THE CHICKS STIRRED UP A NICE RUCKUS AT AMPHITHEATRE ON SATURDAY
I like to say that The Chicks gained one loyal fan at a time when they were losing thousands.
This was back in 2003 when, just before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Chicks frontwoman Natalie Maines made a remark to a London audience about how the band was “ashamed” that then-president George W. Bush was from their home state of Texas. As extemporaneous as the commentary was then, and as mildly inoffensive as it seems by today’s standards, conservative media jumped all over Maines’ remarks. Fans and peers denounced them as “unpatriotic,” they were blacklisted and boycotted by country radio, and they even received death threats.
“I made my bed, and I sleep like a baby with no regrets,” sang Maines on Saturday night just before The Chicks closed out a concert with a spirited performance of “Not Ready to Make Nice,” the first single the band released in 2006 after the Bush controversy.
Backed by fellow Chicks Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, as well as a stellar backing band, Maines’ words flooded me with memories of the time it was released. Before that controversy, and the subsequent single in which they ostensibly doubledowned on their criticisms, I’d been admittedly dismissive of the band’s bubbly amalgamation of pop and country music. “Not Ready to Make Nice,” however, as well as the band’s unabashed outspokenness at a time when other artists were shying away from any political commentary, made a fan of me.
And yes, the crowd at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre seemed much more keen on belting along and raising their phones for the band’s other big hits
(“Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Wide Open Spaces,” and the band’s tender take on Fleetwood Mac’s iconic “Landslide”), but it was “Not Ready to Make Nice” that got this journalist all up in his feels.
One could argue we need The Chicks’ brand of candidness more than ever, and while the band didn’t have a
ton of between-song commentary, there were a few moments during the concert where it was clear they still wear their hearts on their sleeves. At a time of bitter political hostility and the recent Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade, Maines, who sported a goldon-black Ruth Bader Ginsburg
T-shirt, seemed emboldened while doing her best to keep the mood lighthearted.
“That was the first time I’ve ever done the running man to that song,” Maines said after playing “Trouble” and referring to the popular early ’90s dance move.
Looking back on the band’s vast catalog of hit records, some of which they played on this night, it’s easy to hear how much they laid the template for contemporary country musicians, especially women artists. They are, after all, the topselling woman band of all time. And just as unafraid as their musical forbearers were — see: Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, etc. — The Chicks’ biggest songs have become something of a formula, a template that has been dutifully replicated by artists such as Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and, yes, Taylor Swift. It’s hard to imagine a world in which Swift’s music, much less her recent openness about her political beliefs, would have existed if The Chicks hadn’t paved the proverbial county road.
What’s more, the band is still making waves, both personally and musically. On the former, there’s of course the fact that they changed their name to The Chicks from the more problematic Dixie Chicks in 2020 and did so at the height of the George Floyd protests for racial justice. And when it comes to the music, much of the concert on Saturday was filled with songs from their most recent album, 2020’s “Gaslighter.” And of those 10 new-ish songs — they didn’t get to tour after recording the album due to the pandemic — it was evident that the band is still tapping into the zeitgeist.