A dozen concerts not to miss in Las Vegas during NFR

He’s as much of a National Finals Rodeo staple as a bull rider’s sore ribs.

Having performed during the NFR almost every year since 2016, “King of Country Music” George Strait regularly holds court during professional rodeo’s marquee event.

With 60 No. 1 hits, Strait has amassed more chart-toppers than any other artist of any genre. His appeal is rooted in his role as a country true believer who defends the mores of traditional honky-tonk with Pentecostal zeal. He’s an unabashed romanticist, his songs revolving mostly around the pleasures of honky-tonk women and the thrill of hitting the road and chasing down the sun like it owed him money.

His vast back catalog is filled with earthy, windswept Americana with dust in its throat. It’s the sound of wanderlust, infatuated with wide-open spaces and all the possibilities implied in endless stretches of highway. Despite his traditionalist bent, Strait is also the forefather of the slick nouveau country that has dominated the airwaves since the early 1990s.

He’s the bridge between the rugged, thick-skinned twang of the ’70s and the huge-sounding, hyperproduced country pop of today. In fact, it was Strait who gave a 17-year-old Taylor Swift one of her first big breaks by bringing her with him as an opening act on his 2006 tour.

“At this time last year, I was sitting at a desk in high school,” she gushed at the MGM Grand Garden in February of that year.

In his return to town on Saturday, Strait will headline Allegiant Stadium for the first time, bringing along Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town. It’s his biggest Vegas show yet.

Here are 11 other notable concerts during the NFR:

Garth Brooks

Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Dec. 5, 7, 8, 12 and 14

The Oak Ridge Boys, Billy Joel, Bob Seger, Randy Travis, Lady Gaga, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Marvin Gaye — you never know where Garth Brooks will turn for cover songs during his Vegas residency gigs. You just know there will be a lot of them, in addition to his many fan-favorite tunes.

Midland and Tanya Tucker

The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Dec. 6

The ’70s outlaw country movement was devoid of many things: a deference to the Nashville mores of the day, an acceptance of the traditional bounds of the genre and, chief among them, women. Tanya Tucker changed that. Though she initially came to fame as a squeaky-clean teen singer, she’d sharpen her sound with a rock edge and radiate a lady-in-charge sense of self and purpose. This year’s NFR sees her teaming up with neotraditional country favs Midland.

Brad Paisley

Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas, Dec. 6 to 8

An ace guitar player with a wry sense of humor, Brad Paisley has long been a witty craftsman like no other in Nashville. But on his latest album, the forthcoming “Son of the Mountains,” Paisley takes a more sobering turn on single “Same Here,” a stirring ballad inspired by the war in Ukraine that features audio from the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Cody Jinks

Dolby Live at Park MGM, Dec. 6 and 7

A self-described “fire-tongued devil with a belly full of gasoline,” Cody Jinks has his roots firmly planted in the red dirt of country traditionalism. But he began his music career playing in metal bands, and his music still pulses with a punk rock energy, a make-my-own rules ethos.

Shania Twain

PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort, Dec. 6, 7, 11, 13 and 14

If Strait is country’s king, Shania Twain remains its queen, having earned the rare musical achievement that the former hasn’t: Twain’s blockbuster 1997 album “Come on Over” ranks as the top-selling country album ever, having sold more than 40 million copies.

Thomas Rhett

BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, Dec. 6, 7, 13 and 14

“It Goes Like This”: Not only has Thomas Rhett penned 20 No. 1 country hits for himself, but he’s also written singles for the likes of Jason Aldean, Florida George Line, LoCash and others. With that kind of success, we’re betting he’ll be able to “Die a Happy Man.”

Shaboozey

The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Dec. 11

When Beyonce went country this year with her album “Cowboy Carter,” she did so with the help of rapper-singer Shaboozey, with whom she collaborated on a pair of tracks. He’s since become a star in his own right: Shaboozey’s smash country/hip-hop gene splice “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” ranks as the longest-running No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2024.

Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan

The Showroom at the Golden Nugget, Dec. 9

On their ongoing, aptly titled “Grits and Glamour” tour, veteran country divas Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan trade songs, stories and the occasional playful barb. The pair have a combined 28 top 10 hits, 12 No. 1 songs and 18 million records sold.

Cody Johnson

MGM Grand Garden, Dec. 12 and 13

At this year’s People’s Choice Country Music Awards, singer-songwriter Cody Johnson earned the Storyteller Song of the Year award for his heart-wringing hit “Dirt Cheap,” and deservedly so — the tune tells the tale of an elderly farmer refusing to sell his land to a railroad company because of the memories the property contains. If you don’t get a little misty-eyed by this one, better get yourself checked for some malfunctioning tear ducts.

Charley Crockett

The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Dec. 14

As indebted to R&B icons like Curtis Mayfield and Nina Simone as to country legends like George Jones and Hank Williams, Charley Crockett’s catalog is as bluesy and soulful as it is rootsy and Americana-influenced.

Lainey Wilson

MGM Grand Garden, Dec. 14

Her latest album is titled “Whirlwind,” and it’s some truth in advertising for Lainey Wilson, whose life has been just that over the past year: In addition to winning the Grammy for Best Country Album in February for her breakout full-length “Bell Bottom Country,” she took home four trophies at the Academy of Country Music Awards last year, including being named Female Artist of the Year. After packing four shows at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas during last year’s NFR, she graduates to an arena this go-round, her career and the venues she headlines getting bigger and bigger in unison.

Contact Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow @jbracelin76 on Instagram.