Top of the World Tour

Top of the World Tour

Front of tour T-shirt
Tour by Dixie Chicks
Associated album Home
Start date March 10, 2003
End date October 12, 2003
Legs 3
Shows 70
Dixie Chicks tour chronology
Fly Tour
(2000)		 Top of the World Tour
(2003)		 Vote for Change
(2004)

Top of the World Tour was the 2003 concert tour by American country music trio Dixie Chicks. It was in support of their album Home, and named after the song "Top of the World" on that album.

Contents

History

The tour began with three promotional concerts in Europe and Australia. During the first of these on March 10, 2003, at Shepherds Bush Empire in London, Natalie Maines made her controversial remarks criticizing President George W. Bush a few days before the start of the Iraq War: "Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas."[1] The backdrop to this statement was the large protests in Britain against the impending war.[2]

The first leg of the tour then took place in North America, running from the beginning of May to mid-August. (The Bush controversy and a comment against a Toby Keith song resulted in the state of South Carolina not wanting to let the band in. Natalie Maines stated, "These fans paid their hard earned money to see us play, and we will give them the show they paid to see!" The concert went on.) The second leg took place in Western Europe in September, followed by a brief third leg in Australia that finished in early October. A couple of concerts back in the United States finished the tour.

The tour grossed $60.5 million dollars, making it the highest grossing country music tour up until that time (since superseded by several artists). It was also the 8th highest-grossing tour of any genre in 2003.

The live album Top of the World Tour: Live and DVD Top of the World Tour: Live document the tour — both are composed of performances from multiple shows. Dressing room and on-stage scenes from the tour, as well as the effect of Maines' controversial statement on the venture, were included in the 2006 documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing.

The show

The multi-tiered in-the-round stage was a feat of engineering complete with shifting hydraulic-lift levels, winding catwalks and walkways that extended over the heads of the audience. It weighed over 80,000 pounds and took up most of the arena floor. A crew of 120 traveled in thirteen busses and seventeen trucks. This show included the largest touring video show, with 1.5 million LED lights displaying graphics on video screens and on the floor of the stage. During the show, artificial flowers, grass, trees and a windmill sprung up from underneath the stage. It took over 2000 amps of power and 240 pounds of CO2 gas to run the special effects for each show.

Recorded pre-show music included "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?", "Band on the Run", "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", and "Born in the U.S.A.".

During the show the three singers used headset microphones and were frequently well apart from each other. Nevertheless stage patter was fairly frequent, with a notable case of Martie Maguire confessing that her rather unusual clothing assemblage made her look like "Crack whore Barbie".

A new addition to the group's repertoire was a long, churning rendition of Bob Dylan's travelphobic "Mississippi".

Backing band

There may have been minor changes to this lineup depending on the venue.

Tour Schedule

Date City, State Venue
March 10, 2003[a] London, England Shepherd's Bush Empire
March 19, 2003 Munich, Germany Georg-Elser-Hallen
March 29, 2003 Sydney, Australia Enmore Theatre
May 1, 2003[b] Greenville Bi-Lo Center
May 3, 2003 Orlando TD Waterhouse Centre
May 4, 2003 Ft. Lauderdale Office Depot Center
May 5, 2003 Tampa St. Pete Times Forum
May 7, 2003 Knoxville Thompson-Boling Arena
May 8, 2003 Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse
May 10, 2003 Kansas City Kemper Arena
May 11, 2003 St. Louis Savvis Center
May 13, 2003 Ames Hilton Coliseum
May 14, 2003 Moline The MARK of the Quad Cities
May 16, 2003 Birmingham BJCC Arena
May 17, 2003 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
May 18, 2003 Louisville Freedom Hall
May 20, 2003 Oklahoma City Ford Center
May 21, 2003 Austin Frank Erwin Center
May 29, 2003 Chicago United Center
May 30, 2003 Chicago United Center
June 1, 2003[c] Cleveland Gund Arena
June 2, 2003 Detroit The Palace of Auburn Hills
June 3, 2003 Detroit The Palace of Auburn Hills
June 5, 2003 Milwaukee Bradley Center
June 6, 2003 St. Paul Xcel Energy Center
June 7, 2003 St. Paul Xcel Energy Center
June 9, 2003 Cincinnati US Bank Arena
June 10, 2003 Columbus, Ohio Nationwide Arena
June 11, 2003 Cleveland Gund Arena
June 12, 2003[d] Toronto Air Canada Centre
June 13, 2003 Buffalo HSBC Arena
June 14, 2003 Pittsburgh Mellon Arena
June 16, 2003 Philadelphia First Union Center
June 17, 2003 Philadelphia First Union Center
June 19, 2003 Boston Fleet Center
June 20, 2003 New York City Madison Square Garden
June 21, 2003 New York City Madison Square Garden
June 23, 2003 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum
June 25, 2003 Washington, DC MCI Center
June 26, 2003 Washington, DC MCI Center
June 27, 2003 Albany Pepsi Arena
July 6, 2003[e] Dallas American Airlines Center
July 8, 2003 Denver Pepsi Center
July 9, 2003 Salt Lake City Delta Center
July 11, 2003 Vancouver GM Place
July 12, 2003 Seattle Key Arena
July 13, 2003 Portland Rose Garden Arena
July 15, 2003 Oakland Oakland Arena
July 16, 2003 San Jose HP Pavilion at San Jose
July 17, 2003 Sacramento Arco Arena
July 19, 2003 Los Angeles Staples Center
July 20, 2003 Anaheim Arrowhead Pond
July 21, 2003 Anaheim Arrowhead Pond
July 23, 2003 San Diego Cox Arena
July 25, 2003 Phoenix America West Arena
July 26, 2003 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden
July 27, 2003 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden
July 29, 2003 San Antonio SBC Center
July 30, 2003 Houston Compaq Center
August 1, 2003 Little Rock Alltel Center
August 2, 2003 Memphis Pyramid Arena
August 3, 2003 Atlanta Philips Arena
August 4, 2003 Nashville Gaylord Entertainment Center
August 6, 2003 Toronto Air Canada Centre
August 7, 2003 Ottawa Corel Centre
August 8, 2003 Hamilton Copps Coliseum
August 12, 2003 Edmonton Skyreach Centre
August 13, 2003 Calgary Pengrowth Saddledome
September 6, 2003 Stockholm, Sweden Annexet
September 8, 2003 Hamburg, Germany CCH1
September 10, 2003 Birmingham, England NEC
September 11, 2003 Manchester, England Manchester Apollo
September 14, 2003 London, England Royal Albert Hall
September 15, 2003 London, England Royal Albert Hall
September 18, 2003 Dublin, Ireland The Point Theatre
September 19, 2003 Glasgow, Scotland SECC
September 21, 2003 Munich, Germany Olympiahalle
September 22, 2003 Frankfurt, Germany Jahrhunderthalle
September 28, 2003 Melbourne, Australia Rod Laver Arena
September 29, 2003 Melbourne, Australia Rod Laver Arena
October 1, 2003 Brisbane, Australia Entertainment Centre
October 2, 2003 Brisbane, Australia Entertainment Centre
October 4, 2003 Sydney, Australia Sydney Superdome
October 5, 2003 Sydney, Australia Entertainment Centre
October 10, 2003 Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
October 12, 2003 Washington, DC MCI Center

^ a The concert at which Natalie Maines made the controversial statement "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas."
^ b First American concert after controversy.
^ c Cancelled - Natalie Maines sick.
^ d Postponed - SARS scare.
^ e Natalie Maines received death threat saying she'd "be shot dead" at this concert.

Set list

In order played. There may have been minor changes to this order depending on the venue and the opening act.

US and Canadian Legs

  1. Goodbye Earl
  2. Some Days You Gotta Dance
  3. There's Your Trouble
  4. Long Time Gone
  5. Tortured, Tangled Hearts
  6. Travelin' Soldier
  7. Am I The Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way)
  8. Hello Mr. Heartache
  9. Cold Day in July
  10. White Trash Wedding
  11. Lil' Jack Slade
  12. A Home
  13. Truth No. 2
  14. If I Fall You're Going Down With Me
  15. Mississippi
  16. Cowboy Take Me Away
  17. Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)
  18. Landslide
  19. Ready To Run
  20. Wide Open Spaces

Encore:

  1. Top of the World
  2. Sin Wagon

European and Australian Legs

  1. Goodbye Earl
  2. Some Days You Gotta Dance
  3. There's Your Trouble
  4. Tortured, Tangled Hearts
  5. Travelin' Soldier
  6. Am I The Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way)
  7. Hello Mr. Heartache
  8. White Trash Wedding
  9. Lil' Jack Slade
  10. More Love
  11. Truth No. 2
  12. If I Fall You're Going Down With Me
  13. Mississippi
  14. Cowboy Take Me Away
  15. Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)
  16. Landslide (Sheryl Crow remix)
  17. Ready To Run
  18. Wide Open Spaces
  19. Give It Up Or Let Me Go

Encore:

  1. Top of the World
  2. Sin Wagon

Opening Acts

Each artist accompanied the Dixie Chicks on a different leg of the tour.

References

  1. ^ Democracy Now! (2007). "Shut Up And Sing: Dixie Chicks' Big Grammy Win Caps Comeback From Backlash Over Anti-War Stance" Democracy Now! (accessed 24 Feb 2007)
  2. ^ "Thousands more take stand against conflict in demonstrations throughout Britain" The Guardian, 10 March 2003. Access date 15 May 2010.
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