“Who’s ready for a hootenanny?” calls Natalie Maines, frontwoman of The Chicks, during their Sunday afternoon set on the Pyramid Stage at this years Glastonbury Festival.
The Chicks are currently on a world tour, with several UK dates, but Glastonbury was undoubtedly the biggest crowd (and most varied) in the UK to date.
The Chicks were a force of nature on the legendary Pyramid Stage, delivering a barnstorming set of country tunes with a rebellious edge. The trio of Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer have always been trailblazers in the genre, blending traditional roots with pop sensibilities and tackling thorny issues like politics, feminism and race (they dropped the Dixie from their name last year to distance themselves from the South’s racist past).
Setlist
- Sin Wagon
- Gaslighter
- Ready to Run
- Landslide (Fleetwood Mac cover)
- Wide Open Spaces
- Cowboy Take Me Away
- Tights on My Boat
- White Trash Wedding
- Long Time Gone/Daddy Lessons
- Rainbowland (Miley Cyrus cover)
- March March
- Not Ready to Make Nice
- Goodbye Earl (encore)
Watch on BBC Iplayer until 25 July 2023 (Iplayer login required)
They’ve faced their share of backlash over the years (remember when they dared to speak out against George W Bush and his war in Iraq and got banned from US radio?), but they’ve never backed down or compromised their vision.
Their performance showcased their versatility and vitality, spanning from their Nineties gems like the exhilarating “Wide Open Spaces” to their recent hits like the haunting “March March”. They paid tribute to some of their musical heroes with a rollicking rendition of Beyoncé’s “Daddy Lessons” and a rainbow-coloured cover of Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton’s “Rainbowland” for Pride Month. But the highlight was Maines rocking a silver mohawk and belting out their 1999 smash “Ready to Run” with gusto. The Chicks are ready to run the world.