Concert News

The Fray and Dashboard Confessional include Houston on new summer tour

The Fray will play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving on August 1.

Photo courtesy of The Fray

Rock band The Fray will travel across North America in 2026 with their Summer of Light Tour, a journey that will include a stop at 713 Music Hall in Houston on Friday, July 31.

Joined on all dates by special guest Dashboard Confessional, the band will start the tour in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada on May 11, hitting 36 cities over the course of almost three months.

In addition to Houston, The Fray will play in Austin on July 29 and the Dallas suburb of Irving on August 1.

The tour is in support of the band's new album, A Light That Waits, which is scheduled for release on March 13. It is the band's first full album in 12 years following a hiatus and departure of original lead vocalist Isaac Slade.

The Fray were a top selling band in the 2000s and 2010s, notching three top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, including the No. 1 The Fray in 2009. Among their hit songs are "Over My Head (Cable Car)," "How to Save a Life," and "You Found Me."

With guitarist Joe King now also serving as lead vocalist, the band embarked on a 20th anniversary tour for their debut album, How to Save a Life, in 2025, which also included stops in Dallas, Austin, Houston.

Tickets for the tour will first be available via a Citi presale from Tuesday, January 27 at 10 am to Thursday, January 29 at 10 pm.

Fans can also sign up at TheFray.com to access the Seated registration presale beginning on Wednesday, January 28 at 10 am.

Additional pre-sales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on sale beginning on Friday, January 30 at 10 am.

SUMMER OF LIGHT TOUR DATES

May 11 — Moncton, NB — Casino New Brunswick
May 13 — Montreal, QC — MTELUS
May 15 — London, ON — Centennial Hall
May 16 — Ottawa, ON — Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
May 19 — Winnipeg, MB — Centennial Concert Hall
May 21 — Saskatoon, SK — TCU Place
May 22 — Edmonton, AB — Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
May 24 — Calgary, AB — MacEwan Hall
May 26 — Vancouver, BC — Orpheum
July 10 — Indianapolis, IN — Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
July 11 — Maryland Heights, MO — Saint Louis Music Park
July 14 — Kansas City, MO — Starlight Theatre
July 16 — Milwaukee, WI — Landmark Credit Union Live
July 19 — Great Falls, MT — Voyagers Stadium
July 23 — Berkeley, CA — The Greek Theatre
July 24 — Los Angeles, CA — YouTube Theater
July 25 — San Diego, CA — Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
July 27 — Phoenix, AZ — Arizona Financial Theatre
July 29 — Austin, TX — Moody Amphitheater
July 31 — Houston, TX — 713 Music Hall
August 1 — Irving, TX — The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
August 4 — Franklin, TN — FirstBank Amphitheater
August 5 — Atlanta, GA — Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park
August 7 — Charlotte, NC — Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 8 — St. Augustine, FL — St. Augustine Amphitheatre
August 10 — Selbyville, DE — Freeman Arts Pavilion
August 12 — Cleveland, OH — Jacobs Pavilion
August 14 — Columbia, MD — Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 15 — Boston, MA — Leader Bank Pavilion
August 19 — Asbury Park, NJ — The Stone Pony Summer Stage
August 20 — Gilford, NH — BankNH Pavilion
August 22 — Wantagh, NY — Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
August 23 — Bridgeport, CT — Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
August 26 — Toronto, ON — RBC Amphitheatre
August 28 — Detroit, MI — Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
August 29 — Chicago, IL — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island

concerts music

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.

movies film chris pratt rebecca ferguson movie review