|
The Chicks Made Texas Dam Proud With Their Monday Night Show In Irving
By Carly May Gravley, Dallas Observer
The legendary Dallas country trio The Chicks opened their first of two shows at the Pavilion at Toyota Music
Factory in Irving on Monday with a snippet of Joan Jett’s "Bad Reputation." It’s a bit of cliched needle drop
at this point, but nobody can say they haven’t earned it.
In the aftermath of lead singer Natalie Maines’
comments about the invasion of Iraq and her resentment that then-President George W. Bush was from her home state of Texas,
The Chicks (then known as The Dixie Chicks) received an anonymous letter outlining a detailed plan to kill Maines at an upcoming
show in Dallas. Though the full contents of the letter have never been made public, it is known to have said, "Shut up and
sing or your life is over."
The show in question went on without incident, but the threat marked a turning point for
the band. They’ve recorded and toured sparingly in the 20 years since, and their concerts have a heightened security
presence to this day.
Also notable is Maines’ presence on stage. At Monday night’s show, she did not explicitly
speak on her past controversies or any of her political stances. Her stage banter was limited to talking about her father
and son, who are both part of The Chicks' touring band. In some sense, they did shut up and sing.
Make no mistake, though. The Chicks have not backed down. They just let their art speak for them now.
This
current tour is in support of their 2020 comeback album Gaslighter, a criminally underrated record that got
lost in the chaos of the pandemic and, possibly more damningly, the band's name change mid-promotion cycle to distance themselves
from the Confederate origins of the word "Dixie." They are nothing if not principled.
Gaslighter and
its belated tour explore feelings of betrayal, both personal and political. New songs like the title track and "Julianna Calm
Down" artfully blur these lines, exploring how feelings of rage and heartbreak in a crumbling marriage can be exacerbated
by an apocalyptic news cycle. Pain doesn’t differentiate between the narrow and broad scopes.
That’s not to say there wasn’t joy to be found in this show. Classic hits such as ‘Wide
Open Spaces" and "Cowboy Take Me Away" felt like a warm hug to attendees, many of whom were younger fans who grew up on The
Chicks.
The show emphasized the importance of community and family, concepts that are supposedly the core of country
music. At one point, The Chicks brought out their opener and longtime collaborator Patty Griffin for a duet. Their iconic
rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s "Landslide," which was first recorded when Maines was pregnant, featured her now-grown
son on guitar in an emotional full-circle moment.
Poignantly enough, "Landslide" was the single they were promoting
when their career was, for lack of a better word, canceled by conservative country listeners. But as the song alludes, time
did make them bolder and they are less afraid than ever to challenge such groups.
"March March" is a Gaslighter single
and protest anthem that was warmly received but didn’t make much of a commercial impact. The reason? It begs to be witnessed
live. The understated outlaw country production (an unsung career high for producer Jack Antonoff) propped up the protest
footage, depicting signs reading "Black Lives Matter" and "End White Silence" overlaid with a constant stream of the names
of victims of police brutality and hate crimes, beginning with George Floyd and ending with Emmett Till.
Country music
has come a long way since 2003, but there is still an undeniably reactionary, conservative part of its base. During "March
March" and their cover of Beyoncé’s "Daddy Lessons," one person could be heard saying, "Oh my god. Shut the fuck up."
Others walked out. (We can’t help but wonder why those people came at all. Did they somehow not know?)
As stated
earlier, The Chicks did not rehash the controversy that started all of this. There’s really no need to address it ever
again as the penultimate song in their set, "Not Ready to Make Nice," says everything there is to say. The 2006 hit boldly
doubles down on the infamous statement and stands firm in not "[doing] what it is you think I should." In other words, they
don’t give a damn about their bad reputation.
Minus the Dixie, The Chicks make it a family affair at Dallas concert
By Alex Bentley, Dallas Culture Map
The last time the band now known as The Chicks played in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2016, they still had the word
"Dixie" attached to their name as they embarked on their first tour in 10 years. The group — comprised of lead singer
Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer — likely didn't intend for it to be another six years before
they returned again, but they made up for lost time in a 2+ hour concert at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving
on October 10, the first of two straight nights at the venue.
In front of a nearly sold-out crowd that skewed female, the Chicks put on a show that relied heavily on songs
from their latest album, 2020's Gaslighter, which was released soon after they changed their name due to the negative connotations
surrounding the word "Dixie." That album was inspired by the personal lives and divorces of the band members, most notably
Maines, featuring songs with highly specific references like the title song, "Sleep at Night," and "Tights on My Boat."
Ten of the 23 songs the group played on Monday night came from that 12-song album, an indication that the
Chicks were itching to showcase the music for their fans as this is their first tour since the album was released. Although
"Gaslighter" is the signature song from that release, fan favorites appeared to be the jaunty "Texas Man," which echoes their
previous work while still telling a personal narrative, and "March March," a protest song that becomes even more powerful
when combined with the video, which concludes with a seemingly never-ending list of Black people who have been unjustly killed
(the list becomes even longer in the version shown behind the band on stage).
As with their 2016 show, which came amid the run-up to that year's hugely consequential presidential election,
the Chicks fearlessly let their political leanings be known.
Maines wore a blouse with "It's My Body" written on it, which is both a lyric from their song "Everybody Loves
You" — during which Strayer played a piano with a "Beto for Texas" sticker prominently displayed on it — and a
pointed allusion to the abortion debate. They also featured animated caricatures of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted
Cruz, and five of the six conservative Supreme Court justices during "Tights on My Boat," a song about an affair Maines' ex-husband
had, but that took on a new meaning with the visuals.
The mostly high-energy night, underscored by a bank of video walls on stage that displayed a variety of supplemental
animation and video footage, was complemented by a six-song section in which the entire band sat down near the front of the
stage to play jam band versions of songs like "Lubbock or Leave It," "Cowboy Take Me Away," and "Truth No. 2." The latter
was written by opening act Patty Griffin, who re-emerged to sing it as a duet after delivering her own powerful set. Notably,
none of the six songs came from the newest album, a nod to how the group has changed over the years.
Another change is that the tour has now become a family affair for the Chicks. Maines' dad Lloyd - who was
one of the first three members of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame alongside Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan —
has long gone out on tour with the group, but now her son, Slade Pasdar, is featured as a guitarist. Maguire's daughter Eva
also joined her mom in playing fiddle during the poignant song "For Her."
Even though the concert tilted toward Gaslighter, the Chicks know the songs their fans want to hear, which
is why they ended the night with the barnburners "Not Ready to Make Nice" and "Goodbye Earl." Both songs feature women standing
up to people who have done them wrong, a fitting conclusion to a night in which giving strength to women was the focal point.
Return to Tour Dates/Reviews page
|
