Accidents & Accusations Tour

Accidents & Accusations World Tour
Tour by Dixie Chicks

Promotional poster for 2006 tour
Associated album Taking the Long Way
Start date July 21, 2006 (2006-07-21)
End date December 5, 2006 (2006-12-05)
Legs 3
Number of shows 41 in North America
7 in Australia
48 Total
Dixie Chicks concert chronology

The Accidents & Accusations World Tour was a concert tour by the Dixie Chicks. It was their first tour where tickets were sold after the scandal which ensued in 2003 when lead singer Natalie Maines publicly criticized President George W. Bush at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London during the Top of the World Tour, leading to intense criticism of the group. Consequently, the level of commercial success for the tour attracted considerable media attention. The tour was named after the lyrics in the song "Easy Silence" from the album Taking the Long Way, released a few weeks earlier in 2006.

History

Dixie Chicks performed at Frank Erwin Center on December 4, 2006

The North American leg of the tour was announced on May 18, 2006, for approximately 60 shows to run from late July through early November.[1] While the Chicks' 2003 Top of the World Tour also took place after the Bush controversy, most of the tickets had already been sold beforehand, and it was the top-grossing country tour of that year. Despite good sales figures for the new Taking the Long Way album, however, initial ticket sales for the Accidents & Accusations Tour were far below expectations. Four dates in Memphis, Oklahoma City, Fresno, and Indianapolis were dropped from the tour schedule. In Houston, tickets never went on sale, with the concert promoter noting that local radio stations "wouldn't even accept our advertising money."[2] Arenas holding 15,000 capacity were only selling 5,000–6,000 seats, sometimes less.[3]

Industry observers thought the tour might have to be postponed or at least downsized to smaller venues,[3] as for example Mariah Carey did on her 2003 Charmbracelet World Tour, but in the end the Chicks initially kept on schedule and stayed in arenas. Some Northeastern areas did better, and shows in Canada did best, with an Air Canada Centre show in Toronto selling out almost immediately, resulting in a second show being added and Calgary's Saddledome having two shows as well in Winnipeg at the MTS Centre.[3] Meanwhile, the tour began. The Chicks first performed a quick mini-leg of two concerts in London as part of their promotional activities for the June 12 international release of Taking the Long Way. Indeed, their first concert performance in almost two years (since October 2004's Vote for Change shows) was on June 15 at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, the so-called “scene of the crime” of Maines' remark regarding President Bush. In a show that was broadcast live by MSN and called "Scene of the Crime", Maines said from the stage, "And all week, the only thing people keep asking is, 'What are you gonna say? Do you know what you're gonna say?' As usual I didn't plan anything, but I thought I'd say something brand new and just say, 'Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.'" This was met with thunderous applause and cheers.[4]

The North American leg began as scheduled on July 21, 2006 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.[5] The tour itinerary continued to suffer cancellations in the United States, while adding shows in Canada, where the new album and its singles were getting better radio airplay.[6] An early leg show such as the July 25 one in Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, where sales had been reported as strong, still featured ten upper level sections empty and covered with black tarps. However, a show of hands taken by Maines indicated that a third or more of the fans were attending their first Chicks concert, which boded well for the group building a new audience. Continuing the ups and downs of the tour, the August 2 show at Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, New York was postponed due to extreme heat and humidity from the 2006 North American heat wave.

On August 4, a revised tour schedule was finally announced. From the original May schedule, 14 shows had now been cancelled due to poor sales, including dates in Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Knoxville, Des Moines, Glendale, Arizona, and Sunrise, Florida in addition to those previously mentioned.[7] Several other late summer/early fall dates had been pushed back into later in the fall, including ones in Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver, and Phoenix.[8] Compared to the original schedule, the total number of North American shows was still roughly the same, due to the addition of a large number of shows in Canada (where Taking the Long Way had proved extremely popular, going five-times-platinum); 15 of the 41 North American shows were now scheduled for north of the border, a strikingly high proportion for an American act. (Mariah Carey's concurrent The Adventures of Mimi Tour had also increased its Canadian dates, although not to this extent; her management said the Canadian market was hot and favorable exchange rates made playing there attractive.[9]) Dates were also announced for Australia, where Taking the Long Way had been number one on the country albums for the three months since its release. The rescheduling also supposedly helped make room for promotion of the September 2006 documentary film Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, which, when released, contained a few behind-the-scenes and on-stage scenes from the beginning of the tour. During interviews for that film, Maines said in reference to the tour, "We’ve basically been playing to about half the audience as on the last tour, but it’s a different audience. They just look good ... In the past, I think we always thought, Oh, we have a purpose to entertain them and they were there to absorb that and soak it up and be entertaining. They bought their ticket. Now you feel like they feel they have a purpose, supporting free speech and supporting us."[10]

Blogger

The Dixie Chicks became the first major band to hire a designated blogger "all-access" to keep up with them in their promotional activities and tour. They partnered with Microsoft[1] and hired Junichi P. Semitsu, a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, as the first designated blogger ever hired, to write first-hand accounts for their Accidents & Accusations Tour at their MSN website.[11] Having to give Semitsu a title, the band finally decided on Management Assistant, to allow him all-access entry on tour and at home. Slowly, this was laughingly shortened to "Man. Ass.", with Semitsu finding at least as much humor as the Chicks.[12]

The show

The Dixie Chicks at Wachovia Center, July 25, 2006.

Unlike the Top of the World Tour, where the arena staging had been in the round with the use of an elaborate set and scrims, the Accidents & Accusations Tour featured a conventional arena layout and a bare stage. One video screen was above the stage; in addition, semi-abstract images were projected onto lighted bead curtains behind the stage (somewhat similar to those used on U2's Vertigo Tour but less effective here due to the lack of anything on the other side). Entrance music was subversively chosen to be the militaristic Presidential theme "Hail to the Chief".

Stage patter was kept at a minimum during the Accidents & Accusations Tour, with Chicks Martie Maguire and Emily Robison generally saying nothing at all. Explicit political comments were kept to a minimum; Maines typically alluded to "the incident" only before "Lullaby", where she wryly stressed that in addition to being "mad as hell", they were all loving, affectionate mothers. But the situation is still not far from her mind. At the July 22 show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Maines lost track of the lyrics to the entrance music, and quipped "I feel like the president. I can't think of what to say."[13] More pointedly, during their first show in Canada, at the Halifax Metro Centre on August 8, Maines said "I gotta tell you, it is nice to be in a country where you're not worried about them spitting in your face."[14]

Maines was a more prominent instrumentalist than before, playing electric guitar, acoustic guitar, Omnichord, and handling the bass guitar duties on "Goodbye Earl". Effective use was made of two-part harmonies, with either Maguire or Robison backing Maines, to give an edgier vocal sound, which would then sometimes be resolved into the expected three-part harmonies.

The set list consisted of mostly material from Taking the Long Way and the prior Home, with a scattering of big hits and concert favorites from before that.

The emotional (and actual) center of the show was clearly "Not Ready to Make Nice", the Chicks' defiant response to the controversy and the death threats they received and first single from Taking the Long Way. It came after two bluegrass rave-ups, the second with Maines offstage resting. The quiet, ominous first notes of the song brought a rush of applause from the audience, Maines delivered the vocals with a focused intensity, the crescendo after the lines about the crazed response to her words brought another visceral audience reaction. The animations that played behind the band recapitulated the black liquid splashes from the music video of Not Ready to Make Nice: the splashing black liquid looked like oil, explosions, and at times even perhaps blood. The song completed on a quiet note again the house lights went partly up as the crowd typically gave very prolonged applause. She then followed this with the respite of "Easy Silence", which precedes it on the album.

Other highlights included a crowd-rousing "Goodbye Earl", "Landslide" with harmonies rearranged into a higher register and giving an almost unworldly feel, a confident "The Long Way Around", a lyrical "Cowboy Take Me Away", and a stunning "Top of the World" with Maguire joining the band's cellist and second violinist to lead an extended string section coda. First encore "Travelin' Soldier" was the only number performed by just the three Chicks, with Maines having her most prominent guitar part.

Opening acts

Setlist

  1. "Overture" (contains elements of "Hail to the Chief")
  2. "Lubbock or Leave It"
  3. "Truth No. 2"
  4. "Goodbye Earl"
  5. "The Long Way Around"
  6. "Landslide"
  7. "Everybody Knows"
  8. "I Like It"
  9. "Cowboy Take Me Away"
  10. "Lullaby"
  11. "White Trash Wedding"
  12. "Lil' Jack Slade"
  13. "Not Ready To Make Nice"
  14. "Easy Silence"
  15. "Long Time Gone"
  16. "Some Days You Gotta Dance"
  17. "So Hard"
  18. "Top of the World"
  19. "Wide Open Spaces"
  20. "Sin Wagon"
Encore
  1. "Travelin’ Soldier"
  2. "Mississippi"
  3. "Ready to Run"

Tour schedule

The tour T-shirt shows yet another idea of the itinerary, including never-announced European dates.
Date City Country Venue
North America[18]
July 21, 2006 Detroit United States Joe Louis Arena
July 22, 2006 Pittsburgh Mellon Arena
July 23, 2006 Columbus Value City Arena
July 25, 2006 Philadelphia Wachovia Center
July 26, 2006 Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena
July 28, 2006 Albany Pepsi Arena
July 29, 2006 Boston TD Banknorth Garden
August 1, 2006 New York City Madison Square Garden
August 4, 2006 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center
August 5, 2006 Atlantic City Borgata Event Center
August 8, 2006 Halifax Canada Halifax Metro Centre
August 9, 2006
August 12, 2006 Montreal Bell Centre
August 13, 2006 London John Labatt Centre
August 15, 2006 Chicago United States United Center
August 18, 2006 Minneapolis Target Center
August 19, 2006 Winnipeg Canada MTS Centre
August 20, 2006
Australia[18]
October 6, 2006 Brisbane Australia Brisbane Entertainment Centre
October 7, 2006
October 9, 2006 Sydney Acer Arena
October 13, 2006 Perth Burswood Dome
October 15, 2006 Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre
October 17, 2006 Melbourne Rod Laver Arena
October 18, 2006
North America[18][19]
October 27, 2006 Ottawa Canada Scotiabank Place
October 28, 2006 Toronto Air Canada Centre
October 29, 2006
November 1, 2006 Regina Brandt Centre
November 2, 2006 Saskatoon Credit Union Centre
November 4, 2006 Edmonton Rexall Place
November 5, 2006 Calgary Pengrowth Saddledome
November 6, 2006
November 8, 2006 Vancouver General Motors Place
November 9, 2006 Portland United States Rose Garden
November 11, 2006 Tacoma Tacoma Dome
November 14, 2006 Sacramento ARCO Arena
November 16, 2006 Fresno Save Mart Center
November 17, 2006 Oakland Oracle Arena
November 19, 2006 Glendale Glendale Arena
November 24, 2006 Los Angeles Staples Center
November 25, 2006 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena
November 27, 2006 Denver Pepsi Center
November 28, 2006 Omaha Qwest Center Arena
December 1, 2006 Nashville Gaylord Entertainment Center
December 2, 2006 Atlanta Philips Arena
December 4, 2006 Austin Frank Erwin Center
December 5, 2006 Dallas American Airlines Center
Cancellations and rescheduled shows
August 2, 2006 Wantagh Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Cancelled
August 10, 2006 St. John's Mile One Centre Cancelled
August 13, 2006 Milwaukee BMO Harris Bradley Center Cancelled
August 20, 2006 Kansas City Sprint Center Cancelled
August 22, 2006 St. Louis Scottrade Center Cancelled
August 23, 2006 Indianapolis Bankers Life Fieldhouse Cancelled
August 24, 2006 Des Moines Wells Fargo Arena Cancelled
August 26, 2006 Fargo Fargodome Cancelled
September 3, 2006 Glendale Gila River Arena Rescheduled to November 19, 2006
September 6, 2006 Fresno Save Mart Center Rescheduled to November 16, 2006
September 8, 2006 Sacramento Sleep Train Arena Rescheduled to November 14, 2006
September 9, 2006 Oakland Oracle Arena Rescheduled to November 17, 2006
September 14, 2006 Los Angeles Staples Center Rescheduled to November 24, 2006
September 16, 2006 Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center Rescheduled to November 25, 2006 and moved to the MGM Grand Garden Arena
September 23, 2006 Omaha CenturyLink Center Rescheduled to November 28, 2006
September 24, 2006 Denver Pepsi Center Rescheduled to November 27, 2006
September 26, 2006 Oklahoma City Chesapeake Energy Arena Cancelled
September 27, 2006 Memphis FedExForum Cancelled
September 29, 2006 Dallas American Airlines Center Rescheduled to December 5, 2006
September 30, 2006 Houston Toyota Center Cancelled[20]
October 1, 2006 Austin Frank Erwin Center Rescheduled to December 4, 2006
October 3, 2006 Nashville Bridgestone Arena Rescheduled to December 1, 2006
October 5, 2006 Tampa Amalie Arena Cancelled
October 6, 2006 Jacksonville Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Cancelled
October 7, 2006 Sunrise BB&T Center Cancelled
October 17, 2006 Atlanta Philips Arena Rescheduled to December 2, 2006
October 20, 2006 Knoxville Thompson–Boling Arena Cancelled
October 22, 2006 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum Cancelled
November 25, 2006 Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall Cancelled
November 26, 2006 Brussels Forest National Cancelled
November 28, 2006 London Royal Albert Hall Cancelled
November 29, 2006 Manchester Manchester Evening News Arena Cancelled
November 30, 2006 Birmingham NIA Academy Cancelled
December 2, 2006 Belfast Odyssey Arena Cancelled
December 3, 2006 Dublin Point Theatre Cancelled
December 5, 2006 Glasgow Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre Cancelled
December 9, 2006 Munich Zenith die Kulturhalle Cancelled
December 10, 2006 Zurich Hallenstadion Cancelled
December 11, 2006 Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle Cancelled
December 13, 2006 Hamburg Congress Center Hamburg Cancelled
December 14, 2006 Berlin Max-Schmeling-Halle Cancelled
December 16, 2006 Oslo Oslo Spektrum Cancelled
December 17, 2006 Copenhagen Forum Copenhagen Cancelled
December 18, 2006 Stockholm Hovet Cancelled

The band

External links

References

  1. 1 2 Waddell, Ray (May 18, 2006). "Dixie Chicks Set 'Accidents & Accusations' Tour". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on May 25, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  2. ↑ Clark, Michael D.; Dooley, Tara (August 15, 2006). "Radio, promoter each blames other for cut in Chicks tour". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Waddell, Ray (June 7, 2006). "Update: Chicks Tour Struggling In Several Markets". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on June 13, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  4. ↑ Dixie Chicks (October 27, 2006). Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing. London, England: The Weinstein Company. ASIN B000KX0IN6.
  5. ↑ Evans, Rob (May 18, 2006). "Dixie Chicks unveil tour plans". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on June 4, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  6. ↑ Zahlaway, Jon (June 14, 2006). "Dixie Chicks bounce back with more shows". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on June 15, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  7. ↑ Mansfield, Brian (June 8, 2006). "Dixie Chicks' concert sales fail to take wing". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Dixie Chicks cancel US tour dates". BBC Online. British Broadcasting Corporation. August 8, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  9. ↑ Paoletta, Michael (July 14, 2006). "Mariah Looking To Tour For Musical Inspiration". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on July 16, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Dixie Chicks ‘Shut Up and Sing’ in Toronto". MSNBC. NBCUniversal Television Group. September 13, 2006. Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  11. ↑ du Lac, J. Freedom (2006-06-19). "Chicks Magnet". Washington Post.
  12. ↑ Official Website
  13. ↑ Famous Music Concert Quotes Photo Gallery - AOL Music
  14. ↑ Halifax, The Daily News: Proudly Serving the Greater Halifax Communities
  15. ↑ "Chicks unbowed in face of backlash, Still an artistic success, but struggling at box office". The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Media Network).
  16. ↑ Quenzer, Lorelei (November 11, 2008). "Dixie Chicks ready to have fun at Tacoma Dome". Seattle Gay News. JT&A, Inc. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Pete Yorn Headlines The South In Support Of Latest Album, "Nightcrawler"". Starpulse. Time Warner. October 6, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  18. 1 2 3 "Dixie Chicks on Tour". Dixie Chicks Official Website. Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  19. ↑ Evans, Rob (August 4, 2006). "Dixie Chicks unveil revamped itinerary". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on August 14, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  20. ↑ Clark, Michael D.; Dooley, Tara (August 15, 2006). "Who's to blame for Dixie Chicks cancellation?". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
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