not all; there were Army men riding down with it. They rapelled from the ceiling with the American flag, a first in Reliant Stadium history.

After the fireworks and light show, Adkins came onstage without much to say. He jumped right into "Hillbilly Bone," which the crowd sang word for word, and "Swing," a baseball-love song.

We'll describe ol' Trace for you. He has a long, grey ponytail, the lowest voice we've ever heard, and he was wearing a dark denim jacket with worn light-wash jeans. He might be a little grimy, but the ladies love him. He has so much old-man country swag that he doesn't even have to move much, just a few times onto the runway to coax the women in the audience.