Originally founded in 1989, The Chicks (formerly Dixie Chicks) began as a bluegrass group before finding huge success with their 1998 major label debut album, ‘Wide Open Spaces’. Since then they’ve racked up a further four albums (most recently 2020’s ‘Gaslighter’), performed around the world, worked with the likes of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift and cemented themselves as country music icons due to their traditional influences and outstanding harmonies. Now, fresh off the back of their performance at Glastonbury on Sunday, they’re in the UK for a run of live dates – their first trip across the pond since 2016 – which began last night in the grounds of Cardiff Castle.
The trio arrived on stage around 8.30 after a video montage of female superstars including Stevie Nicks, Heart, Blondie, 4 Non Blondes and Chrissie Hynde, culminating in Joan Jett’s ‘Bad Reputation’, before a distorted clip that featured snippets of tracks such as ‘I Can Love You Better’ alongside revving engines. They then opened the set with ‘Sin Wagon’, from 1999 album ‘Fly’, which had great fiery energy from the off and got the crowd dancing and bouncing around straight away. As they finished the song, the audience erupted into applause and cheers and you knew we were going to be in for a fantastic evening.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, songs from ‘Gaslighter’ made up a significant chunk of the set, with early standouts including the fierce title track – which I personally particularly enjoyed belting out at top volume and clapping along to with the rest of the crowd – as well as ‘Texas Man’ which showed the band’s playful, flirtatious side and ‘Julianna Calm Down’, which had a rawness to the live vocal that contrasted Natalie dancing along (the first of many such moments during the show) and clicking her fingers. Elsewhere, ‘My Best Friend’s Weddings’ featured a lush cello melody and biting lyrics (‘in 20 years I’ll still be younger than you’) alongside the group’s sweet harmonies, the oddly emotional ‘Sleep At Night’ saw Natalie point down the camera lens and stick her middle fingers up against a video backdrop of burned-out cars and shattering glass, ‘Tights On My Boat’ had a petty, tongue-in-cheek feel (whilst getting huge cheers for its graphic of Putin and Trump) and ‘March March’ provided a powerful moment with its intro of shooting statistics and images of protest.
However, there was still plenty for fans of the band’s earlier material to enjoy too. ‘The Long Way Around’ was empowering and uplifting – and felt possibly more relevant than ever – whilst ‘Ready To Run’ paired punchy drums with an incredible fiddle solo from Martie and Emily showed off her dobro skills on the moving ‘Travelin’ Soldier’. The crowd also lifted them throughout by singing and clapping along pretty much non-stop, particularly on the soaring ‘Wide Open Spaces’ (including a shout of ‘Check the oil!’) and the mash-up of ‘Daddy Lessons’ and ‘Long Time Gone’, which had a much jazzier feel than the recorded version. However, by far the biggest reaction was reserved for ‘White Trash Wedding’, which featured a rattling melody and funky bassline as the audience whooped and cheered almost from the opening notes.
For me one of the highlights was the acoustic section midway through the set. Following a brief video of band intros (which featured their interests as well as what instruments they played), the trio arrived on stage to kick off the quartet of songs with ‘Cowboy Take Me Away’. It had a livelier feel than the album version, particularly on the chorus, and I really liked that the band is still doing different things with their songs even after so long in the business. They followed that with a gorgeous rendition of ‘Landslide’ (proceeding by Natalie introducing her son Slade, who’s now part of their touring band, before cracking a joke about ‘now you’re all picturing me giving birth’) and their version of Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus’ ‘Rainbowland’ which featured a unicorn graphic alongside the singalong lyrics on screen, before closing the section with a sharp, driving take on Patty Griffin’s ‘Please Don’t Let Me Die In Florida’, with Natalie rocking out and tossing her hair around on stage.
I also really loved seeing the group’s camaraderie on stage throughout the performance, particularly when the three of them crowded around Natalie’s microphone at the end of the touching ‘For Her’ with both Martie and Emily playing fiddle. It was a really nice moment and it’s clear that even after all this time, they’re still incredibly close and strong as a unit, both musically and personally.
The band closed their set with a defiant performance of ‘Not Ready To Make Nice’ before – what else? – ‘Goodbye Earl’. With clues being drip-fed throughout the show, including an ‘Earl’s in the truck’ sticker on Emily’s piano during ‘Everybody Loves You’, when the song eventually hit I’m pretty sure you could have heard that crowd on the other side of the Bristol Channel. Despite the heavens opening just beforehand, it was an absolutely euphoric riot of full volume singing and dancing along, with the band clearly feeding off the audience’s energy as Martie waved a Welsh flag aloft and Natalie belted out the lyrics. They all had enormous grins on their faces as they took their bows with the band, before waving their goodbyes.
Overall The Chicks put on a fantastic show that showed they’re still absolutely at the top of their game, bringing the smart, sharp songwriting, incredible musicianship and lush harmonies that made their name as well as plenty of sass, fire and fantastic energy throughout. Before asking the crowd to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her dad Lloyd (who turns 73 today), Natalie told them “we’re going to attempt to entertain you all evening long”‘ and they certainly did that and then some! At the end of the show, she added, “We’ve had an awesome time tonight… hopefully you’ll have us back some time”. Based on the buzz from the crowd at the end of the show, the feeling was definitely mutual, and that return visit can’t come soon enough.
Set list: 1. Sin Wagon 2. Gaslighter 3. Texas Man 4. Julianna Calm Down 5. Happy Birthday (for Natalie’s dad Lloyd) 6. The Long Way Around 7. My Best Friend’s Weddings 8. Sleep At Night 9. Ready To Run 10. Travelin’ Solider 11. Wide Open Spaces 12. Tights On My Boat 13. Daddy Lessons/Long Time Gone 14. Cowboy Take Me Away 15. Landslide (originally by Fleetwood Mac) 16. Rainbowland (Dolly Parton/Miley Cyrus cover) 17. Please Don’t Let Me Die In Florida (Patty Griffin cover) 18. March March 19. For Her 20. White Trash Wedding 21. Everybody Loves You 22. Not Ready To Make Nice 23. Goodbye Earl Performance date: 27th June 2023
See The Chicks on tour in the UK and Ireland this summer:
28th June – OVO Arena, Glasgow (with Maren Morris)
30th June – 3Arena, Dublin (with Maren Morris)
2nd July – Utilita Arena, Birmingham (with Maren Morris)
4th July – AO Arena, Manchester (with Maren Morris)
6th July – Hyde Park, London (as part of British Summer Time)
8th July – Hyde Park, London (as part of British Summer Time)
