The Art of the RODEOHOUSTON Lineup: Brittany Cooke

Danielle Grossman 0:04
All right, welcome back to Mission Rodeo. We are so excited to have a wonderful guest with us to talk all things entertainment. It’s what everyone wants to hear. Brittany Cooke, welcome.

Brittany Cooke 0:14
Thank you so much.

Danielle Grossman 0:15
Yes, Brittany is our director of entertainment concert production. You have a crazy job.

Brittany Cooke 0:19
It is.

Danielle Grossman 0:20
Tell people how did you land a job like this? This is an incredible job, so much fun, but also very difficult.

Brittany Cooke 0:27
Yeah, it kind of does not feel like real life sometimes. But yes, I mean this job on surface. I booked the 20 nights in the stadium. That’s kind of what everyone sees and think that I do. But behind that, we also are. My team is also responsible for all the other entertainment across the ground. So we about 230 artists that we do across eight different venues, across property. So not only just booking them, but all the logistics, especially inside the stadium, all the logistics from picking them up from the airport to hospitality, getting them on stage, and then getting them out and flipping it and doing it 20 days in a row.

Danielle Grossman 1:04
You don’t really sleep, do you?

Brittany Cooke 1:05
We don’t sleep much.

Danielle Grossman 1:06
I know. I like go into the service level of a stadium, and I’m like, okay, if I see Brittany, I know I have to be super nice. Maybe give you something to eat. Red Bulls help make you give you Red Bull. I know y’all work so hard down there, and a lot of people don’t see what you do. I mean, it’s a lot of behind the scenes. You’re dealing with a lot of people. Is it stressful, or is like truly you enjoy it?

Brittany Cooke 1:27
A little bit of both. Like it’s controlled chaos, but in like the best way possible. But for those six weeks, if you count like loading into the stadium, it’s it’s a grind. Like we’re it’s very long hours. We’re away from our families, but it’s a lot of fun. Yeah, like the 20 days are a lot of fun. So,

Danielle Grossman 1:45
and you get to meet some really cool artists.

Brittany Cooke 1:47
Yeah, it’s the artists and their teams. Like we’ve the ones that we’ve had back, we fall in love with their teams as well.

Danielle Grossman 1:52
Oh my gosh! Okay, let’s talk about maybe a memory you have with one of the artists. People probably have have so many questions for you about like what people are like. Are they nice? Are they really what they’re like? You know, in real life, yeah, or in real life. Do you have a story like that you can share?

Brittany Cooke 2:07
Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is that the artists are actually real people. Yeah, and they’re actually normal, just like you and I. I mean, you have okay, Blake Shelton. He was. He’s exactly like you see on TV. Just as funny, chill, super personable, walks around, will ask you anything, talk to the door guy, doesn’t matter. I mean, I was pregnant when Garth Brooks was here, and I was carrying a table to like move around hospitality, and he’s like, “Stop! and like help me move the table. So it’s just like they’re normal people, just like the rest of us, and like you don’t have to be scared of them when they walk into the room, which I think is the perception a lot of people get. Like, don’t talk.

Danielle Grossman 2:45
Yeah. Well, I mean, especially when like really big names come and you’re like, oh my god, it’s like a superstar. You know, how do you approach them? Do you feel like differently when you approach those like really big names versus maybe the ones who are still up and coming?

Brittany Cooke 2:57
Honestly, I don’t, and I think that’s what makes our team really good. Is like we treat them all exactly the same because we all-it’s funny. The teams that travel with the artists, we can tell how they act. Like, is their whole mood going to shift when the artist arrives in the building? And that’s how you kind of know if it’s going to be a good day or bad day. The teams that are just go with the flow, like they act the same when their artist is there and not there are the ones we love the most. So,

Danielle Grossman 3:23
and we have a lot of artists that come back year after year, and but we also have new ones. How do you balance booking like the ones we love that come back, but also give the opportunity to the ones that maybe are gonna you know make it big one day? Because we are the stage where they they’ve made it in country music if they perform on the star stage, right?

Brittany Cooke 3:42
Oh, absolutely. And we want those artists to want to come and play our show. I think there’s a fine line and a little bit of a tricky juggling act. Is like watching the new artists that are like up and coming, seeing how they’re doing. But is next year the right year? Do we wait one more year? But like, if you wait one more year, are they going to grow too fast and then we miss them? So like, it’s kind of, it’s a game. It’s the puzzle.

Danielle Grossman 4:07
That is tough.

Brittany Cooke 4:08
Yeah. Okay. So

Danielle Grossman 4:08
Okay. So it is like the season. Yes. We are picking the lineup. Well, it’s actually already chosen. But you’ve been working a very long time on it. When do you start looking into who can perform at our rodeo, I mean,

Brittany Cooke 4:21
probably way earlier than people actually think. I’m sure. I mean, we’re already in conversations for 32, which for

Danielle Grossman 4:26
for 32.

Brittany Cooke 4:27
Yes, I mean that’s a big year for it’s a big year for us. But like usually about for sure, well over a year, sometimes two years out, just because you have to tour cycles change. Are they going to start going into the studio to write a new album? Are they going to go on family vacation? Like our dates don’t change, so I have to get ahead of it because when we announce and when our show is isn’t going to change, and they’re not waiting, they’re not planning their tour around me. So I kind of have to get ahead of it and kind of figure out from there. Yeah,

Danielle Grossman 4:55
it’s like a game, a puzzle.

Brittany Cooke 4:57
It is a very big puzzle.

Danielle Grossman 4:58
Do you find that you have. People that drop out, you have to have backups. What does that process look like? I’m sure that you have to prepare for everything.

Brittany Cooke 5:05
Yes, knock on wood, but luckily we haven’t had a ton. But we have, especially we’ve had a couple drop out before we’ve actually announced that we thought we had everything locked in, and you’re still you’re scrambling because you’re like, okay, we have a week before we’re announcing this. We got to flip this before anyone finds out that someone changed their mind or something came up or a family emergency. But you always kind of have in the back of your head, okay, I know I could call this agent because of the relationships that you have. Like we have great relationships with different agencies where I know I could they’d pick up the phone. I’m like, okay, we could do this, this, or this. What do you think? Or, and a lot of times, if an artist does back out, the agent that had to make that hard phone call already has a backup plan too, because they want to help you out. But their backup plan not might fit the rest of the lineup, so you kind of have to have your own backup plan at the same time.

Danielle Grossman 5:59
Yeah, that’s so crazy.

Brittany Cooke 6:01
That goes back. It’s a puzzle. It’s a crazy puzzle.

Danielle Grossman 6:04
And the lineup is always incredible. Always. I mean, you do such a great job. Thank you. You are like the dynamic duo of entertainment, and you guys just really exceed everyone’s expectations.

Brittany Cooke 6:14
A little girl gang.

Danielle Grossman 6:15
I love it. It’s like me and Marissa, right? Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit about the genre calendar. So we do things a little differently. Every event announces their lineups in a different way. We are just we are known to announce ours beginning of Q1. We come out first with the genre calendar. So for those who don’t know, talk about the genre calendar and like what that means, and talk about some of the genres we have coming to show in 27.

Brittany Cooke 6:37
I think we announce a genre lineup to kind of give a roadmap of what you should expect in January, without actually telling you who the artist is. Some of it could be practical, practical where, okay, I can start planning. I really want to go to the Christian night, or I know I’m going to do the rock night, whoever it is. Like, or it also is kind of just for fun. Like, it gets everyone talking about us. Months early, and it’s kind of fun to see who everyone’s guessing, and like, like see how close some people get too.

Danielle Grossman 7:10
I know, and we do guess the lineup. So I find that so fascinating because people do so much research. They study their tour schedules and if they’ve had kids and when their kids’ schedules are, what makes sense,

Brittany Cooke 7:23
or yeah, or they’ve like try to look to like did they skip Houston or something, or they know hey, well they’ve already been announced here in Australia, so they might not be coming to our show. Like that is crazy how deep dive some people get and how close they get.

Danielle Grossman 7:36
They get really close, yeah, yeah. In the previous years, I mean, also you know, when you talk about like we only have a few rock or pop or those types of genres, right? So there’s there’s a lot of artists, but only like one or two spots. How do you balance, you know, choosing? Okay, we we need to have country. We’re rodeo, right?

Brittany Cooke 7:55
No, for sure. And we’re always kind of I’ve always said we’re 60% country because like that’s, I mean you’ve said it before. It’s our bedrock. Like that’s we’ll be country through and through always. But we have to. But we’re also Houston, so I think everyone that’s coming through the gates of our show in general should have something that kind of reflects the rest of the city. So we have to mix in the Christian, the Latin, the R&B, the rock, and like even pop, like you just kind of watching industry trends to kind of figure out, okay, which one do we want to do this year, or and see what’s what’s going to help move the move the needle and kind of balance out our lineup.

Danielle Grossman 8:33
It’s been cool. I mean, Creed. Let me tell you, Brittany, my husband came to that with myself, and he was like, “This was the best concert of my life. Good, so fun. I mean, it’s like nostalgia. You know, it’s the the artists that you you wouldn’t necessarily be like, I’m going to their show, but if they’re here, you’re gonna go, right? Because it’s rodeo.

Brittany Cooke 8:51
I think that’s kind of fun. We get to play with it a lot differently than other arenas when they’re just booking one one off concerts. Like we kind of play with it because you’re looking at as a whole picture, not just a one-off concert.

Danielle Grossman 9:03
Totally, and we know that like our community

Brittany Cooke 9:06
loves it.

Danielle Grossman 9:07
Our fans, they love this. This is like

Brittany Cooke 9:10
they take a lot of pride in it.

Danielle Grossman 9:11
They take a lot of pride in it, but also some people have very strong opinions about it, and they voice their opinions. So how do you, how do you find out, or like, what do you think you could say to those folks out there who have those strong opinions? What do you wish they would know about the process? Read

Brittany Cooke 9:28
Read all the comments. Be nice.

Danielle Grossman 9:31
Don’t be mean. Stop being a keyboard warrior.

Brittany Cooke 9:33
I know. No, I think the number one thing I wish sometimes I could like comment bad, but like, of course we tried for that artist. Like we probably tried for more artists than I think people realize that we actually go through. Like we have hundreds of conversations. We put out multiple offers just to get to our 20 days. Like, I mean, I wish they could see the amount of emails and conversations and actual. Letters that go out, but like the tour date just didn’t work, or it might be like it’s not going to work this year because they have this and this plan. Let’s wait one more year, but like if you don’t see your favorite art, and we also have budgets. Budgets are the big one. and then the one that people I don’t think always think about is like we play in the round. They have to use our stage. They have to use our sound production, like you can’t bring your 12 trucks and like fly from the ceiling. Like that’s you have to fit within our 60 minutes, and so I think some artists just don’t want to do that. Like they want it to be their show, and they’re always going to play their show, and that’s fine. You got to respect that, but I think if you don’t see your artist, we probably tried. It just didn’t work for a handful of reasons, and maybe we’ll always try again to try to get those big, big names.

Danielle Grossman 10:47
Yeah, and I mean we’re a nonprofit organization. We can only do so much. Like obviously, the entertainment part of our event is a significant factor. Yeah, and people come for the shows. Ultimately, our rodeo and entertainment, and it’s great every year. But that’s why we offer variety.

Brittany Cooke 11:05
Exactly, and I think if you find if you see the 20 days and you see oh I have to go see those three and be like I hate these three. Okay, I probably did my job because the next person probably really is really excited about the three that you don’t want to see, and there’s something for everyone there. So

Danielle Grossman 11:20
was there ever an artist that surprised you that performed, or maybe you took a chance on, and then you’re like, “Oh my gosh, this was a great! I did a great job at choosing him.

Brittany Cooke 11:33
I will tell you two for two different reasons. Okay, we booked Sean Mendez. I can’t remember the year, but a couple of years ago, and he was on fire, like he was doing great. So we knew, but he went out there by himself, with no band, no singers, and killed it. So like that was one of those where like, okay, like we knew this would do well and it sold well, but then he just made me so nervous when he stepped out on that stage. Like, how is this gonna go? But it was fantastic, and then the Chainsmokers were the very first EDM artists that we ever did, and that took some convincing to get people to let me do it. But like EDM was so hot the year that we did it, and it took a second because our fans are so far away from the stage for everyone, you’re like, okay, how do we get into this when we’re not next to the stage? And just as soon as that first beat dropped, everyone stood up and they started dancing. We’re like, okay, so we can do other things outside of our norm. And like, I think ever since then, it made it a little bit easier to take other chances. And people saw it. You could do more than just stand up there and go through your set list.

Danielle Grossman 12:42
Yeah, it’s awesome to watch, like, and witness happen because you know you’re there to experience, you know, have an experience with people that you’re with, and like EDM and just like a big party. Oh, it is right. So you’re there to just have a good time,

Brittany Cooke 12:56
right? But like, it seems so big in a stadium, but they made it so intimate, like playing into the cameras, and then everyone got into it.

Danielle Grossman 13:03
Totally. If you could bring any Rodeo Houston artist back, who would you bring?

Brittany Cooke 13:11
Like any

Danielle Grossman 13:13
that maybe we know is not coming back or has passed away.

Brittany Cooke 13:18
I think honestly, Selena or Elvis, because like, who wouldn’t want to say they saw them? And I never did. I would obviously, but you know, like that would be

Danielle Grossman 13:26
I know

Brittany Cooke 13:26
awesome. But but then I think we have a handful of artists that I will probably keep trying for year after year, and hopefully they’ll come back. They played our show once or twice before, and we’re gonna keep on trying to bring them back.

Danielle Grossman 13:39
Totally, especially if they do well and people, it resonates with people, right? We have to talk about the 21st day that we just had.

Brittany Cooke 13:46
Yeah,

Danielle Grossman 13:46
that’s that was crazy.

Brittany Cooke 13:48
It was fun.

Danielle Grossman 13:48
It was an incredible feat by Cody Johnson. He did. He sold out. He set a record. I mean, what-

Brittany Cooke 13:55
For us and the stadium.

Danielle Grossman 13:56
Yes, what an awesome accomplishment and what a great show. So talk about what it goes into like booking that 21st day, and you know that doesn’t happen every year. This 2027 is going to be 20.

Brittany Cooke 14:06
It was regular 20 days. Yep, that’s a multi year process, and that’s something we’ve been working with Cody and his team for multiple years to try to figure out when’s the right timing and how we want to work and like how he wanted to build a lineup. Like he had a lot of say in who was going to help open for him as well. But no, I think it’s also it’s a lot of strain and work on everyone here. Yeah. So as you know, and it’s a lot on the front end and the back end to like flip that stadium and get everything ready. So we have to make sure it works with us as an organization as well. So, but yeah. But when you do it, like that sense of accomplishment’s a lot of fun. I mean, that was one of the busiest days we’ve had. We had five headlining artists backstage. Technically, that our same team that does one artist every day managed. So, like that was yeah a feat within itself. But was like. After the end of the show, we’re like, okay, we did it. That was awesome. So

Danielle Grossman 15:03
wow, it was so great. I mean, I mean, everyone was exhausted, obviously, because we were like finishing up a long run.

Brittany Cooke 15:10
But you saw the crowd, and that made it worth it. When they scream when every song that he was singing, and when special guests would come out, like, okay, I’m here for this. I’m here for this. Yeah,

Danielle Grossman 15:20
and it was just so perfect. Like it was the perfect way to end the show. So kudos to you and your thank you so much working on that. It was great. So let’s talk a little bit about our lineup for 2027. Okay, who’s coming? I’m just kidding.

Brittany Cooke 15:33
You can wait until january, 1 week of January. Yeah,

Danielle Grossman 15:35
I know. We’re so excited.

Brittany Cooke 15:37
That’d be good. I’m excited about this one.

Danielle Grossman 15:38
Okay, so without telling us, is there a way you could tell us what you’re excited for? Maybe not who, but like, what are you most excited for? Is it the energy? Is it maybe bringing someone who hasn’t been here in a while, or someone you’ve been wanting to bring that’s finally locked in? Give us any. I think it’s all of that. Okay,

Brittany Cooke 15:55
so I think there’s a little, a lot of new stuff, some old favorites, some people that we’ve been working on for a while, and we got them locked in. I think everyone’s going to be like, “Oh, okay.” Like that’s we have. I think it. Not to pat myself in the back, but I think it might be hard to choose. I was like, it might be hard to choose your three days or however many days that you’re coming. Like there’s, I think there’s a lot to choose from this year.

Danielle Grossman 16:19
But I think it helps that we do have family-friendly pricing, and it allows you to to do

Brittany Cooke 16:24
multiple. Yes, yeah, or go buy season tickets. It’ll great. Come see. Buy season tickets.

Danielle Grossman 16:28
That’s totally the option. Yeah, and we have so many different options in the stadium, like for people to enjoy different experiences when they come. So one day they could be in the lower level. One day they can be in the party deck.

Brittany Cooke 16:37
Yeah, exactly.

Danielle Grossman 16:39
There’s so many options.

Speaker 1 16:39
Do all the things. So I know. I know. I think it’ll be good. I think there’s something for everyone. It’s a good variety, and yeah, January.

Danielle Grossman 16:48
I know we’re so close. Okay, I have some really fun questions.

Brittany Cooke 16:52
Sure,

Danielle Grossman 16:52
you ready? If you could describe your world, your work, your job in one word, what would it be?

Brittany Cooke 17:00
One word.

Danielle Grossman 17:00
Yeah, one word.

Brittany Cooke 17:02
Can it be two words?

Danielle Grossman 17:03
Sure.

Brittany Cooke 17:04
It’d be controlled chaos.

Danielle Grossman 17:05
Controlled chaos

Brittany Cooke 17:06
all the time. It’s good.

Danielle Grossman 17:07
I think we’re all controlled chaos, like you want.

Brittany Cooke 17:09
Because even the prepping is kind of controlled chaos. Some weeks you’re like offers, offers, offers, and then you like hurry up and wait, and then hurry up and wait. Oh, I know that. But and then all of a sudden it’s like logistic, logistics, and yeah, so controlled chaos all the time. So, but it’s fun.

Danielle Grossman 17:24
Such a cool job, Brittany.

Brittany Cooke 17:26
Thanks. But no, it is it is cool on paper. It’s a lot, but it’s

Danielle Grossman 17:30
yeah.

Brittany Cooke 17:31
It also makes it fun. Totally.

Danielle Grossman 17:33
My dad met his like favorite singer ever, Shaboozy. It was like the best day. He still talks about!

Brittany Cooke 17:39
we’re here making dreams come true.

Danielle Grossman 17:40
You literally made his dreams come true. He hasn’t stopped talking about it. So stuff like that. Those are the memories and those are the moments that

Brittany Cooke 17:47
I think that’s the part that’s kind of fun to watch audience when you come when you’re taking the artists different places and you’re seeing fans react. You’re like, okay, that was worth it.

Danielle Grossman 17:56
When I saw Carrie Underwood drive through the service level, my jaw dropped because I did not think we kept that.

Brittany Cooke 18:03
That was a big secret that we kept.

Danielle Grossman 18:04
Oh, I know. I was like double naked. Is that who I think it is?

Brittany Cooke 18:07
Yeah, we kept that one a secret for about three months.

Danielle Grossman 18:10
So cool. So fun. What was your first concert ever?

Brittany Cooke 18:14
Tim McGraw.

Danielle Grossman 18:16
Was it?

Brittany Cooke 18:17
I was yeah in San Antonio. I grew up in San Antonio, and I was in sixth grade, I believe. Yeah, my middle school boyfriend took me to Tim McGraw.

Danielle Grossman 18:25
I love that. That’s so sweet. So, if you had an entire day to yourself, you’re a parent. I’m a parent. We both have children. We’re very busy. If you had a day all to yourself, what would you do?

Brittany Cooke 18:39
Sit in silence. No one say “mom”.

Danielle Grossman 18:42
That’s a great answer.

Brittany Cooke 18:44
I mean, honestly, I would probably work out. Then I’d want to go to the spa, and then I’d honestly, being realistic, I’d probably reorganize something in my house.

Danielle Grossman 18:55
Would you though?

Brittany Cooke 18:56
Or I’d sit and binge watch a Netflix show in the silence.

Danielle Grossman 19:00
What are you watching right now? Anything good?

Brittany Cooke 19:02
Um, I just finished. I will find you. I believe this was.

Danielle Grossman 19:06
Oh, that was a juicy one.

Brittany Cooke 19:07
It was good. I couldn’t stop watching it.

Danielle Grossman 19:09
That was a good one. I like that. Okay, so after 21 days of concerts,

Brittany Cooke 19:17
okay,

Danielle Grossman 19:17
what do you listen to in the car when you’re driving home? Do you like change it up? Do you stay? Do you listen to a podcast? Are you like I need a break? What what do you do?

Brittany Cooke 19:27
Yes, I honestly don’t listen to a ton of music in the car. I do with my kids on the way to school. Yeah, but I listen to a lot of podcasts, or I’ll drive in silence because it’s silent. But on, but then sometimes I will play music, or I’m trying to find new music for like a running playlist. But I play a lot of podcasts, so just because I need to change it up.

Danielle Grossman 19:50
I totally feel that. I get that. But you know, I I create like a Spotify playlist for all our artists after we find out, and I listen to it nonstop until. The show comes because I need to know every song, or at least I need to be familiar.

Brittany Cooke 20:05
Gotcha. I don’t do that.

Danielle Grossman 20:07
Okay.

Brittany Cooke 20:09
Just because I like, we’re gonna hear it all day that day, all day, every day. Because we hear the whole set list during sound check, and then like they’re singing it backstage, we’re like, we’re not gonna listen to this music today. Love it, love the concert, and I’ll sing out loud at the concert. But

Danielle Grossman 20:25
Our concerts are just-they’re unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life.

Brittany Cooke 20:28
Yeah, they’re a lot of fun. Something different about them.

Danielle Grossman 20:31
It really is. It just feels different. There’s-

Brittany Cooke 20:33
The stage opens like that’s a whole experience.

Danielle Grossman 20:35
It really is. I’m excited. I’m ready for it. Are you ready for it?

Brittany Cooke 20:39
yeah, I’m getting there.

Danielle Grossman 20:40
I know. You know, Chris Bowman in a previous episode was like, “I was like, what are you most excited for? And he goes, “For to start day one. And I’m like, “I get it. You know, because for us, right, like we work all year to make it happen.

Brittany Cooke 20:54
It’s that hurry up and wait. Like hurry up and wait. Yeah. But then when day one gets here, you’re like, okay, come on, day 20.

Danielle Grossman 21:00
Like I know. But it’s so awesome. Like we have to remind ourselves that it’s very cool to bring so much joy to the community and be a part of something so big.

Brittany Cooke 21:09
Yeah, that’s a lot of fun.

Danielle Grossman 21:10
I know. Well, kudos to you, Brittany. We’re so excited to see the lineup. Everyone in the community is. I wouldn’t be mad if you told us someone, but that’s okay if you won’t. I won’t take it personal.

Brittany Cooke 21:18
Which one will keep it? Let everyone keep guessing.

Danielle Grossman 21:21
Keep guessing. Yeah. Go to rodeohouston.com for all the info. And yes, Q1 we are going to announce the full lineup. We can’t wait. Thanks for coming on Mission Rodeo.

Brittany Cooke 21:28
Thank you so much for having me.

Danielle Grossman 21:29
Yeah, of course. We’ll see you next time!