Concert Review - The Chicks World Tour in Louisville, Kentucky
The Chicks World Tour made its way to Louisville, Kentucky, on July 25, 2023. With a setlist comprised of selections from each of their five studio albums, it's a show that every fan should see! I share my highlights in this country music podcast.
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After 25 years I finally had the chance to see The Chicks. They are touring the US and all over the world throughout 2023 and I was able to see them in Louisville at the KFC Yum Center. I promise you that if I would’ve seen them in 1997 as a 9-year-old I would’ve had the same reaction I had as a 34-year-old.
I cried the moment they hit the stage. It was surreal to me to see these musicians that shaped my musical upbringing. Every single album has been a part of my life.
Wild Rivers opened the show with a 45-minute set – they were very good! I wasn’t familiar with their music prior to the show – but they are a folk-pop band – very good performers and musicians and they can keep the crowd engaged.
The Chicks have five studio albums and they put together a setlist that spotlights each album. In country music there tends to be a standard setlist: Open with high energy songs that everyone knows, slow it down briefly in the middle and try some newer songs, and then close with your biggest radio hits. Even if an artist has a brand-new album, they may not typically play very many songs from it.
The Chicks setlist was perfect. It was heavy on Gaslighter, their latest album they released in 2020. After that I would say “Fly” – was the most performed with “Home” in third, there were two songs from “Taking the Long Way,” and just the title track from their debut album. I loved that they played a few album cuts, too, rather than just focusing on the radio singles.
Natalie did say she had gotten a cold and wasn’t feeling the greatest and there were times when she’d let the crowd take over the vocals, but by the end of the show, her voice sounded really strong. Unfortunately, they would have to cancel the next three shows, but she really did power through the Louisville show.
The Chicks are such a vital part of country music history in the sense that they are the reason so many young kids wanted to play musical instruments. I got a guitar when I was 11 because of watching them. In the late 90s, in country music, you didn’t see female bands. Artists like Shania, Terri Clark, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Suzy Bogguss to name a few, all played guitar. Then you have Emily who plays guitar, dobro, and banjo and Martie on the fiddle, and Natalie on guitar. They were very influential. To see that come together onstage was a magical experience for me – they really are flawless.
Wide Open Spaces was released to country radio 25 years ago – the same week I heard those quiet guitar strums, followed by Martie’s fiddle intro. That was my favorite moment of the show.
There’s a part of the show where their entire band sits down and joins them – it was a really cool segment – and reminds you that they are all about the music.
They let their songwriting do the talking – no matter what the topic or issue. Their graphics and stage design add to that – whether it’s a fun jab at a political figure or powerful imagery depicting current events – you know where they stand.
“Not Ready to Make Nice” was a standout moment. The fun bluegrass infused “White Trash Wedding” was a nice surprise. No matter what era of Chicks music you loved, you got to hear it, and the setlist was perfectly created. I would’ve loved more selections from the “Wide Open Spaces” album because there were so many hit singles – “I Can Love You Better,” “Tonight the Heartache’s on Me,” and “There’s Your Trouble” – but it’s hard to argue with the songs they performed. I won’t give too much more of the setlist away – there are plenty of opportunities to see them throughout the late summer and into fall.