In March 2003, the three ladies formerly known as The Dixie Chicks suffered punishment that far exceeded the offense, which was speaking out against an impending war and the president who was about to launch it. For that, they were blacklisted by the country-radio world that had propelled them into superstardom, pilloried on all media platforms, and subject to abuse, even death threats, for what Natalie Maines had said and how she’d said it.
Some anniversaries are worth celebrating, others are best ignored. In 2023, the trio now known as The Chicks, seems to be doing both. On Aug. 29, inside a sold-out T-Mobile Arena, they made it abundantly clear that what doesn’t destroy or derail you can embolden and inspire you, and affirm your belief in yourself and your best intentions. For them, surrender and remorse were never options.
Tuesday’s show was their first in Kansas City since August 2016, when they brought their MMXVI World Tour to what was then the Sprint Center. It was a return to the road after a 13-year hiatus interrupted by sporadic tours or one-offs. And it was a grand success, a career-spanning show before euphoric crowds in sold-out arenas that seemed to frame their destiny: a heritage act that would tour every few years, play all the hits, and give their fans a potent waft of nostalgia. Turns out that wasn’t the case.
In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, they released Gaslighter, a brazenly candid trove of songs that dig deep into Maines’ bitter divorce and other personal matters. In summer 2022, they launched The Chicks Tour, signifying their new name and a shift in music direction – more pop and rock with assorted country accents. And unlike the previous tour, the focus was new music, specifically the Gaslighter album, which dominated the setlist.
They opened with the album’s title track, which provided immediate evidence that the crowd was as ready to hear the new music as much as it was the oldies. All evening there were boisterous, widespread sing-alongs, whether it was to Gaslighter or Julianna Calm Down or Cowboy Take Me Away or Wide Open Spaces: The old and the new dovetailed seamlessly.
The vibe was electric all night. Maines is the lead singer and talker, and she had plenty to say, both while singing and while stirring the pot between songs. “It’s Pride Day 365 days a year around here,” she pronounced before they performed Rainbowland, a cover of a Dolly Parton/Miley Cyrus duet. Before the cover of Patty Griffin’s Don’t Let Me Die in Florida, Maines declared: “Aren’t we all glad we don’t live in Florida? Especially now [alluding to the impending hurricane].”
Sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer let Maines take care of the banter, but they had plenty to say instrumentally: Maguire on fiddle and Strayer on dobro, slide guitar, banjo, and piano. Both are dazzling instrumentalists. And their vocal harmonies were lush and on-point throughout, in a way that only siblings can harmonize.
Behind them, a large video screen broadcast a rabble of images – still photos, archival footage, animated interludes – that added even more energy and emotion to what was flowing off the stage, almost to the point of distraction, The images that aroused the biggest and most prolonged ovation came during March March, a bluesy dirge-like anthem. As the song began footage of marches and other events rolled by, addressing the Black Lives Matter protests, school shootings, pro-life marches, and police brutality, Towards the song’s end, a litany of shooting victims’ names popped on and off the screen, names like Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Trayvon Martin and, as the song abruptly ended, Emmett Till. The subsequent ovation was hearty and sustained.
Another moment that roused a heavy roar: Tights On My Boat, in which Maines eviscerates her ex-spouse for an act of infidelity on her boat. (Those tights were not hers.) It opens with the lines: “I hope you die peacefully in your sleep / Just kidding I hope it hurts like you hurt me …” Then: “And you can tell the girl who left her tights on my boat / That she can have you now …” That comes after this dig: “Hey, will your dad pay your taxes now that I am done?” The crowd’s response was visceral: fans identified with her anger, pain, and lust for revenge.
Musically and lyrically, this song as much as any, signifies the Chicks’ shift from the country days of The Dixie Chicks. The connection to or overlap with confessional artists like Taylor Swift, Adele, and Beyoncé—they would reprise their collaboration with Beyonce, Daddy Lessons—is no accident or coincidence. All three women were involved in the songwriting on Gaslighter, a sign they are no longer interested in letting others do all the writing or talking for them. It was time to get personal.
They played several old favorites, and each detonated a feverish sing-along, whether it was the Bruce Robison hymn Travelin’ Soldier, the emancipation anthem Wide Open Spaces, the boot-stomping romps Sin Wagon and White Trash Wedding, or the dark and hilarious Goodbye, Earl, which closed the show.
Grand moments all, but it’s worth noting that only eight of the 22 songs on the setlist were from their three biggest albums: Wide Open Spaces, Fly, and Home. Yet the crowd appeared deeply satisfied with what they’d heard. The Chicks, it seems, have succeeded in doing what seemed improbable: reconstituting their fanbase. Many never left, but many others have joined since their moment of infamy. And all of them are here for the defiance, the attitudes, and the empowerment.
The album Gaslighter is primarily about divorce and the trauma and drama and pain and anger inflicted. But 20 years after their severance and banishment from the world of country music, The Chicks have proved that on the other side of the trauma and drama often await recovery, resolve, liberation, hope, and even love.
SETLISTS
The Chicks: Gaslighter; Sin Wagon; Texas Man; Julianna Calm Down; The Long Way Around; My Best Friend’s Weddings; Sleep At Night; Ready to Run; Travelin’ Soldier; Wide Open Spaces; Tights On My Boat; Daddy Lessons/Long Time Gone; Cowboy Take Me Away; Landslide; Rainbowland; Don’t Let Me Die In Florida; March March; For Her; Everybody Loves You; White Trash Wedding; Not Ready To Make Nice; Goodbye, Earl.
Ben Harper: Diamonds on the Inside; Waiting On An Angel; Dancing In The Dark; Steal My Kisses; Trying Not To Fall In Love With You; I Trust You To Dig My Grave; Hallelujah.