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Dixie Chicks begin tour amid controversy
From David Mattingly
(CNN) -- The Dixie Chicks are scheduled to open their U.S. tour Thursday night in Greenville, South Carolina, at the 15,000-plus-seat Bi-Lo Center. The show is sold out -- as are most shows on the tour -- but the reaction the Chicks will get is anybody's guess. The group continues to deal with the fallout from singer Natalie Maines' comment about President Bush and the war in Iraq. At a March 10 concert in London, England, Maines said, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." The group also hails from the Lone Star State. Maines and her fellow Dixie Chicks -- sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire -- have been alternately apologetic and defiant since the firestorm over the comments started. On the May 2 issue of Entertainment Weekly, the three were photographed naked with epithets such as "Traitors," "Boycott," "Proud Americans" and "Dixie Sluts" printed on their bodies. Last week the group appeared on ABC's "Primetime Thursday" for an interview with Diane Sawyer. Despite Sawyer's devil's-advocate questioning, determined to draw an on-air apology, the trio stood their ground. "It was the wrong wording with genuine emotion and questions and concern behind it," Maines said. "[But] am I sorry that I asked questions and that I just don't follow? No." The group faced radio station boycotts of its music and organized rallies destroying their CDs. Maguire said she believed the fallout was too harsh for the offense and said they've always supported U.S. troops, even though they questioned the war. "It's the people who have gone overboard and done such irrational things that take you back to the days of book burning. That is a concern for me," Maguire said. "We know some of our fans were shocked and ... upset. I totally understand it. My problem is, when does it cross the line? When is trashing Emily's property OK? When is writing a threatening letter OK?" Mixed feelings among fansBut some people in Greenville said they aren't sure they want to forgive the Dixie Chicks.
A man in a pickup truck passing by the Bi-Lo Wednesday night yelled: "Dixie Chicks go home," reported The Associated Press. The Marshall Tucker Band is headlining a benefit concert for veterans in nearby Spartanburg, and local talk-radio personalities organized a ticket swap to that concert for Dixie Chicks ticket buyers since the Chicks tickets are nonrefundable. Maines "said something in another country she shouldn't have said," Doug Gray, lead singer of the Marshall Tucker Band, told the AP. The Chicks have even faced threats of violence, prompting the group to hire off-duty police officers for 24-hour-a-day protection. Wade Jessen of Billboard magazine said that the group has been hurt by the country market, which tends to be conservative and discouraging of dissent. "Country music and country radio really is the place on the radio dial and the format where patriotism and love of God, family and country really lives," he said. Maguire told Sawyer that she believes the group has taken harder knocks because of the conservative nature of country music fans. "History tells us that we're very conservative," she said. "I don't think it's because we're women. I don't think it's because of anything else." Finding supportBut there are many signs of support for the Dixie Chicks. The tour is almost sold out, their record "Home" has remained high on the charts, and the group's blunt determination in the midst of the controversy has garnered them compliments from several notables, including Bruce Springsteen. "For them to be banished wholesale from radio stations, and even entire radio networks, for speaking out is un-American," Springsteen wrote on his Web site. Some fans in Greenville said they aren't letting the controversy keep them away from the concert. "The Dixie Chicks are hot," said one Greenville man. "[They've] got great music." Still, only Thursday night will tell if his view is shared by the majority of local fans. It will be the first face-to-face test of where the Dixie Chicks stand with the public -- and what they can expect as the tour continues. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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