The Chicks hatch rousing new tour in St. Louis, and still aren't ready to make nice

By Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post Dispatch

You can't keep a good Chick down, and that's especially true of the Chicks, formerly of the Dixie variety.

Superstar country band the Chicks have weathered everything from cancel culture before it was called cancel culture to career-damaging backlash. More recently there was the name change (made to eliminate the reference to the Civil War South) and major COVID-19 delays.

But the Chicks successfully hatched their new tour in front of a big, sweltering house at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre on Tuesday night.

"The Chicks Tour" is the trio's first since its "DCX MMXVI World Tour," which played Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in 2016. The new tour supports the Chicks’ latest album "Gaslighter," released in 2020.

And while the name may have changed, it’s thankfully the same ole Chicks, still not ready to make nice.

During the 22-song, two-hour show, the Chicks continued to kick outdated country music conventions to the curb, singing and talking about women's choice issues and issuing a reminder that Black lives matter.

"March March," a song from "Gaslighter," came with protest videos supporting different causes, and culminated with the names of Blacks killed by police flashing in rapid succession.

During another interlude, a long list of cities and number of victims killed by gunfire were shown.

Fans should expect nothing less from the Chicks.

But make no mistake, a good time was had, which is always going to be true when songs like "Wide Open Spaces," "Goodbye Earl" and "White Trash Wedding" are rolled out.

The show started with "Sin Wagon," a favorite from the 1999 album "Fly." The exhilarating song was an instant reminder of how much lead singer-guitarist Natalie Maines, singer-fiddler-mandolin player Martie McGuire and multi-instrumentalist Emily Strayer have been missed.

The trio was fleshed out with guitarist Owen Berry, keyboardist Darrell Smith, bassist Sam Sims, drummer Jimmy Paxson, band leader and guitarist/steel pedal guitarist Keith Sewell and Maines’ son Slade Pasdar on guitar, drums and more.

Maines, sporting a black and shiny gold "Notorious RBG" T-shirt in honor of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, greeted the house with "I can’t tell you how amazing it is to see you. We intended on seeing you in 2020 and just a little something happened. We just had to take the long way."

She promised "we’re going to try to squeeze in as much music as possible tonight."

The Chicks leaned heavily into "Gaslighter." Not only is it a great album, but it’s also the group’s first album in 14 years. The Chicks have surely been itching for the opportunity to play new music again.

"Sin Wagon" was followed by a trio of "Gaslighter" songs — the title track, "Texas Man" accompanied by animated video of beefy men, and "Julianna Calm Down."

Other "Gaslighter" songs included "For Her," "Tights on My Boat," "Young Man," "Hope It’s Something Good" and "Sleep at Night."

At one point, Maines announced they were going to play a game in which a fan would roll a furry die to determine which of six songs the Chicks would place next. The choices were "Travelin’ Soldier," "There’s Your Trouble," "Ready to Run," "Give It Up," "Mississippi" and "Truth No. 2," perhaps songs that should have been in the set anyway.

"Truth No. 2," a song written by the Chicks’ opening act Patty Griffin that appears on the Chicks’ 2002 album "Home," was selected.

"This could be bad. We haven’t played that in years," Maines said, but then instantly remembered they had, confusing it with another song.

"Please Don’t Let Me Die in Florida," another Patty Griffin song, was also performed, though Griffin and the Chicks never took the stage together.

The group performed without an encore and ended with the crowd-pleasing "Goodbye Earl."

As far as opening nights go, things largely came off well save for a couple of minor hiccups including Maines stopping a song after realizing it was in the wrong key. But all in all, it was the Chicks show we needed.

The Chicks set list

"Sin Wagon"

"Gaslighter"

"Texas Man"

"Julianna Calm Down"

"The Long Way Around"

"Hope It’s Something Good"

"Sleep at Night"

"Truth No. 2"

"Wide Open Spaces"

"Tights on My Boat"

"Cowboy Take Me Away"

"Lubbock or Leave It"

"Long Time Gone"/"Daddy Lessons"

"Landslide"

"Don’t Let Me Die in Florida"

"March March"

"For Her"

"White Trash Wedding"

"Everybody Loves You"

"Young Man"

"Not Ready to Make Nice"

"Goodbye Earl"

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