Cover Story
“Why I’m Not Going to ACL” vs. “Why I Am Going to ACL”
Two music writers justify their stance on this weekend’s fest
Sound Unseen Comes Back to Rock the Movies
Fusion festival comes to AFS with Todd Rohal and more
This New Pizza Is Made By, What, Robots?
Basil Street’s Automated Pizza Kitchen flourishes in the ATX
In Scathing Ruling, Federal Judge Blocks (For Now) Texas Abortion Ban
A temporary injunction for an “offensive deprivation”
Brea Grant’s Madelines to Open Other Worlds Film Festival
Time traveling crime drama spearheads first wave
With USA World Cup Qualifying Match, Austin Can Join Shortlist of Top Soccer Cities
UNMNT vs. Jamaica kicks off 6:45pm on ESPN2
Drive-Through Trail of Lights Passes on Sale Now
No pedestrians allowed for second year
Aaron Frazer’s MCU of Soul
The Indications’ drummer and soul crooner introduces himself at ACL
Fantastic Fest Interview: Chris Atkins Investigates Who Killed the KLF?
How to make a documentary when no one wants to talk about it
Female Leaders of Color Honored in Mosaic Art at Austin Public Library
The Legends Mosaics will be a permanent installation
Bristol-Joseph’s Canje Opens, Bésame’s My Jam Makes Us Scream, Fowl Mouth Shuts Up, News of More Booze, and More,
All the news that’s fit to get your taste buds quivering
Austin Film Festival Crowns Spencer Closing Night Film
Princess Diana biopic headlines last round of titles
Fantastic Fest Review: Barbarians
English dinner party drama goes straight to darkest hell
United States vs. Jamaica Preview: World Cup Qualifying Madness Arrives in Austin
Q2 Stadium hosts first-ever World Cup qualifier in Texas
Fantastic Fest Review: V/H/S/94
Fourth entry is a return-to-form for the found footage franchise
Texas Book Festival Lineup and Schedule Goes Online and IRL
Big names for hybrid celebration of literature and literacy
Jeanne Thornton’s Summer Fun Will Help You Fall into Winter’s Icy Bed of Thorns
Life’s a beach, and then you scry
Fantastic Fest Review: The Black Phone
Cargill, Hawke, and Derrickson reunite for throwback horror
Fantastic Fest Review: The Beta Test
Jim Cummings goes for Hollywood’s throat in this scathing satire
Tiki Tatsu-ya Raises the Bar to Islander Heaven
The Aikawa Brothers debut a worldclass venue of storied wonders
Tyler, the Creator Answers ACL’s Call
Hip-hop great delivers a solid, if anticlimactic, performance
Loop Artist Marc Rebillet Welcomes ACL to His How-to-Get-the-Fuck-Down Seminar
Crowd surfing, Champagne-spraying, robe-wearing energy
ACL’s Hardest Decision: St. Vincent or Erykah Badu – Reviewed Side-by-Side
A novel persona and a paragon of realness in clashing set times
Polo G Lasts Just 25 Minutes at ACL Fest
Short, disappointing, out-of-breath showing turns into Top 40 DJ set
Review: Olivia Rodrigo’s First-Ever Full Concert Performance
Austin City Limits taping marks a moment of career-making distinction
Fantastic Fest Interview: Junta Yamaguchi Goes Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes
How to-the-second timing made for a fun time loop movie
The Most Memorable Moments of Saturday’s ACL Fest
Billie Eilish, Jack Harlow, Mongolian metal, Doja Cat, Dayglow, & more
Austin FC Downs Real Salt Lake for Milestone Win at Home
RECAP: The Verde celebrate consecutive home victories
Amid Tough Questioning, Council Confirms Chacon as New Police Chief
Alter, Kelly vote against longtime APD insider
The Most Memorable Moments of Friday’s ACL Fest
Megan, Miley, Maidza, and one really long line
Investigation Discovery Show “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” Rips Holes in the Michael Morton Case
Linklater and AFS host first look at the investigative doc
LISTEN: ACL Artists to Watch
Stream The Austin Chronicle Show now
Firefighters Vote to Oppose Police Union-Backed Proposition A
A “bad law that will actually hurt public safety overall”
Day Trips & Beyond: October Events Roundup
Enjoy fall foliage, festivals, and fairs
Showcasing New Persona, St. Vincent Astounds in Austin City Limits Taping
Daddy’s home and ready to rock ACL Fest
ACL Fest Opening Delayed Due to Overnight Weather
Gates pushed back to 3pm, schedule updates to come
White Reaper’s Hunter Thompson Discusses the Band’s Evolution and His Guitar Nerd DNA
ACL Fest’s a homecoming for the Austin-based guitarist
Weekend Wine: Inama Soave
Weeknight dinner or weekend feast?
The Guilty
One cop, one room, one phone call in this thriller remake
Old Henry
Cowboy tale takes a little too long on a familiar trail
Coming Home in the Dark
Brutal New Zealand revenge drama asks if monsters are made or just accidents
Titane
Cannes-winning chaotic drama is a new reflection on body horror
The Jesus Music
Christian music doc is just singing to the choir
Stop and Go
Laughs are short and old in this COVID-era road trip comedy
The Many Saints of Newark
Nothing holy about this Sopranos prequel
What to Know Heading Into ACL Fest
Forecast calls for vaccine cards, clear bags, mask areas, and rain
Austin’s Best Food and Drink Events This Week
Dinner parties, farmer’s markets, beer, wine, and more for the week of September 30, 2021
Austin Moves Up Target Date for Net-Zero Emissions Goal
City emphasizes equity as it ramps up climate action
“Space Girl” Singer Frances Forever Wants to Bring “Basement Vibes” to ACL Fest
Indie-pop songwriter adjusting to life as a TikTok sensation
Arts Listings
Virtual galleries, streaming improv, and more
Even With “Record-Breaking” Murder Numbers, Austin Is One of America’s Safest Cities. Huh!
It’s a standard talking point when City Hall is being assailed from both the left and right for how it handles public safety: Austin is one of the safest big cities in America. Here’s the benchmark for that, with fresh data for 2020 (except for Philadelphia – that’s 2019 data) that the FBI, which collects…
Yendry Talks Magic, Her Reading List, and Shining Light on Domestic Abuse in Latin Culture
Dominican Italian singer brings diverse sound to ACL Fest on Saturday
We Have an Issue: Better Weather Ahead
I know autumn officially arrived last week, but the season always seems to me slow to start in Central Texas. I grew up with North Carolina’s emphatic fall colors; the transition here is more subtle. We’re still regularly hitting 90 degrees, but when I recently got knocked off my regular routine swimming laps at the…
Austin’s Best Breweries, According to Children
Meet your beer garden friends, the Beergardigans
Qmmunity: Austin’s Top LBGTQIA Events This Week
Queer hip-hop, kinky bingo, and more
ACL Food by the Numbers
ACL Eats dishes out 200 gallons of wing sauce, 1.25 tons of queso, and one Tater Tots-serving notary public
ACL Fest Artist Spotlight: Claud
Phoebe Bridgers-approved alternative indie-pop artist handles heavy topics
Solving Georgian Acres’ Mobility Problem With Buses, Bikes, and Scooters
Solar-powered mobility hub planned for “transit desert”
ACL Fest Music Recommendations From Close-to-Home
Fresh sounds that emanate from the Lone Star State
ACL Fest Artist Spotlight: The Backseat Lovers
Utah rock foursome spill suburban frustration seasoned with surf tones
The Other “ACL” – Austin Corn Lovers Fiesta – Hits Sagebrush on Saturday
Austin all ears for Hickoids, the Beaumonts, Hamell on Trial, the Krayolas, Kathy McCarty and more
Austin’s Reluctant Bedroom Pop Idol Dayglow on Making Music That Matters
Sloan Struble never thought making music in his bedroom would lead to late-night television features, an Austin City Limits taping, and a repeat performance at ACL Fest. Known to the masses as Dayglow, the bedroom-pop idol is currently traversing the country on his first headlining run. While it all felt very sudden, having not toured…
ACL Fest Artist Spotlight: Joy Oladokun
Folk / R&B / pop vocalist brings pain, social critiques, and – appropriately – joy
Paradise is an Outlandish Tropical Western Band: Spliff Kazoo & His Fronds
Tiki quintet bring their “slow conga line” and excessive fog to Kinda Tropical on Thursdays
Nané’s Ready to Bring “That Flamboyant Shit” to a Big Stage at ACL Fest
A match made in heaven … well, some mutual friends, a few drunken college kickbacks, and a mutual obsession with music, at least. Singer Daniel Sahad hears voices in his head – transmissions of lyrics and emotion – and is constantly recording audio memos for guitarist/arranger Ian Green to synthesize and systemize. Resulting output, the…
ACL Fest Artist Spotlight: Dermot Kennedy
Poetic dramatic pop songwriter with a grizzly voice
UT Architecture Fellowship Explores Race in Spaces
UT Architecture Fellow to teach workshops on designing for inclusion
Disko Cowboy Discusses the Cross-Cultural Vision of Vinyl Ranch
If you’re standing dead center in Zilker Park during Friday night’s ACL Fest, there’s a chance you’ll get an interesting sound-bleeding mashup between headliners George Strait and Miley Cyrus, which, as incongruous as it may seem, makes perfect sense to Dave Wrangler. As Disko Cowboy, Wrangler has been mashing up a unique blend of Texas…
ACL Fest Artist Spotlight: Katie Pruitt
Virtuosic vocalist steps to the fore of the next generation Americana
Austin at Large: And Our House Is Your House
What did you do today to provide decent housing where it’s needed for everyone?
Artists Guaranteed to Turn Heads at ACL Fest
Tkay Maidza Friday, 5pm, T-Mobile stage As definitive proof as any that hip-hop rules the world, Maidza (birth name Takudzwa Victoria Rosa Maidza) is a Zimbabwe-born, Australia-raised genre smasher whose career has slow-boiled for going on a decade. The stutter-funk of last year’s “Shook” turned heads and blew out eardrums all over the place, emphasizing…
ACL Fest Artist Spotlight: AG Club
Avant-garde rap collective weave witty songs with eye-catching visuals
Headlines / Quote of the Week
This Week in COVID: Austin and Travis County entered Stage 4 of the local COVID-19 Risk-Based Guidelines for the first time since July. Austin Public Health recommends fully vaccinated individuals wear a face mask while attending indoor gatherings, dining, traveling, and shopping, in addition to masking up at outdoor gatherings if they’re unable to socially…
The Verde Report: McKinze Gaines Caps Off ATX Homecoming With “Unforgettable” Goal
Summer addition wows his hometown crowd against the LA Galaxy
ACL Fest Artist Spotlight: Channel Tres
House music producer / vocalist has the power to make you move
New Austin Congressional District Would Help Protect GOP Incumbents
New TX 37 has a 73.8% Democratic vote share. We should be happy, right?
Timshel Is the Gospel According to Women
Translation of Bible passages finds the stories lost between the lines
Six Mindblowers From Fantastic Fest’s FF@Home
Our picks from the streaming side of the genre celebration
Bob Libal Launches Bid for Commissioners Court
Bob Libal, former executive director of Grassroots Leadership, announced his run for Travis County Commissioners Court yesterday, challenging Brigid Shea in the Democratic primary for the Precinct 2 seat she has held since 2014. Libal’s priorities include criminal justice reform and expanding affordable housing across the county; he says there hasn’t been “urgency to deal…
Day Trips: Coyote Country Store, Gail
Beautiful scenery and good food at a unique outdoor music venue
Travis County Voter Registration Deadline Is Oct. 4
The deadline to register to vote in the November 2 general election is Mon., Oct. 4 (in-person early voting runs Oct. 18-29). If you’re a Travis County resident not yet registered to vote (find out at votetravis.com), you can still register in person at the Travis County Tax Office (5501 Airport Blvd.), or mail a…
The Luv Doc: An On-the-Ball Housedaddy
Would a moat increase your property value?
Austin Police Live by Their Own COVID Rules, It Seems
A closer look at vaccine and mask policies among Austin’s first responders
Free Will Astrology
Your weekly horoscope, October 1-7
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The late Kurt Cobain loved turtles, according to his widow, Courtney Love. The first people to benefit from air conditioning were traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1902. Crushed leaves of chaste tree have a spicy sage scent. Women in ancient Athens put them in their beds to keep themselves…
Friday Headliner Face-Off: Miley Cyrus vs. George Strait
“Amarillo by Morning” or “Midnight Sky”? Here’s a guide to decide
Opinion: PACE Program May Provide Pandemic Lifeline to Businesses, Nonprofits, Private Schools
Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea and Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant make the case for a clean energy program
Public Notice: The City’s Day in Court
Plus: $100 million buses; $0.00 fares
Desert Door Goes Wild, Les Dames Get Board, Dry Creek’s End Is Nigh, and What’s All This About a Pickled Severed Human Toe?
All the news that’s fit to get your taste buds quivering
