The Chicks arrive at Planet Hollywood Resort for their Six Nights in Vegas residency just days after being scheduled to appear at Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday concert in Los Angeles, and on the heels of Miranda Lambert’s final stretch of headlining dates at Bakkt Theater (formerly known as Zappos Theater). It’s the first phase of The Chicks’ live itinerary after a triumphant return to the concert stage last year, with a summer tour to follow. The trio has flown high and experienced career lows, but their appeal has proven to be enduring and capable of weathering the stormiest skies.
Multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer have been performing with lead vocalist Natalie Maines for nearly 30 years, having revamped the traditional country and bluegrass image and sound of Dallas group Dixie Chicks in 1995 and repositioned themselves for music industry domination. That goal was achieved in a few short years when their major label debut, Wide Open Spaces, hit the top spot on Billboard’s country album charts, spun off three No.1 country singles and reached No. 4 on the pop album chart.
As the Dixie Chicks, they won just about every major music award they were nominated for and won Grammys for Best Country Album and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (for “There’s Your Trouble”). Follow-up album Fly cemented their position in the country music firmament, garnering Grammys for both the album and track “Ready to Run.”
The three bandmates changed the landscape of country music and paved the way for subsequent pop crossover artists. Audiences became feverishly excited at their shows, and the entire demographic of country listeners skewed younger as Maines, Maguire and Strayer became inspirations to legions of female fans. Maguire’s fiddle-playing, Strayer’s banjo-picking and Maines’ guitar-strumming set them apart from vocal artists and created a template that Taylor Swift would take to new heights.
The transformation from Dixie Chicks to The Chicks began when Maines famously let her feelings about President Bush and the impending Iraq War be known during a 2003 concert in England. The backlash to her critical comments by conservative country listeners came quickly after they were reported by The Guardian, and although Maines initially apologized, she retained her staunch anti-war position.
While their reputation suffered in the country music industry, The Chicks continued to be embraced by mainstream pop audiences. In 2006, they released Taking the Long Way, which took top Grammy album honors for both Album of the Year and Best Country Album. Maines’ defiance was best expressed in album’s first single “Not Ready to Make Nice,” which won three Grammys including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
The Chicks, as they’ve been known since 2020, were back. A tour in support of latest album Gaslighter proved that while they lost some cursory fans their core audience grew with them and positioned them for Six Nights in Vegas. Whatever they hatch at Planet Hollywood Resort will feel like a new era for country music’s greatest contemporary trio.
Planet Hollywood Resort, 8 p.m. May 3, 5-6, 10 and 12-13, starting at $79 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
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