Click DitsyChick picture for her latest song!! ;>)
Posted on 06/09/2006 9:15:45 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
LOS ANGELES -- Country music trio the Dixie Chicks, still taking heat for criticizing President Bush, are weathering sluggish ticket sales in several cities for their upcoming U.S. tour, industry watchers reported Thursday.
While early ticket purchases for their first major tour in three years are generally robust in Northeastern cities, initial sales have fallen short of expectations in numerous markets, especially in the Midwest and South, forcing some dates to be scrubbed.
According to Pollstar, dates in Memphis, Tennessee, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, and Fresno, California, have been dropped from the tour schedule for now, while box-office sales also were canceled for Houston.
By contrast, the group's latest album, Taking the Long Way, opened atop the U.S. pop charts last week, selling 526,000 copies during its first seven days and remaining No. 1 in its second week to notch one of the year's strongest debuts.
But with many country music stations denying the Chicks airplay, box office business is off to a slow start in places where the group has sold out in the past, said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of concert industry magazine Pollstar.
Billboard magazine reported that ticket counts for shows that went on sale last weekend were averaging 5,000 to 6,000 seats per date in major markets, and less in secondary locales. Arena capacities on the tour generally top 15,000.
"Basically, they're having to rethink the entire tour at this point," Bongiovanni told Reuters. "Clearly their problems seem to be strongest in the red states," he said, referring to those areas carried by Bush in the 2004 presidential election.
A key factor in tepid sales was the continuing backlash against the Dixie Chicks by many country music stations over the anti-Bush remarks of lead singer Natalie Maines in 2003.
Publicists for the band declined to comment, as did officials for AEG, one of the companies promoting the tour.
Maines sparked an uproar when she declared during a London concert in March 2003 that the band was embarrassed to come from the same state -- Texas -- as the president. She fanned flames anew by retracting an earlier apology for "disrespecting the office of the president," telling Time magazine in a recent interview: "I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever."
"Country radio in many places has really closed the door on this group," Bongiovanni said, adding that some stations have not only refused to play the Chicks' music, they have refused advertisements for their tour as well.
Still, ticket sales were strong in cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Toronto, where a second October show was added to the schedule after the first concert quickly sold out, he said.
Further complicating the Chicks' commercial outlook has been their recent transformation as a band, Bongiovanni said.
"They've moved away from being a purely country group, so their audience is changing," he said.
Bongiovanni said it was not unusual for concert schedules to be altered after being booked, but he said the Dixie Chicks tour was drawing more attention than usual "because of the politics behind it." After two shows in London this month, the tour was set to begin July 21 in Detroit.
Natalie Maines drinks toilet water.
Just keep on talking Natalie. Sheesh, the other band members need to find the duct tape.
I was referring, more specifically, to Excessive "G" Syndrome.
Bummer. I wonder what Soros is going to do with all those CD's?
These arrogant little cowchip divas now have to rely on the likes of Al Franken, Don Imus, Air America, DU, Daily KOS, and left wing nuts who really hate their music to feed themselves.
I posted that info though because I wanted to give kudos to a group that ARE true Texan/country/musicians...not the posturing dreck that DC calls itself...BATR's success would be a FINE slap in the face of DC, dont you think?
Click DitsyChick picture for her latest song!! ;>)
This isn't generally a problem among the European Geophysical Society.
Ha ha ha...
As a fat woman, I'm ashamed that nataliemains is fat.
>:-(
In related news, Jane Fonda has announced that she plans to join the Dixie Chicks concert tour.
But chubs said that they weren't country and only wanted a small "kool" fan base.
They should be so happy that their former fans gave them what they wanted.
BTW If you stick CD's into a 400 degree oven they come out looking like big silver potato chips.
We should all go and protest at their concerts. Maybe they can go over to Iran and sing their stupid songs to our enemies.
ouch...
I feel like we are giving to much credence to these twits. Why don't they just add a few blue state tour dates and be done with this. They are not going to be in the poor house anytime soon if ever. I don't know why they receive all this attention. Granted the Red states won, which I am glad, but to give pity on these girls (I know you are not, but the story sorta is) is not a good idea. They have turned their backs on America and should just be forgotten and if that cannot be done than at least ignored. IMHO.
I wonder how much money the little bitch cost the other 2 bitches. At some point in time friendship will not underwrite her stupidity. It must be millions.
It's not just "red states/blue states:" they've limited themselves to playing only blue *counties*, which are a far smaller proportion of the country than the usual "blue state" picture suggests.
Did you hear about her song bashing Lubbock? Called "Lubbock or Leave It"
Lubbock's a wonderful town. Biggest town in America.
Maine is a skank.
What's your problem with the 19th century? You have something against the piano?
LOL! (me too!)
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