The Chicks Return to Nashville for an Empowering Concert That Refuses to Make Nice — SkimNews
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- The Chicks performed at Nashville's new venue the Truth on Oct. 15, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their Rick Rubin-produced album 'Taking the Long Way' with a front-to-back performance joined at one point by Sheryl Crow
- Merchandise included 'still not ready to make nice' sweatshirts and 'we're ashamed the president of the United States is from the United States' tees, with archival footage of the 2003 London controversy projected on stage curtains
- Natalie Maines told the audience about a recent visit to the Obama Center and urged voting in upcoming November midterms, calling the current president a 'deranged nutjob'
- The set featured personal moments on motherhood — Martie Maguire shared struggles conceiving children while on tour before performing 'So Hard,' and Maines' son Slade joined the band on 'Lullaby'
- The Chicks performed their Beyoncé collaboration 'Daddy Lessons/Long Time Gone,' which the review frames as responding to longstanding questions about whether both artists were 'country enough'
Why it matters: The 20th-anniversary performance treats the 2003 London controversy as inseparable from the band's artistic identity rather than an apology-worthy blemish. The explicit embrace on stage, on merch, and through voting appeals reframes decades of expectations that outspoken women in country should 'make nice.'
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