As the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo moves into its second weekend, it will be joined by a fun variety of new events. They include four concerts, including one by a legend, a new theater production, screenings of an acclaimed anime film, a symphonic take on popular music, the opening of one significant exhibition, and the closing of another.
Below are more best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.
Thursday, January 18
Old Crow Medicine Show in concert
The name of the band Old Crow Medicine Show immediately conjures up a certain type of music. And since their debut in 2000, the string band that used to busk in Nashville has lived up to that idea, playing original country and bluegrass songs like their hit "Wagon Wheel" alongside old blues and folk songs. They'll play at Will Rogers Auditorium as part of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo's Auditorium Entertainment Series.
Stage West presents Marjorie Prime
In the near future, Marjorie and her daughter are worried that her memory may be fading. That is, until the appearance of Walter, a mysterious and charming young visitor who arrives to help Marjorie uncover the intricacies of her own past. But a secret truth is about to blur the lines between human and machine. The 2015 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, making its regional premiere at Stage West, puts forth profound questions emerge about the limits of technology and whether or not memory is an exclusively human invention. The production runs through February 11.
Friday, January 19
Magnolia at the Modern: The Boy and the Heron
From the mind of legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki comes The Boy and the Heron, a semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship. A young boy yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. There will be seven screenings through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. (Read our review here.)
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents "The Music of Billy Joel and Elton John starring Michael Cavanaugh"
Billy Joel may be the piano man, but nothing compares to hearing his tunes backed by a live orchestra. In this touching tribute to both Billy Joel and Elton John, the orchestra adds excitement and verve to well-known hits including "Bennie and the Jets," “Just the Way You Are,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” “Uptown Girl,” and more, with vocals by Michael Cavanaugh. There will be three performances through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
Pony Bradshaw in concert
It's difficult to have a more country music name than Pony Bradshaw. But the late starter - he didn't release his debut album until the age of 38 - has influences that range from Townes Van Zandt to French poets. Now on his third album, North Georgia Rounder, Bradshaw remains a unique singer with a growing fanbase. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas.
Saturday, January 20
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History presents "Black Cowboys: An American Story"
The new exhibition "Black Cowboys: An American Story" explores the lives and work of the numerous Black men, women, and children, enslaved and free, who labored on the ranches of Texas and participated in cattle drives before the Civil War through the turn of the 20th century. Featuring more than 50 artifacts, photographs, documents, and films, the exhibition will be on display at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History through April 13.
Smokey Robinson in concert
Counting his time with his breakout group, The Miracles, Smokey Robinson has been entertaining the masses with his distinctive voice for over 60 years — quite the feat for a man who's 83 years old. His biggest hits, like "The Tracks of My Tears," "I Second That Emotion," and "The Tears of a Clown," came with The Miracles, and they resonate to this day. He'll perform at Will Rogers Auditorium as part of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo's Auditorium Entertainment Series.
Ian Munsick in concert
Rising country star Ian Munsick, who hails from Wyoming, is bringing the "Western" back to country. With influences ranging from bluegrass to the Beatles, Munsick has brought his own unique sound to the genre since debuting with the 2021 album, Coyote Cry. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas In support of his second album, 2023's White Buffalo.
Sunday, January 21
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: "Memory Map" closing day
After a three-month run, "Memory Map," a retrospective of Native American artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, will come to a close at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The largest and most comprehensive showing of her work to date, the exhibition brings together nearly five decades of Smith’s drawings, prints, paintings, and sculptures. Smith engages with contemporary modes of art making, from her idiosyncratic adoption of abstraction to her reflections on American Pop art and Neo-Expressionism.
Smokey Robinson will perform at Will Rogers Auditorium on January 20.
