Music Festival News

Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan to co-headline Outlaw Music Fest in Houston

Willie Nelson headlines the 10th annual Outlaw Music Festival on the road this summer.

Photo by Pamela Springsteen

The annual Outlaw Music Festival tour will celebrate its 10th anniversary in a big way, with two iconic co-headlining acts. The tour, which will spend summer 2025 crossing the U.S., will be headlined at every stop by music legends Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan, who will be joined by a variety of other Americana artists.

The tour will make a stop at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on July 6. Playing in Houston will be Willie Nelson & Family, Dylan, The Avett Brothers, The Mavericks, and Tami Neilson.

The 34-city tour, the biggest one to date, will start on May 13 in Phoenix and end in Troy, Wisconsin on September 19. The only other Texas stop so far is Dallas, when it stops at Dos Equis Pavilion on July 5.

Throughout its 10 years, the Outlaw Music Festival has featured performances from Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Luke Combs, Neil Young, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, and more.

Performers in other cities this year include Crow, Billy Strings, Lake Street Dive, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Wilco, Turnpike Troubadours, and more.

Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday, February 7, at 10 AM via OutlawMusicFestival.com and ticketmaster.com.

Citi card members will have access to presale tickets beginning on Tuesday, February 4 at 10 am until Thursday, February 6 at 10 pm through the Citi Entertainment program.

2025 OUTLAW MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUR DATES

May 13, 2025 - Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, Phoenix, AZ
May 15, 2025 - North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA
May 16, 2025 - Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
May 18, 2025 - Toyota Amphitheatre, Wheatland, CA
May 20, 2025 - Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater, Nampa, ID
May 22, 2025 - ONE Spokane Stadium, Spokane, WA
May 24, 2025 - Cascades Amphitheater, Ridgefield, WA
May 25, 2025 - The Gorge Amphitheatre, Quincy, WA
June 20, 2025 - Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
June 21, 2025 - Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
June 22, 2025 - Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
June 25, 2025 - FirstBank Amphitheater, Franklin, TN
June 27, 2025 - Radians Amphitheater, Memphis, TN
June 28, 2025 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, St. Louis, MO
June 29, 2025 - Thunder Ridge Nature's Arena Ridgedale, MO
July 5, 2025- Dos Equis Pavilion, Dallas, TX
July 6, 2025 - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Presented By Huntsman, The Woodlands, TX
July 25, 2025 - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA
July 26, 2025 - PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC
July 27, 2025 - Coastal Credit Union Music Park, Raleigh, NC
July 29, 2025 - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, Virginia Beach, VA
August 1, 2025 - Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY
August 2, 2025 - Broadview Stage at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY
August 3, 2025 - BankNH Pavilion, Gilford, NH
August 8, 2025 - Darien Lake Amphitheater, Buffalo, NY
August 9, 2025 - Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA
August 10, 2025 - Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview, Syracuse, NY
September 5, 2025 - Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor, ME
September 6, 2025 - Xfinity Theatre, Hartford, CT
September 7, 2025 - Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA
September 12, 2025 - Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden, NJ
September 13, 2025 - PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
September 14, 2025 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
September 19, 2025 - Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI

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Movie Review

Chris Pratt fights for his innocence in popcorn thriller Mercy

Photo courtesy Amazon Content Services

Chris Pratt in Mercy.

It seems like every other movie set in modern times being released these days includes either a reference to or a plot revolving around artificial intelligence. In the real world, the benefits of the technology compete with its downsides, but when it comes to movies A.I. is almost always seen as a threat, including in the new film Mercy.

The audience is thrown headlong into the slightly futuristic story involving LAPD Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), who finds himself strapped in a chair in a sparse room, being told that he is on trial for killing his wife. Turns out he’s in a court dubbed “Mercy,” which is overseen by an AI judge named Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson). By the rules of the court, Raven has 90 minutes to provide reasonable doubt of his guilt, or he will be executed on the spot.

Raven is in a multi-pronged quandary: Not only does he believe he’s innocent despite a trove of evidence pointing to his guilt, but he’s also the poster boy for the law enforcement side of the equation, having arrested the first man who went to Mercy. Anger and disbelief for Raven turn into acceptance, which then turns into him tapping into his detective skills, scrutinizing every shred of evidence the court provides him in a desperate attempt to save his own life.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Marco van Belle, the film is a relatively propulsive thriller despite having a so-so story and even worse acting. The film is told in real time (with a few fudges here and there), so the concept alone of a man trying to prove his innocence in a short amount of time provides good intrigue. Bekmambetov’s use of digital elements as Raven scrolls through files or calls potentially exculpatory witnesses like his partner, Jaq Diallo (Kali Reis), keeps the film visually interesting.

On the other hand, the swift viewing of videos and documents by Raven, not to mention the high degree of cooperation by Judge Maddox, opens up more than a few plot holes. The filmmakers try to explain away a few leaps in logic by having Raven falling off the sobriety wagon the night before, but they can only use that excuse for so long. They also have the AI judge experience technical glitches along the way, errors that seem to point toward a wider conspiracy until they’re completely forgotten.

More than anything, it’s difficult to get over the wooden acting of Pratt and the misuse of other usually reliable actors. Pratt has no real presence, especially when he’s confined to a chair, so any emotion he tries to conjure up comes off as contrived. Ferguson is done no favors by a role that shows only her upper body and has her alternating between robotic and oddly sympathetic. Reis earned an Emmy nomination for True Detective: Night Country, but has little to do here, a fate that also takes out Chris Sullivan as Raven’s AA sponsor.

If you’re okay with turning off your brain for a little while, Mercy can be an enjoyable watch. But if you find yourself scrutinizing why characters make the odd decisions they do, or the wishy-washy way the film approaches AI in general, then you’re likely to find the whole thing lacking.

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Mercy is now playing in theaters.

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