Twenty years after Taking the Long Way nearly ended their career and wound up defining it, The Chicks are playing the album front to back for the first time. The Taking the Long Way 20th Anniversary Tour — subtitled “Still Not Ready to Make Nice” — runs 16 theater dates this fall, with Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Strayer performing the complete record each night before closing with hits from the broader catalog. The San Antonio stop on Saturday, October 17, is one of only two Texas dates on the run.
About the Show
The outline of the album’s origin is well known, but it still carries weight. In 2003, Maines criticized President George W. Bush and the Iraq War at a concert, setting off radio bans, public CD destruction campaigns, and an industry blacklisting that most bands would not have survived. The trio, thirteen-time Grammy Award winners and the biggest-selling U.S. female band of all time with more than 30.5 million albums sold, went back into the studio rather than back down. What came out was Taking the Long Way, released May 23, 2006: a record that debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. “Not Ready to Make Nice,” the song that answered the backlash directly, took three Grammys on its own. The tour subtitle borrows the line without irony. Each show runs the full album first, then opens into fan favorites from the broader catalog.
Venue & Logistics
The Majestic Theatre in downtown San Antonio hosts two consecutive nights: October 17 and 18. Rolling Stone described the run as “16 intimate theater shows,” and at 2,264 seats, the Majestic fits that description for a band with 30.5 million albums sold. San Antonio has a real claim on these dates: Emily Strayer lives in the city and operates SOAP Laundry Lounge there. San Antonio and Austin are the only Texas stops on the tour. Doors open at 7 p.m.; show time is 8:30 p.m. The theater offers step-free access, wheelchair accommodations, and services for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences.
Tickets
The October 17 show is sold out through the primary seller; resale tickets are available via StubHub. No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Buy tickets