ACM News

ACM Awards reveals slate of VIP events leading up to big fest in Frisco

The awards show will be hosted by Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton.

Photo by Art Streiber

The Academy of Country Music (ACM) is plotting its takeover of The Star in Frisco with three days of live music, country music events, and celebrations leading up to the 58th ACM Awards, which will take place on Thursday, May 11.

Co-hosted by global superstars Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, the ACM Awards show takes place at 7 pm at Ford Center at The Star and will also livestream on Prime Video.

Dubbed "Country Music’s Party of the Year," the 2023 edition will mark Parton’s second consecutive appearance as host, with Brooks taking the stage to host a major awards show for the first time.

The Awards will be preceded by "ACM Awards Week," an entire slate of prelude parties, as follows:

ACM Country Kickoff at The Star, a two-day music and entertainment festival which is open to the public, free to all fans, and does not require tickets
ACM Songs & Stories Powered by The Bluebird Cafe + NSAI, a private industry celebration of the top songwriters of the past year
Topgolf Tee-Off & Rock On presented by VGT by Aristocrat Gaming, followed by ACM Lifting Lives LIVE: Morgan Wallen & Friends, a live concert on the green at Topgolf The Colony, which is sold out

Limited tickets to the ACM Awards show are still available through SeatGeek.

Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside says in a statement that they're thrilled to partner with the Dallas Cowboys and the Jones family to bring the Awards back to Texas.

"This world-class venue, shopping and dining district, and luxury area hotels and resorts made the perfect canvas to build our ACM Awards week bigger and better than ever, on behalf of our artists and industry," Whiteside says. "Texas has some of the most passionate Country Music fans in the world, and we can’t wait to bring the party to Frisco!”

Tuesday, May 9-10: ACM Country Kickoff at The Star
The excitement begins on May 9, with the ACM Country Kickoff at Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star. The complex will host a free two-day festival for fans to get up close and personal with country music stars. Up-and-coming country music artists will perform on the main stage, including several ACM Award nominees.

There'll be a beer garden presented by Coors Light as well as a VIP space presented by Lucas Oil with a prime view of the stage.

The ACM Country Kickoff will also feature food trucks, photo opportunities, ACM Awards show merchandise, and activations by a host of partners, including ACM Lifting Lives, Amazon Music, Ashley HomeStore, Kendra Scott, Lucchese, North Texas Ford, and Visit Frisco.

The ACM Kickoff at The Star will be held from 3-10 pm on both Tuesday, May 9 and Wednesday, May 10. A detailed performance schedule for the performance stage, as well as a map of the full festival footprint, is coming soon.

Wednesday May 10: ACM Songs & Stories Powered by The Bluebird Cafe + NSAI
The Academy will host a private industry celebration of this year's ACM Songwriter and Artist-Songwriter of the Year nominees and the larger country music songwriter community on Wednesday, May 10 at the new Omni PGA Frisco Resort, one week after its grand opening. The event is already sold out. It will be powered by the Bluebird Cafe listening room, and the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) nonprofit songwriters trade association.

Following brunch, country music acts will take the stage for intimate, acoustic performances of their biggest hits and share the stories behind their songs.

Wednesday May 10: Topgolf Tee-Off & Rock On presented by VGT by Aristocrat Gaming
On the eve of the 2023 ACM Awards, Topgolf in The Colony will host an evening with some of the biggest music stars. It'll begin at 4:15 pm with a tee-off skills tournament, followed by a concert at 7:30 pm presented VGT by Aristocrat Gaming, with proceeds benefiting ACM Lifting Lives, the Academy of Country Music’s philanthropic arm. Acts will include ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee Morgan Wallen; Hardy, the 2023 ACM Awards' most-nominated artist; Lainey Wilson, the 2023 ACM Awards' most-nominated female artist; New Male Artist of the Year nominees Ernest and Bailey Zimmerman, and DJ 13lackbeard. Both the golf tournament and concert on the golf green are sold out.

Thursday May 11: 58th Academy of Country Music Awards
Hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco is set to begin at 7 pm, and is back in Texas for the first time since the record-breaking 50th anniversary celebration in 2015. Dallasites are surely lucky to have the event nearby but it will also livestream in more than 240 countries and territories exclusively on Prime Video. Limited tickets remain available on SeatGeek, while the full rebroadcast will stream for free on Friday, May 12 on Freevee.

Founded in Southern California in 1964 as a regional trade organization, the Academy of Country Music (ACM) has grown in its almost 60 years into a leading association for the country music industry, and is now headquartered in Nashville.

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Movie Review

Humans are scarier than zombies in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Photo by Miya Mizuno

Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

It’s not often that a return to a franchise after years of no activity results in an actual good movie, but 2025’s 28 Years Later proved successful by reuniting director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, who made the original 28 Days Later. Another sequel, The Bone Temple, was filmed back-to-back with last year’s film, with Nia DaCosta taking over for Boyle in the directing chair.

The movie picks up soon after the end of the first film, with the young Spike (Alfie Williams) now an unwilling member of a group called the Jimmies, which are led by a man who calls himself Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Unlike the main group in the first film that was just looking to survive the zombie apocalypse, the Jimmies are a bloodthirsty bunch who gleefully attack any zombies they find and brutalize other survivors they come across.

The story also returns to Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), whose solitary time at his self-built bone temple is interrupted by a massive zombie he has dubbed Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). Against the odds - and with the help of some morphine - Kelson is able to bond with Samson, giving Kelson some strange but welcome companionship. But with the Jimmies lurking nearby, any peace he’s found may soon be shattered.

DaCosta, working from a script by Garland, ably steps into Boyle’s shoes, putting the emphasis on the story rather than trying for lots of stylistic flourishes. That’s not to say that she doesn’t do great work, however. The creepiness and sadistic nature of the Jimmies comes through loud and clear under her direction, and she brings out the campy comedy that comes from the unexpected pairing of Kelson and Samson.

Like the first 28 Years Later, the story is somewhat of a slow burn. The film doesn’t have many plot developments over its 109 minutes, and so DaCosta must get by on mood rather than action for the most part. But when things do get ramped up, they can get very uncomfortable as the film does not shy away from extreme gore. The damage inflicted by Samson and other zombies is one thing, but when it’s sentient humans going savage, it becomes even more difficult to look at the screen.

The juxtaposition between the chaos of the Jimmies and the quiet existence of Dr. Kelson works well for the film. Their separation for the bulk of the story gives them plenty of time to have the characters come into their own. Sir Jimmy Crystal is the ringleader, but Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman) gets her own showcase. Samson was already a (literally) big presence from the first film, but this film gives him a degree of humanity that gives the story more depth.

O’Connell made a big impression as the lead vampire in Sinners, and he’s just as interesting/intimidating here. Fiennes plays a character where being over-the-top is the natural reaction, and yet he keeps Kelson grounded in a number of ways that make him much more than one-note. Lewis-Parry was likely cast for his physique, but he brings out more from a zombie than you’d ever expect. Williams fades into the background a bit after his starring role in the first film, but he’s still strong.

Releasing The Bone Temple in January was not a great sign given the month’s reputation as a dumping ground for bad movies, but it actually proves to be a great choice. With most other releases being Oscar hopefuls or truly awful films, it stands out for being another compelling entry for the franchise, one that will make anticipation high for whenever the third film in the 28 Years Later series comes out.

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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple opens in theaters on January 16.