B
Bruzilla
Guest
http://www.thetennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060614/BUSINESS01/606140408
With U.S. ticket sales slow, Chicks head north of border
Concerts may be reset or canceled in some cities
By RYAN UNDERWOOD
Staff Writer
They may not be running for elected office, but the Dixie Chicks appear to be struggling to work out a kind of political map of their own, heading for concert arenas where ticket sales are brisker and the fans may be more forgiving.
The pop-country trio — whose lead singer Natalie Maines set off a firestorm when she criticized President Bush during a 2003 concert in London — announced eight new concert dates in Canada and the Northeast for the first leg of their summer concert tour on Tuesday.
At the same time, at least 12 U.S. sites, concentrated mostly in the South and Midwest, have put ticket sales for shows on hold after they initially went on sale June 3.
Concert dates in cities such as Houston, Jacksonville, Memphis and St. Louis will likely have to be rescheduled or canceled. No cities have been dropped from the tour outright yet, organizers insist.
It was during that tour that lead singer Maines told a London crowd, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Immediately after the remark, many country radio stations stopped playing the trio's songs in protest and album sales plummeted.
"I think the Dixie Chicks are being put under a microscope by the press because of the whole President Bush remark," Bongiovanni said.
I think there's too much emphasis being placed on Maines's Bush remark. I think their problems stems from Maine's remarks about country music and how she doesn't like it and how the sterotypes about the people who listen to country music are all true. That's a much bigger insult to the fan base than what she said about Bush.
With U.S. ticket sales slow, Chicks head north of border
Concerts may be reset or canceled in some cities
By RYAN UNDERWOOD
Staff Writer
They may not be running for elected office, but the Dixie Chicks appear to be struggling to work out a kind of political map of their own, heading for concert arenas where ticket sales are brisker and the fans may be more forgiving.
The pop-country trio — whose lead singer Natalie Maines set off a firestorm when she criticized President Bush during a 2003 concert in London — announced eight new concert dates in Canada and the Northeast for the first leg of their summer concert tour on Tuesday.
At the same time, at least 12 U.S. sites, concentrated mostly in the South and Midwest, have put ticket sales for shows on hold after they initially went on sale June 3.
Concert dates in cities such as Houston, Jacksonville, Memphis and St. Louis will likely have to be rescheduled or canceled. No cities have been dropped from the tour outright yet, organizers insist.
It was during that tour that lead singer Maines told a London crowd, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Immediately after the remark, many country radio stations stopped playing the trio's songs in protest and album sales plummeted.
"I think the Dixie Chicks are being put under a microscope by the press because of the whole President Bush remark," Bongiovanni said.
I think there's too much emphasis being placed on Maines's Bush remark. I think their problems stems from Maine's remarks about country music and how she doesn't like it and how the sterotypes about the people who listen to country music are all true. That's a much bigger insult to the fan base than what she said about Bush.