Machine Gun Kelly at the Rodeo: ‘Feel I should just move to Texas’
Machine Gun Kelly was born in Houston, though most of his time spent here has been headlining concerts.
Tuesday night, however, in front of 54,809 RodeoHouston fans, he pondered a change. MGK’s parents were missionaries who traveled around the world, and he grew up in Ohio.
“Don’t you guys kind of feel like I should just move to Texas?” he asked. “I could do it. My life’s in shambles.”
There was truth in the there. MGK’s fiancé Megan Fox attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party solo and without her engagement ring. He proposed to her in early 2022.
He introduced a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’ ” as “the best four minutes and 16 seconds of my life, slow dancing with someone.” Even off-key, it was the most earnest and honest moment in a loud, blustery performance.
The rock side of MGK took up most of the set, starting with synchronized head-banging alongside two guitarists and a bassist. He was dressed in his trademark pink and black, a motif that was replicated by fans throughout the crowd. He showed off a a pink jacket covered with LED crosses and lightning bolts and even drank from a pink Solo cup. (That’s commitment.)
The word “Sellout” was emblazoned across the stage backdrop, a nod to last year’s “Mainstream Sellout” album. There were canned bits about NASA ("Houston, we have a problem!”) and lots of quips about cowboy life.
Corny: “Now I can officially say, ‘Hey, this ain’t my first rodeo’.”
Crude: “I always thought I’d make a good cowboy. Smoke cigars. Drink whiskey. I like reverse cowgirl.”
Huh? “I see you guys know how to make those horses and cows dance. But can you make those cowboy boots do something?”
Several songs — “Maybe,” “Kiss Kiss,” “Make Up Sex” — sounded as if they had backing tracks. That’s not uncommon, but they sometimes threatened to overpower the live performance.
He peeled off layers of clothes to reveal his tattooed abs. He let the crowd decide which cowboy hat he should wear, a tiny silver one or a regular-size one in pink.
“And all of a sudden, I’ve got a Southern accent,” he said with no real trace of one. (They preferred the pink hat.)
Later, he riffed a bit a cappella on Ginuwine’s “Pony.” Pony. Horses. Cowboys. Get it?
Despite the pomp and pretense, MGK consistently plays to and involves the crowd. He was offstage and at the rails during “Drunk Face” and would have gotten to the other side if his microphone hadn’t starting cutting out.
A cover of Paramore’s “Misery Business” didn’t match the vocal urgency of the original. But his band is uniformly ferocious.
“It really is an honor to be here,” he told the crowd multiple times.
The sentiment felt genuine. So who knows? MGK just might take up residence in his city of birth after all.