You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Home Front: Culture Wars
Ditzy Chicks stay course; fans still stay away
2006-08-19
Some music lovers can't forgive the popular Dixie Chicks for dissing the president and then country music. Just look at ticket sales for tonight at Target Center. If the Bush-bashing Dixie Chicks aren't ready to make nice, neither are many of their fans. "No way I'm going to their concert this time," said longtime follower Elizabeth Wilson, 26, of Dilworth, Minn., who feels burned by the Chicks' big mouths. "They can go to France."

“Maines issued an apology, then retracted it. More recently, the Chicks said they don't want their album in the same changer with discs by Toby Keith and Reba McEntire...”
Tonight, about 10,000 people are expected to see the Dixie Chicks at Target Center in Minneapolis -- one of their biggest audiences this year, but a far cry from the nearly 40,000 who attended two sold-out St. Paul concerts in 2003 by the blockbuster country trio. While their new CD went straight to No. 1 in June, ticket sales have been so soft for the Chicks' Accidents and Accusations Tour that they canceled concerts in 14 cities, including Des Moines, Fargo, N.D., and Houston. Faster than you can whistle "Dixie," the Chicks have again become the most polarizing music act since Eminem. "People are divided down the middle," said Andy Elliott, program director for two Des Moines country radio stations, one of which has ignored the trio's new CD. "There is amazing passion by the fans on both sides."
But if they're ignoring the trio, are they 'fans' any longer?
The Texas trio first upset fans when lead singer Natalie Maines dissed President Bush at a London concert in 2003. She issued an apology, then retracted it. More recently, the Chicks said they don't want their album in the same changer with discs by Toby Keith and Reba McEntire, a pronouncement akin to a NASCAR driver dissing rednecks.
Posted by:Fred

#16  Sarah MacLachlan doesn't count. She about the only one at Lilith Fair that prefers men.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-08-19 19:56  

#15  I dunno. Their actual singing might suffer in comparison to Sarah Maclachlan's.

The Dixie Chicks really screwed up: they pissed away a working relationship with the only demographic that was willing to tolerate their particular brand of off-key vocals _and_ STUPID enough to actually go down to the local Wal-Mart and shell out actual HARD-EARNED CURRENCY for a CD containing about an hour's music. Instead they're just going to suck up to the demographic group that thinks music is something you download for free from a warez site somewhere in Sweden.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman   2006-08-19 17:33  

#14  "Next stop lesbian folk festival circuit."

EXACTLY. Lilith Fair, here we come. Gotta develop a taste fer the wimun, though.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-08-19 15:42  

#13  Much less than that, Perfesser. This is one of their highest turnout stops....and it doesn't break down the number of comped tickets v. paid, either. Bet there's a substantial amount of the former.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie   2006-08-19 12:16  

#12  10,000 times $30/ticket = $300,000 per night. Cry me a river.
Posted by: Perfesser   2006-08-19 10:46  

#11  "There's a fine line between being clever and stupid."

-Nigel Tufnel

Posted by: Broadhead6   2006-08-19 10:16  

#10  LOL #4!


Jeanine: Oh, no! I told them once, I told them a hundred times:
put "Spinal Tap" first and "Puppet show" last.
Derek: It's a morale builder, isn't it?
Jeanine: We've got a big dressing room, though.
David: What?
Jeanine: Got a big dressing room here...
David: Oh, we've got a bigger dressing room than the puppets?
Oh, that's refreshing..
Posted by: Parabellum   2006-08-19 09:09  

#9  Next stop lesbian folk festival circuit.
Posted by: regular joe   2006-08-19 07:34  

#8  It's a quagmire, I tell ya, an unwinnable quagmire. Natalie Maines lied, their careers died.
Posted by: Mike   2006-08-19 07:08  

#7  It's called sending a music act rocketing to the bottom.

Stay the course, oh Dixie Chicks...
Posted by: badanov   2006-08-19 05:47  

#6  S. T. Karnick:

The one thing that all celebrities have in common—the only thing they all have in common, in fact—is that a very large number of people like them, often for no readily identifiable reasons... They don't understand how fragile likeability really is. Apparently they entirely forget the lessons about human fickleness they should have learned indelibly in high school...

For some obscure reason, the [Dixie Chicks'] fans decided they didn't want to support them any more and could do without their music... And the fact that instant wealth and worldwide celebrity tempted a young woman and her satellites to think that she was more than just a stupid singer had nothing to do with it.

Right.
Posted by: Pappy   2006-08-19 02:00  

#5  In my uncharitable moments I substitute our own BDS *bats for Paleos and other 'slamic zoomers - they lack that Cause -> Effect gene.

I especially love it when it hits them in the bank account. Hard.

"They can go the France."

LOL. Ouch!
Posted by: flyover   2006-08-19 01:15  

#4  
Puppet Show
       and
Dixie Chicks
Posted by: DMFD   2006-08-19 01:05  

#3  "They can go to France."

Ouch!

As Frank Zappa said: "There is no Hell, there is only France."
Posted by: xbalanke   2006-08-19 00:50  

#2  I'm waiting for them to dis Hank Williams, Jr. and Elvis. And burn a Confederate flag on stage.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-08-19 00:22  

#1  " a pronouncement akin to a NASCAR driver dissing rednecks"

The "writer" seems to have a few issues....

Bigotted prick.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2006-08-19 00:16  

00:00