Dixie Chicks tour coming to Phoenix

Back then, some fans were still a bit stung by "The Incident," the comments lead singer Natalie Maines made about then President George W. Bush in London on the eve of the U.S. going to war in Iraq in 2013. But judging by the crowds all but filling every arena on the "DCX World Tour MMXVI," all seems to be mostly forgiven. 

The tour pulls into Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix on Sunday, July 17 as part of the North American leg of a tour that first played throughout Europe early this year.  Call it a greatest hits concert; the trio has no new music and none in the offing as far as we can  tell. They haven't done any media interviews or granting media credentials for the tour, saying they've gotten far too many requests to consider.

But don't call this a reunion tour; the Texas-born trio — Maines and multi-instrumental sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire — never broke up. But with the exception of a few appearances on festivals and smaller shows, they have been on hiatus of sorts as the members went on to start families, marry, divorce and pursue solo projects. 

The break also gave the public time to forget the backlash from Maines' 2003 comments, which was spectacular; fans boycotted Dixie Chicks concerts, burned and crushed their CDs and urged country radio to stop playing their music. Fellow country stars, including most notably Toby Keith, unleashed scathing criticism.

The Chicks came back in 2006 with "Taking The Long Way," an album that took on its critics head-on including with the single "Not Ready to Make Nice." The album was overwhelmingly praised by critics and won the 2007 album of the year Grammy.

In addition to pulling generously from that album, the Chicks' 2016 setlist will surely include early hits — “Goodbye Earl” to “Sin Wagon,” “That’s Your Trouble,” “Long Time Gone,” “Cowboy Take Me Away” and “Open Spaces.” and “Not Ready to Make Nice.” And don’t be too shocked when they perform "Goodbye Earl" if they flash a defaced picture of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on a big screen, the most overt political statement they make from the stage, according to some concert reviews.