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Shaun Cassidy |   |
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Shaun Cassidy Turns Back the Clock at House of Blues Houston On Saturday, January 10, 2026, Shaun Cassidy stepped onto the House of Blues Houston stage greeted by a roar that felt less like applause and more like recognition. Opening with “Hey Deanie” and sliding seamlessly into “Teen Dream,” Cassidy immediately signaled that this evening would celebrate the soundtrack of a generation while still leaving room for reflection and reinvention. Cassidy’s journey has always been layered. The son of Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, he rocketed to fame in the late 1970s as both a chart-topping pop singer and the face of The Hardy Boys. Songs like “That’s Rock ’n’ Roll” and “Da Doo Ron Ron” made him a teen idol, but they also defined an era when pop stardom arrived fast and loudly. Onstage in Houston, Cassidy acknowledged that history with humor and grace, never shying away from the weight of it. Early in the set, “Do You Believe in Magic?” (a Lovin’ Spoonful cover) brought a communal sway to the room, followed by the tender nostalgia of “My First Crush.” The pacing felt intentional, moments of buoyant pop balanced by introspective pauses, especially as “Break for the Street” gave way to the crowd-pleasing rush of “That’s Rock ’n’ Roll,” which earned one of the loudest sing-alongs of the night. Cassidy’s voice, matured and relaxed, carried a warmth that suited reflective material like “It’s Like Heaven” and “Walk Away.” Between songs, he spoke candidly about leaving the spotlight at the height of his fame and building a second career behind the scenes as a television writer and producer on shows such as American Gothic, Cold Case, and New Amsterdam. Those years away, he suggested, sharpened his appreciation for storytelling, something evident in his delivery. One of the evening’s most emotionally charged moments arrived with “Tell Me It’s Not True,” the devastating ballad from Willy Russell’s musical Blood Brothers. Before performing it, Cassidy offered context that deepened the room’s collective hush. His late brother David Cassidy famously portrayed Mickey during Blood Brothers’ Broadway run in the 1990s, a role that revealed a dramatic depth far removed from David’s teen-idol image. David had contacted Shaun to join him on stage for the musical, bringing the brother together to perform again after many ears. In Houston, that family legacy was honored in a quietly powerful way: the song featured Cole Cassidy, Shaun's nephew on Guitar. Cole is Shaun's younger brother Patrick's son. Cole, now a central part of Shaun’s touring band, played with restraint and sensitivity, allowing the emotional weight of the song and its history to breathe. The moment felt less like tribute and more like continuation, a generational thread passed forward under soft stage lights. “Some songs never leave a family,” Cassidy said softly. “They just wait for the next voice to carry them.” The emotional arc continued with a joyful yet reverent take on “Be My Baby,” followed by the intimacy of “Here, There and Everywhere,” which felt tailor-made for the House of Blues’ close quarters. As the set drew toward its conclusion, “The Last Song” carried a sense of summation before Cassidy ignited the room with a clever, crowd-pleasing mashup of “Da Doo Ron Ron / De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,” bridging his own catalog with pop history at large. The encore, “Till There Was You,” served as a graceful farewell, unpretentious, heartfelt, and perfectly suited to an evening rooted in connection rather than spectacle. Shaun closed the evening with a touching rendition of "Till There Was You."
He shared with us that he remembered, standing side stage as a little
boy, hearing his mother, Shirley Jones, singing it in rehearsals for
the 1962 film "The Music Man". That was a perfect ending for what felt
like a night of song and catching up conversation with a dear friend. |
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