The Chicks’ Gaslighter World Tour: A Concert 17 Years in the Making

The last time The Chicks were in Australia was 7 years ago. Before that, there was a 10 year gap between tours. In Brisbane, there were only a couple Chicks shows within that 17 years with many fans not being able to attend those shows. Needless to say, when they returned to Brisbane in 2023 the first show sold out in record time and the band put on two extra shows…which also sold out. With so many shows in Brisbane, this would be the first time in the last 17 years for people to get a realistic chance to see the band. People could not wait for the band to return and there was a buzz about the show as people posted set lists online and made “Chicks’ Brisbane Set” playlists on Spotify. For me, this was the first time I got to hear all my Chicks’s favourites live and I could not wait! So, how can a band live up to 17 years of longing in one tour? Could the Chicks live up to such lofty hype?

In short, yes. Having said that, the Chicks have gone through a lot of changes in the last 17 years and the concert reflected their journey. Therefore, the concert’s pace was up and down with some classics that got the entire arena exploding mixed with some tracks off of Gaslighter that a portion of the crowd didn’t know. At times the crowd was trying to place a deep cut off the new record, but was quickly brought back in with an old staple. It was a bit of, “one for me and three for them,” as the band played a Gaslighter track they were very proud of to then follow it up with some big hits to get the crowd rocking. Now, I love Gaslighter so I was 100% in all the way, but some more strict country fans took time during newer tracks to stretch and go to the bathroom. So, for some of the audience the pace may have been a bit up and down.

However, you know how you get those old school fans on your side? Play almost every song you ever recorded for a solid two and a half hours plus with joy and boundless energy. Compare that to REM who played Brisbane roughly 8 years ago by starting with 4 new songs no one ever heard of before playing Orange Crush, indulging in some other artistic dribble and finishing up in about an hour. Yuck. This was more about introducing fans to some highlights from Gaslighter before playing a double album’s worth of greatest hits. That’s how you have an audience eat their broccoli…give them 2 hours of desert.

There were endless highlights. The show started with a blasting rendition of Gaslighter as the crowd exploded. After the track Natalie said “That’s Emily. That’s Martie. And I’m Natalie. We’re The Chicks and we hope to entertain you for the next few hours.” This led to a beautiful version of Juliana Calm Down, which worked the crowd into a frenzy as the song built to its crescendo. Classics like Cowboy Take me Away, Wide Open Spaces, Sin Wagon and Not Ready to Make Nice made for some classic country sing alongs as the crowd and the band became one. One track I was hoping for, which brought the house down, was the track they performed with Beyoncé on the CMAs and recorded with her on Lemonade, Daddy Lessons. What was cool was that there was a huge video screen which had different images throughout the show, but played a recording of them rehearsing the track with Beyoncé during the song.

The screen also played a major role in the song March March. Before the song the crew set up the stage, while the video screen named sites of mass shootings with the number of total dead displayed after the city. This led into the track with video collages of marches for Black Lives Matter, LGBTIQA+ rights, women’s rights and historical footage of women’s rights movements. The match of the song with the video montage was quite inspiring as the band, and the crowd, yelled out the lyric “army of one.” This shows that even when the band can go back into their classic country catalogue during the show, they have not lost their activist edge.

Moreover, the Chicks love covers. We heard Landslide, which is a major hit for the band and was one of the biggest crowd sing alongs. Hearing the band harmonise and Natalie’s amazing vocal gave me a new appreciation for this track. One cover that surprised me and I loved was Patti Griffin’s Don’t Let me Die in Florida. Now, The Chicks love Patti and have covered her before, so it was not a surprise that they would do a Patti track, but a surprise that it would be this deep cut. Loved it. One track that I never heard before was a Miley and Dolly Parton track called Rainbowland. Natalie talked about how the band celebrates gay pride “365 days a year” and played this cover with rainbow flags in the background.

With about 30 minutes left in the show the crew set up the stage for a final set. During the time different images whirred on the video screen with some music. Then we heard “We interrupt our program for a special announcement” as the phrase “Earl is a useless drunk” jumped on the screen. The crowd lost its mind and this foreshadowed the final song Goodbye Earl, which got everyone on their feet and closed the show with a bang. As Natalie, Emily and Martie put their arms around each other in the middle of the stage and took some well deserved bows to deafening applause.

What made the concert so amazing was how tight the band was. Natalie, Emily and Martie were all in sync and worked so well together live that hearing them really hit it transported you to another world. Natalie’s voice was incredible. She has lost a little of her range, but the power she gets when she goes for it can cut through everything and hits the crowd like a hammer. Experiencing that vocal in person is beyond words. You truly felt their joy for performing with each other. Moreover, they showed their genuine love for their fans. Multiple times the band encouraged people to dance, sing as loud as they want and have fun. The joy the band had playing together mirrored the joy fans had for finally seeing The Chicks in Brisbane and having them play ALL the songs they wanted to hear with love and energy. This show lived up to the hype for me and gave me a new appreciation for a band that I already love. What more could you ask from a concert?