The Chicks Are All Out Of F*cks To Give At The Woodlands
by Pete Vonder Haar, Houston Press
For
some musicians, a political stance comes gradually. The Beatles, for example, went on from their pop beginnings to steer the
"peace and love" movement of the late '60s. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Charlie Daniels extolled the virtues of being
a "Long Haired Country Boy" in 1974 before stoking the gay panic of "Uneasy Rider '88."
For
Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Strayer, it took one night.
In
March, 2003, the (then) Dixie Chicks were one of the most popular acts in the world. At a London concert, Maines criticized
the War in Iraq and said the band was "ashamed" to be from the same state as President George W. Bush. Blacklists, boycotts,
and death threats followed.
For
those keeping notes, the damage done to the Chicks' careers is about as clear an example of this "cancel culture" we keep
hearing about (but rarely see actual evidence of). Many country stations to this day refuse to play their music. All for expressing
an opinion.
But
if last night's show at the Pavilion proved anything, it's that the Chicks still aren't backing down. If anything, they've
turned the volume of their activism to 11.
You
didn't need a better indicator of that than last night's surprise(?) guest. The roar went up during the Chicks' bumper
reel (videos by groundbreaking female artists such as the Runaways, Heart, and Tina Turner) and the word quickly flashed through
the crowd that none other than Beto O'Rourke was there.
The
gubernatorial candidate took a while to get to his seat, stopping to take photos with anyone who asked (there were a lot).
He finally did, and the Chicks opened the show with "Sin Wagon," "Gaslighter," "Texas Man," and "Julianna Calm Down," songs
that helped set the show's tone: a near-perfect balance of rage, joy, and introspection.
That
anger threatened to boil over after Maines pointed out a sign in the crowd suggesting the band should run for Governor. She
offered that they could be vice-governors to O'Rourke. When some boos were heard, she doubled down, asking one apparently
annoyed audience member, "Do you have a mother? Do you have sisters? Do you have a daughter? Do you have a girlfriend?"
A
couple of gentlemen in the next section over from me were losing their got-damn minds over this. It reminded me of people
at Springsteen shows who still — still! — get upset when the Boss gets political. My dudes, why the
hell are you even here?
Lest
you think the show was all polemic, fear not. The group, and their backing band (which includes Maines' father, the legendary
Lloyd Maines, and her son Slade ... "You can never have too many Maines") tore through a good chunk of the Chicks' discography,
including a selection of older hits where the entire ensemble came downstage to play a mini-set consisting of "Lubbock or
Leave It," "Cowboy Take Me Away," "Long Time Gone," and "Landslide."
But
the floor-to-ceiling video stage monitors were put to their best use when focusing the band's anger, whether at the now-divorced
husbands that inspired Gaslighter — such as the uncomfortable "Tights on My Boat" or the withering "Sleep
At Night" — or highlighting the evisceration of women's rights and violence against African-Americans that inspired
the searing "March March."
And
maybe none of this works if the Chicks weren't consummate musicians, if Natalie Maines couldn't still absolutely wail, and
if they hadn't tapped into what feels like an entire generation of women who've decided, after the loss of body autonomy,
that enough is enough. The smattering of boos last night didn't come close to drowning out the roars of approval when Maines
said, "If you have a female in your life you care about, vote Beto."
I
review a fair amount of shows, and plenty of acts are perfectly competent from a musical perspective, but few can fuse virtuosity
with righteous anger like the Chicks. If you were at last night's show and didn't appreciate their present form, one forged
in the crucible of public vilification and personal trials, then you haven't been paying attention, and I’m having a
hard time comprehending why you were there in the first place.
And
according to Maines, we were louder than last night’s show. Suck it, Austin.
Personal
Bias: This isn't the same group I saw in a tent outside the HLSR in 1997. I just wish I could find that program they
autographed.
The
Crowd: "Lotta chicks here." - Banky, Chasing Amy
Overheard
In The Crowd: "Keep booing, dipshits! They've already got your money!"
Random
Notebook Dump: "I wouldn't trade places with [Adrian Pasdar] right now for all the whiskey in Ireland."
SET
LIST
Sin
Wagon
Gaslighter
Texas
Man
Julianna
Calm Down
The
Long Way Around
My
Best Friend’s Weddings
Sleep
at Night
Travelin'
Soldier (Bruce Robison cover)
Wide
Open Spaces
Tights
on My Boat
Lubbock
or Leave It
Cowboy
Take Me Away
Long
Time Gone/Daddy Lessons
Landslide
(Fleetwood Mac cover)
Truth
#2 (with Patty Griffin)
March
March
For
Her
White
Trash Wedding
Everybody
Loves You
Young
Man
Not
Ready to Make Nice
Goodbye
Earl
