Two nights of The Chicks in Bend

Published 3:30 pm Tuesday, August 2, 2022

The Chicks — formerly known as The Dixie Chicks — will play Hayden Homes Amphitheater Tuesday, Aug. 9 and Wednesday, Aug. 10.

Raise your hand if you saw the documentary “Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing” at the old Pilot Butte 6 movie theater that once stood where Bend’s Wilco is today. (Raises hand.) I miss that theater. It was all mellow vibes and indie films, and it ruled. So did that film, which documented the fallout that followed public criticism of then-President George W. Bush made by Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines during a concert in London.

Sixteen years later, the subjects of that film — The Dixie Chicks, now known simply as The Chicks — will visit Bend for the first time next week, for a two-night stand at Hayden Homes Amphitheater. The controversy at the center of “Shut Up and Sing” played a major role in The Chicks’ career arc, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Texas trio is one of the best-selling acts in the history of country music, and that they’ve released five outstanding albums over the past 24 years, including 2020’s “Gaslighter,” their first since 2006.

Join me at one of the shows and let’s sing along to “Wide Open Spaces” and “Ready to Run” and “Cowboy Take Me Away” and “Goodbye Earl” and “Without You” and “Long Time Gone” and “Travelin’ Soldier” and on and on. What a band!

The Chicks, with Patty Griffin: $65, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9 and Wednesday, Aug. 10, doors open 5 p.m., Hayden Homes Amphitheater, 344 SW Shevlin Hixon Drive, bendconcerts.com.

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