Fly Tour

For the Got7 tour, see Fly Tour (Got7).

The Fly Tour (2000) was the debut North American concert tour by country music band The Chicks' (formerly the Dixie Chicks), performing sold-out shows in over 80 cities across Canada and the contiguous United States. The tour was primarily in-support of their sophomore album Fly (1999), as well as featuring songs from their debut album, Wide Open Spaces (1998). The Chicks would also feature several new or specially-selected songs at various stops on the tour, as well as an instrumental bluegrass “jam” piece titled “Roanoke”, alternating with another instrumental called simple “Brilliancy”.

Fly Tour

Tour by Dixie Chicks
Associated album	Fly
Start date	June 1, 2000 (2000-06-01)
End date	December 3, 2000 (2000-12-03)
Legs	4
No. of shows	89 in North America
Dixie Chicks concert chronology

History

Announced in mid-April 2000,^[1] this was the Dixie Chicks' first headlining tour.^[2][3] Moreover, the group was jumping directly to playing mostly in arenas.^[1] Since the sudden jump in the group's success in 1998, they had played as a supporting act for Tim McGraw and as part of the George Strait Country Music Festival and Lilith Fair, seeking to expose themselves to diverse audiences in building a fan base.^[2] The live reputation the group developed for their instrumental prowess and performance strengths^[4] led to them embarking upon an ambitious, high-profile, large-venue tour of their own.^[3]

Begun at the start of June 2000 with five dates in Canada, and with occasional two-week breaks in between legs, the tour was originally scheduled to end in September. However, after having grossed over $25 million for about 50 dates,^[2] and averaging about 13,000 fans per show,^[2] it was extended until early December,^[2] when it concluded with four dates in the Chicks' native Texas.

In terms of commercial impact, LiveDaily termed the tour "a runaway success",^[2] and it came at a time when the country music genre was in a box-office slump.^[1][3] It represented an innovation in a business sense, as three different promoters were used, covering different geographical regions of the country, rather than the more typical use of a different local promoter at each stop.^[3] Chicks management did this in order to get more consistent messaging in marketing and promotion, which itself was aided by an over $3 million national advertising campaign.^[3] The comically themed commercials showed the Chicks as touring neophytes, learning how to smash banjos and tear up hotel rooms.^[1] Tour sponsors were MusicCountry.com and CMT, while one dollar of each ticket sale was donated to the World Wildlife Fund.^[1]

In the end, the Fly Tour grossed over $47 million,^[5] with an average attendance of over 12,000.^[6] It was the biggest country music tour in 2000 by any single act^[4] (trailing only the joint Tim McGraw–Faith Hill Soul2Soul Tour)^[7] and the sixth highest-grossing tour of any genre during the year.^[5]

For 2000, the tour was nominated for Pollstar's most important award, that of Major Tour of the Year, but lost out to the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour.^[8] It did however win Pollstar's Personal Manager of the Year award for the group's manager, Simon Renshaw,^[8] who had negotiated the unusual promotion arrangements.^[3]

The tour also had a cultural effect: the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains stated that the Fly Tour "gained a life of its own, making the Dixie Chicks a pop-cultural phenomenon, with young and enthusiastic audiences flocking" to see the group.^[9]

The show

The shows themselves attracted both parents and their children.^[4][10] In particular, young girls could be seen dressing as their favorite member of the trio.^[4] Slogans such as "Chicks Rule!" and "Chicks Kick Ass!" were prevalent during the tour.^[4][11]

Production values were emphasized for the show, with eight trucks required to haul it.^[3] A six-man band backed the three Chicks.^[11] Stage and show design involved members of the Cirque du Soleil team,^[3] including lighting designer Luc Lafortune.^[1] The stage was surrounded by a curtain that resembled a pair of jeans, complete with a working zipper.^[12] Various interactive pre-show activities kept the audience busy,^[12] as a huge remote-controlled mechanical fly circled over the audience.^[13] Then the show began, by the zipper dropping and the curtain falling away.^[11]

The Dixie Chicks' generally performed for about an hour and a half.^[11] The themes of the show veered between love songs and declarations of female independence, with the opener "Ready to Run" and the climactic "Goodbye Earl" both exemplifying the latter.^[14] Video screens would sometimes show the music videos that went with a song, and other times would show humorous interludes, such as the trio's own fashion disasters from the past.^[14] Other stage effects included a night full of stars with a setting moon for "Cowboy Take Me Away", and bubbles representing snow falling from the rafters for "Cold Day in July".^[12] The main set generally finished with what would become a furious concert staple of theirs, "Sin Wagon"; for the encores, "Goodbye Earl" – the song of the moment for Chicks fans^[13] – was often performed with the three Chicks spread out among the audience in different corners of the venue,^[11][12] while "Wide Open Spaces" was the occasion for a mass sing-along.^[11]

By the later stages of the tour, lead singer Natalie Maines was visibly pregnant with her first child,^[15] and was able to rest during the middle section of the show, which featured the trio performing numbers such as Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough" while sitting on a couch.^[12][13]

Critical reaction to the Fly Tour shows was generally positive. The New York Times called it "a slick, good-natured show that seesawed between clinging love songs and declarations of female independence."^[14] Rolling Stone said that while the group "can pop and rock with conviction", at other times the show represented "stone-cold, hard-core honky tonk at its best", and that the youthful audience's roars of approval for the sisters' instrumental virtuosity – which it compared to those Eddie Van Halen got for guitar solos – was "damn near revolutionary".^[11] Rolling Stone did criticize the "overly ambitious stage and lighting design" for detracting from the on-stage intimacy between the three group members and their backing band,^[11] while The University News praised it, saying the show "appealed to the eyes with its unique stage and interesting special effects."^[12] The Daily Universe's reviewer called the group "the most exciting country-and-western group I have ever seen,"^[16] while KAOS2000 magazine said "this trio of hotties know how to put on a show and definitely had control of the big arena stage."^[15] A Citysearch.com writer said that Maines' voice was not the strongest in performance, but benefited from the joint strength when combined with the sisters'.^[13]

Broadcasts and recordings

The August shows at Washington, D.C.'s MCI Center were filmed and used as the basis for an NBC network special called, "Dixie Chicks: On the Fly". The special aired November 20, 2000.^[17]

Opening acts

• Patty Griffin (select shows)^[4]
• Ricky Skaggs (select shows)^[4]
• Joe Ely (September, select shows)^[6]
• Willie Nelson (October, select shows)^[4]
• Grupo Vida (October, select shows)^[6]
• The Maines Brothers Band (Lubbock)^[18]

Setlist

1. "Ready to Run"
2. "There's Your Trouble"
3. "Hello Mr. Heartache"
4. "Don't Waste Your Heart"
5. "Without You"
6. "If I Fall You're Going Down with Me"
7. "I Can Love You Better"
8. "You Were Mine"
9. "Give It Up or Let Me Go"
10. "Video Sequence"
11. "Let Him Fly"
12. "Heartbreak Town"
13. "Strong Enough"
14. "Brilliancy" (and/or "Roanoke" with a snippet of "Dixie Chicken")
15. "Let 'Er Rip"
16. "Tonight the Heartache's on Me"
17. "Cold Day in July"
18. "Some Days You Gotta Dance"
19. "Cowboy Take Me Away"
20. "Sin Wagon"

Encore

21. "Goodbye Earl"
22. "Wide Open Spaces"

There were some minor changes to this order depending on the venue and the opening act. "Am I the Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way)", "Loving Arms", "Truth No.2", and "Merry Christmas From the Family" were also played during the tour.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue	Tickets Sold / Available	Revenue
North America[1][2][19]
June 1, 2000	Winnipeg	Canada	Winnipeg Arena
June 2, 2000	Saskatoon		Saskatchewan Place
June 3, 2000	Edmonton		Skyreach Centre
June 4, 2000	Calgary		Pengrowth Saddledome
June 8, 2000	Vancouver		General Motors Place
June 9, 2000	Spokane	United States	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
June 10, 2000	Tacoma		Tacoma Dome	20,018 / 20,018	$777,632
June 11, 2000	Portland		Rose Garden Arena	15,636 / 15,636	$607,184
June 15, 2000	Sacramento		ARCO Arena
June 16, 2000	San Jose		San Jose Arena
June 17, 2000	Anaheim		Arrowhead Pond
June 18, 2000	Phoenix		America West Arena
June 19, 2000	Anaheim		Arrowhead Pond
June 22, 2000	San Diego		Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl
June 23, 2000	Las Vegas		Thomas & Mack Center
June 24, 2000	Salt Lake City		Delta Center
June 25, 2000	Nampa		Idaho Center Arena
June 29, 2000	North Little Rock		Alltel Arena
June 30, 2000	Lafayette		Cajundome
July 1, 2000	Biloxi		Mississippi Coast Coliseum
July 13, 2000	Chicago		United Center
July 14, 2000	Milwaukee		Bradley Center
July 15, 2000	Minneapolis		Target Center
July 16, 2000	Fargo		Fargodome
July 19, 2000	New York City		Radio City Music Hall
July 20, 2000
July 21, 2000	Albany		Pepsi Arena
July 22, 2000	Worcester		Worcester's Centrum Centre
July 23, 2000	Buffalo		HSBC Arena
August 3, 2000	Denver		Pepsi Center
August 4, 2000	Kansas City		Kemper Arena	14,426 / 14,426	$557,078
August 5, 2000	Oklahoma City		Myriad Convention Center Arena
August 6, 2000	Lubbock		United Spirit Arena
August 10, 2000	Dallas		Reunion Arena	27,456 / 27,456	$1,063,847
August 11, 2000
August 12, 2000	Austin		Frank Erwin Center
August 13, 2000	Houston		Compaq Center
August 17, 2000	Louisville		Freedom Hall	15,974 / 15,974	$629,952
August 18, 2000	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
August 19, 2000
August 20, 2000	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Centre
August 24, 2000	Washington, D.C.	United States	MCI Center
August 25, 2000
August 26, 2000	Winston-Salem		Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum
August 27, 2000	Atlanta		Philips Arena
September 7, 2000	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum
September 8, 2000	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum	15,271 / 15,271	$656,175
September 9, 2000	Nashville		Gaylord Entertainment Center	15,285 / 15,285	$692,630
September 10, 2000	Birmingham		BJCC Arena
September 14, 2000	Richmond		Richmond Coliseum
September 15, 2000	Raleigh		Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena
September 16, 2000	Roanoke		Roanoke Civic Center
September 17, 2000	Nashville		Gaylord Entertainment Center
September 28, 2000	Sunrise		National Car Rental Center
September 29, 2000	Tampa		Ice Palace	13,480 / 16,286	$646,540
September 30, 2000	Orlando		TD Waterhouse Centre
October 1, 2000	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum
October 6, 2000	Moline		MARK of the Quad Cities
October 7, 2000	Ames		Hilton Coliseum	11,521 / 11,521	$546,939
October 8, 2000	Lincoln		Bob Devaney Sports Center
October 10, 2000	Valley Center		Britt Brown Arena
October 12, 2000	Columbus		Value City Arena
October 13, 2000	University Park		Bryce Jordan Center
October 14, 2000	Philadelphia		First Union Spectrum	13,645 / 13,645	$648,826
October 15, 2000	Pittsburgh		Mellon Arena
October 19, 2000	Cincinnati		Firstar Center
October 20, 2000	Knoxville		Thompson–Boling Arena	14,647 / 14,647	$611,929
October 21, 2000	Charleston		Charleston Civic Center
October 22, 2000	Indianapolis		Conseco Fieldhouse	14,698 / 14,698	$666,817
October 26, 2000	Champaign		Assembly Hall
October 27, 2000	St. Louis		Savvis Center
October 28, 2000	Memphis		Pyramid Arena
October 29, 2000	New Orleans		New Orleans Arena
November 9, 2000	Lexington		Rupp Arena
November 10, 2000	Cleveland		Gund Arena	16,639 / 16,639	$794,331
November 12, 2000	Chicago		United Center
November 13, 2000	Saint Paul		Xcel Energy Center
November 16, 2000	Manhattan		Bramlage Coliseum
November 17, 2000	Denver		Pepsi Center
November 19, 2000	Phoenix		America West Arena
November 20, 2000	San Diego		Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl
November 21, 2000	Los Angeles		Staples Center
November 26, 2000	Oakland		The Arena in Oakland
November 27, 2000	Bakersfield		Bakersfield Centennial Garden
November 30, 2000	San Antonio		Alamodome	15,152 / 15,152	$673,706
December 1, 2000	Houston		Compaq Center
December 2, 2000	College Station		Reed Arena	9,872 / 9,872	$365,264
December 3, 2000	Fort Worth		Tarrant County Convention Center Arena	12,268 / 12,268	$587,489

Cancellations and rescheduled shows

June 12, 2000	Nashville, Tennessee	Tennessee State Fairgrounds	Cancelled. Concert was originally a part of the Fan Fair
August 19, 2000	Toronto	Air Canada Centre	Rescheduled to August 20, 2000
August 20, 2000	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Van Andel Arena	Cancelled
August 24, 2000	Philadelphia	First Union Center	Cancelled
September 9, 2000	Greenville, South Carolina	BI-LO Center	Cancelled
October 23, 2000	Evansville, Indiana	Roberts Municipal Stadium	Cancelled

References

1. Evans, Rob (April 13, 2000). "Dixie Chicks Step Up To Headliner Status". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
2. Evans, Rob (September 26, 2000). "Dixie Chicks to keep Fly tour alive into December". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
3. Gray, Michael (April 14, 2000). "Dates Confirmed for "The Dixie Chicks Fly Tour"". CMT News. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
4. "Dixie Chicks on Saturday Night Country". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2000-09-26. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
5. Hiatt, Brian (December 28, 2000). "Tina Turner, 'NSYNC Had Year's Top-Grossing Tours". MTV News. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
6. "Historical Dixie Chicks". Dixie Chicks Official Website. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
7. Dickerson, James L. (2001). Faith Hill: Piece of My Heart. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-28195-1. pp. 139–140.
8. "Pollstar Concert Industry Awards Winners Archives – 2000". Pollstar. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
9. David J. Wishart, ed. (2004). "Dixie Chicks". Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-4787-7. p. 537.
10. Kaufman, Leslie (2000-08-06). "Take Me Out To the Rock Fest". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
11. Skanse, Richard (July 21, 2000). "Live Review: The Dixie Chicks Take Manhattan". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
12. Dohrman, Rebecca (2000-11-02). "Dixie Chicks Let It Snow At Savvis". The University News. Retrieved 2008-10-23.^{[dead link]}
13. Glasen, Holly (June 18, 2000). "Review: Dixie Chicks At ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
14. Pareles, Jon (2000-07-24). "If Your Man Treats You Bad, It's Great to Break Loose but Even Better to Get Even". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
15. Anderson, Philip (2000). "Concert Review: Dixie Chicks 11/26/00". KAOS2000. Retrieved 2006-03-25.
16. Merrill, Clay (2000-06-27). "The Dixie Chicks in Salt Lake City" (fee required). The Daily Universe.^{[dead link]}
17. Mason, Dave (November 20, 2000). "Dixie Chicks do the tube". The Daily News. Vol. 146, no. 323. Bowling Green, Kentucky: News Publishing, LLC. p. 3B. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
18. Davis, John (August 7, 2000). "Chicks fly high for home crowd". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Morris Communications. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
19. Flippo, Chet (April 14, 2000). "Dixie Chicks Gear Up For Massive Road Trip". MTV News. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.

External links

• Dixie Chicks Website
• Tour Info