MUSIC TO OUR EARS

ACL Music Festival releases anticipated 2021 lineup and 3-day tickets

Austin City Limits Festival ACL Fest 2017 Weekend Two Flags

Three-day tickets go on sale May 20 for the in-person event.

Photo by Shelley Neuman

UPDATE: On August 10, Stevie Nicks announced via Twitter she will cancel all five of her remaining 2021 shows, including her planned headlining performance at Austin City Limits Music Festival this October. Citing CVOID-19 concerns, particularly the recent rise in cases, Nicks says her “primary goal is to keep healthy so I can continue singing for the next decade or longer.” The festival announced Wednesday, August 11 that English rockers and 1980s faves Duran Duran will replace Nicks, with the band performing Sunday night on both weekends. We’ll share more ACL Fest news as it becomes available.

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Live music takes to the stage at Zilker Park this fall as the Austin City Limits Music Festival returns to full capacity with its 20th anniversary music celebration, featuring a spectacular lineup of diverse artists ranging from George Strait to Stevie Nicks, Billie Eilish, and Megan Thee Stallion.

On Thursday, May 20, ACL Fest announced the lineup for the fall festival, which will take place in person across eight live music stages at Zilker Park over two weekends: October 1-3 and October 8-10. Three-day tickets go on sale May 20 at noon. Three-day GA+ tickets, three-day VIP and platinum tickets, as well as hotel packages are also available. One-day general admission tickets, one-day GA+ tickets, one-day VIP tickets, and one-day platinum tickets will be available in the coming months.

This year’s festival, headlined by legendary artists George Strait, Billie Eilish, Stevie Nicks, Miley Cyrus, Rufus Du Sol, DaBaby, and Erykah Badu, will also include standout talent like Modest Mouse, Phoebe Bridgers, Jack Harlow, Jon Pardi, Finneas, Chet Faker, Dermot Kennedy, Tierra Whack, Tanya Tucker, Omar Apollo, Trixie Mattel, and many more.

As one of Austin’s premiere music events, ACL Fest will also feature a wealth of local and Texas artists, including Black Pumas, St. Vincent, Marc Rebillet, Surfaces, Dayglow, Missio, Charley Crockett, Heartless Bastards, Asleep at the Wheel, Nané, Riders Against the Storm, Mike Melinoe, Deezie Brown, and more.

ACL Fest plans to announce additional acts soon. And not all artists will play both weekends, so it’s best to check the full lineup and performance dates on the festival website.

New this year to ACL Fest: VIP ticket holders can access two private lounges with viewing decks offering sight lines of the two main stages. Platinum ticket holders can snag seats with exclusive viewing at six stages. A full list of tickets amenities is available here. Kids 10 and younger get free admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult.

The return of the live festival, which was canceled last year in favor of an all-virtual event because of the coronavirus pandemic, is being approached with caution and much safety prep by city and health officials and ACL Fest organizers.

“Music is coming back strong to the Live Music Capital of the World,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler says about the festival in a release. “The return of Austin City Limits as an in-person festival celebrates that our efforts as a community to become vaccinated are working. Health and safety remain our top priority, and we will work closely with the organizers and Austin Public Health to ensure ACL Fest is in line with our health standards. We must continue to get everyone vaccinated and keep up our success.”

As the festival weekends approach, ACL Fest patrons will get regular updates with info about the event’s safety policies and procedures, which will also be shared at aclfestival.com and on social media. ACL Fest will partner with the City of Austin and Austin Public Health to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations in the months prior to the festival.

“Austin City Limits 2021 is a result of successful vaccine efforts and more than a year’s worth of protection measures,” says Dr. Mark Escott, Austin-Travis County interim health authority. “Taking the shot is our shot at getting things back to normal and we envision this happening before October if we stay the course as a community. Thank you to all those who have done their part and took the vaccine and to ACL, who will utilize their broad voice to encourage vaccination in the months leading to their monumental event.”

Zilker Park has been the home of the Austin City Limits Music Festival for two decades. Since 2006, ACL Festival, in partnership with Austin Parks Foundation, has generated more than $41 million for improvements to Zilker Park and parks throughout Austin. In 2019, ticket sales helped contribute $6 million to improving Austin’s public parks, trails, and green spaces. And even in 2020, the Austin Parks Foundation was able to employ ACL Fest funds to help complete 13 park-improvement projects.

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Movie Review

Bold drama Anora finds the limits of a dancer's girlfriend experience

Photo courtesy of Neon

Mikey Madison in Anora.

Writer/director Sean Baker’s filmography is full of films that aim to show stories not typically seen in mainstream movies, ones that often feel so true to life that they can be tough to watch. His latest film, Anora, is similar to his previous content in some ways, but much different in others.

Anora (Mikey Madison), aka Ani, is a stripper/sex worker who works at a club in Brooklyn. Because she can speak Russian, she is assigned to dance for Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), who she discovers is the son of a Russian oligarch. With an unlimited supply of money, he pays Ani for sex and, enjoying spending time with her, for her to pretend to be his girlfriend for a week.

That week sees them do a lot of wild stuff, most notably an impulsive trip to Las Vegas where they — almost as hastily — decide to get married. Their elopement doesn’t stay secret for long, though, with Ivan’s parents especially upset. A trio of henchmen track them down, enlisted by Ivan’s parents to force them to get the marriage annulled at all costs.

Baker is not your typical storyteller, and so even though the film has three distinct acts, they don’t play out in ways that will be familiar or comfortable for many filmgoers. Much of the first act involves Ani in states of undress, either dancing for customers or having sex with Ivan. Although the “rich guy paying for the company of a sex worker” echoes a film like Pretty Woman, the comparison doesn’t really fit, especially because the immature, video game-playing Ivan is about as far from romance as you can get.

Whatever appeal he might have had disappears in the second half of the film when he’s confronted with his parents’ displeasure. It’s here that Baker seems to play with moviegoer expectations the most. With three goons sent to get Ani and Ivan to take back what they’ve done, it feels like Baker is going to go down the typical mob movie road. Instead, what transpires can only be described as an intense farce, with Ani resisting the trio’s efforts with all her might, causing lots of comedic chaos.

What plays out throughout the film, and especially in the final act, is a disparity of wealth. While Ani being willing to have sex with a rich guy who comes into the club could be viewed in multiple ways, it does hint at her need to make money however she can. Conversely, Ivan spends money with abandon and acts accordingly, like someone who will never have a care in the world. After much frivolity, this imbalance hits like a ton of bricks in the film’s final minutes.

Madison, who’s had small but showy roles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the reboot of Scream, proves herself to be a star in this role. She owns every part of the performance, from the New York accent to the pole dancing, and she is the fire that keeps the film humming. She is especially important because Russian actor Eydelshteyn is only intermittently effective. Special note goes to Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Yura Borisov, the three men who come for Ani and Ivan. Each walks the line between drama and comedy especially well.

Taken at face value, Anora could be viewed as a merely titillating and somewhat shallow film. But Baker doesn’t do anything without a purpose, which is why the subtext of the story gives the film its power, with a bravura performance by Madison to put it over the top.

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Anora is now playing in theaters.

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