Dixie Chicks triumphantly return to Nashville
NASHVILLE — The Dixie Chicks had such fantastic fun playing Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday night, singer Natalie Maines said she hopes "it doesn’t take 10 years for Nashville to invite us back.”
If it were up to the crowd, Bridgestone Arena would be the Chicks’ standing weekly gig on lower Broadway — in the town that made them famous 21 years ago and then stood by as their momentum was dismantled a few years later.
In 2003, singer Maines made a flippant, derogatory remark about George W. Bush as the United States was on the brink of war.
During a concert in London in March 2003, Maines said, "Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war, this violence. ... And we're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas." Some fans reacted in fury prompting radio stations to remove the Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer's songs from their playlists. The move stalled the group’s career and forced it into a time out.
If there are still hurt feelings on either side in regards to the 13-year-old episode, they didn’t show. But Maines didn’t shy away from it either. She opened the show, quipping: “Hey, longtime no see. You guys look fantastic.” During Ready to Run, images of presidential candidates doctored with clown noses and red wigs fed across the screen.
But largely the show was free from social commentary. Dressed in black and white and playing white instruments, the harmony-rich female trio offered songs from every corner of its popular music career. The set started with The Long Way Around and Lubbock or Leave It — both songs from the Dixie Chicks’ most recent 2006 release Taking the Long Way. The show also included the trio’s early hits Goodbye Earl, Cowboy Take Me Away and Wide Open Spaces, all songs that prompted fans to cheer passionately on the first note and sing along from beginning to end.
The night also was ripe with cover songs: Maines offered a tribute to Prince with Nothing Compares 2 U, put an acoustic spin on Beyonce’s Daddy Lessons and brushed off the trio's version of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide.
“It’s hard to believe we decided to record this song 15 years ago,” Maines said introducing Landslide. “At that point, we were only one baby in and we felt really connected to the line, ‘I’m getting older.’ Now we are nine babies in and I feel too connected to, ‘I’m getting older.’ ”
In another nod to aging, Strayer turned 44 on Tuesday and her bandmates converted the milestone into a show moment Wednesday night. A man in his underwear delivered a birthday cake to a shocked Strayer on stage while Maines led the crowd singing Happy Birthday.
They also jammed out a bluegrass instrumental that included nods to Jack White’s Seven Nation Army and Beyonce’s All the Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).
The ladies closed their show with a rousing version of Sin Wagon complete with a guitar solo from Maines’ teenage son Jackson Slade.
The Dixie Chicks encored with Not Ready to Make Nice, a song they released after the fallout from Maines’ 2003 remarks about the president, and ended with a call to action with Ben Harper’s Better Way.
As much as Nashville audiences would love to have the trio back for more performances — fans might love new music from the Dixie Chicks even more. The trio said recently they had no plans to record fresh songs — something they haven’t done since preparing 2006’s Taking the Long Way. When and if the Dixie Chicks opt to record again, fans are ready with a whole new generation of music fans to influence and Nashville has a music community just waiting for the opportunity to redeem itself.
Follow Cindy Watts on Twitter: @CindyNWatts