Posted on 08/08/2006 4:33:04 AM PDT by Pokey78
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks' "Accidents & Accusations" tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates.
Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick's Web site.
Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates.
The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications have reported lackluster sales in some markets, particularly in the South and Midwest.
Group spokeswoman Kathy Allmand said Monday that the total number of North American dates remains the same, with several Canadian cities added in place of the U.S. shows.
The trio released a statement last week attributing the changes to attempts to "accommodate demand" and said more dates might be added next year.
The group also said the adjustments will allow them to promote the documentary "Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing," for the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
"We hope that our fans who were looking forward to a stop that is no longer on the tour will be able to join us at a nearby arena this fall, and we are sorry for any confusion or inconvenience these changes have caused," the Dixie Chicks said.
Many country fans criticized the band after lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience in 2003 on the eve of war in Iraq that the trio was "ashamed" President Bush was from their home state of Texas.
County radio stations dropped them from their playlists and have been slow to welcome them back, despite strong sales of their latest album, "Taking the Long Way."
The album, which has more of a rock edge than their previous releases, spent several weeks at the top of the country albums chart and has sold more than 1 million copies.
They're only welcome in Canada and certain well-known liberal cities.
Outside of Austin, I doubt they'll ever be invited to do a gig in Texas again.
And here's the thing - they 99.9% eliminated their natural audience, country fans. And they hope that the kind of people who normally hate country fans will take their place.
They're getting some support from places they never had it before because of the "courage" to speaking out against Bush. But in the long run, sooner or later they'll forget about the Hick Chicks.
That is NOT nice, Common Tator !!!
You give us the first line to what could be a GREAT FR parady song, (using the country song " The Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time") ...AND THEN YOU STOP?????
"That ain't right CT...."
Thank you Sue
sw
And the girls all get purtier at closin' time.
That means they'll trade in the fancy tour buses for the rusty Chevrolets.
The two sisters would do well to trade in the donkey that won't stop braying for The Couch That Burps. They married into the liberal schtick that is Maines and now the McGuire sisters are singing the Three Month Late Polka.
I first heard the Yoopers on WLS when Lujack was promoting them (back when I had hair), some of their stuff is great.
Their tour doesn't seem to have a national sponsor; if they do, they're doing a good job of hiding it and I couldn't be troubled to spend more than a few minutes on their site looking for one. Suffice to say there's no logos or ads for any sponsors available at a glance-- not a good sign from their perspective.
My 03/14/2003 post speaks for itself:
Why FReeping Lipton and Unilever about the Dixie Chicks Is a Good Idea, and Why It's Effective
(... another poster said: ) This "boycott" nonsense consists mostly of people who didn't listen to them/like them in the first place and a small portion of their fan base. I doubt they care what anyone here thinks.
(... my response: ) I happen to have a fair amount of experience with celebrity branding, and I can tell you why you're mistaken.
This isn't about the Dixie Chicks. They became irrelevant when the story broke.
Lipton and The Dixie Chicks have a co-branding arrangement. Someone at Lipton, or one of their agencies, recognized the base that the Dixie Chicks appeal to as under-represented on Lipton's desired range of demographic. This might be southerners, middle income women, country music listeners, it doesn't matter. Lipton 'bought' the Chicks, much as they'd buy radio time.
As such, Lipton contracted with the Chicks such that Lipton would be well represented and both would prosper. Lawyers write contracts to cover unseen but later-litigable circumstances as 'other considerations of value'. Contracts are written with 'performance clauses' and 'good faith' clauses too. More on that in a moment.
Lipton's contributions to the tour may not have been cash. It may have been the underwriting of expenses or promotional consideration, ie. tradebacks with TV, radio, venues, or newspaper ads. In any case they viewed their association with the Chicks as an opportunity to have their brand favorably presented in a market they might otherwise not have access to. Branding is all about favorable, reinforceable perceptions.
I will tell you from experience this is very hard to establish, but once in place, not so difficult to maintain (if you're competent, that is).
To use the industry parlance, the Chicks are, at the moment, 'toxic'. No sponsor will consider them going forward until this 'problem' is fixed, and maybe not even then.
Even if that were the only case, it might not be enough to sink them. Their 'brand' among their fans remains intact and some people will buy their music no matter what.
However, Lipton may be able to prove that the Chicks, by drawing negative attention to themselves and thus to Lipton, have inalterbly severed the contractual bond. Lipton may well be able to sue and recover all monies paid to date, as well as damages. This is of no small concern. Such contracts can run in excess of a few million dollars, and if you add damages to that, it ain't chump change.
Every email and phone call, every dismissive remark and boycott by a radio station puts leverage in the hands of Lipton, and takes away the Dixie Chicks' leverage.
I would encourage each and every one of us to continue to press Lipton.
One last thing. If you think that these women have the right to prance around the world and speak ill of the US, I suppose that's an argument. But I would opine that going on foreign soil and criticizing your government in a time of crisis gives aid and comfort to our enemies, and emboldens the enemy to foment more such unrest. This is of no small consequence to me as I have close friends and family either overseas or ready to go. In my view the Chicks' "free speech" is treasonous.
These are not 'ladies' in any sense of the word I've ever heard used.
A couple of thoughts:
If they had any confidence in their product they wouldn't have to post the contact information for every radio station and ask their fans to call to request them. This is a tactic of up and coming bands, not established 'stars'. Granted the circumstances might allow for some desperation on their part (ie. a vast right wing conspiracy), but I'll snidely note to my fellow FReepers that this information can be used both ways. Frankly, in the unlikely case that I ever heard an Dixie Twits song on the air, I'd use this list to complain about it.
Also, they seem to have a little trouble keeping their story straight in the press:
6/13/06 - TOUR UPDATE: Eight new cities have just been added to the first leg of the North American tour (see tour page). No shows have been cancelled. ...
6/9/06 - MESSAGE FROM NATALIE, EMILY & MARTIE: To our Fans: Any reports being made about the cancellation of our upcoming Accidents And Accusations tour are completely false....
Finally, it's worth noting that the actions of FReepers and like minded people do add up and do make a difference. If you go to the link at the top of this post you'll see that there were some people poo-pooing the idea of a boycott or protest. This is not to gloat over them, simply to point out that our opinions DO matter.
(This just in: MSN is the sponsor of their tour... now that's a guaranteed draw if I ever saw one!)
It's so funny you can't make it up....more dates in Canada...LOL....lemme guess....Quebec??
Looks like Earl isn't the only one gettin' a GOOD-bye. :)
"When the album first came out, and it wasn't getting much air play, the speculation was that since Sony has so much invested in the trio, that Sony was buying the album to drive up the numbers, publicity, etc."
Expect a "greatest hits" from Sony next, to close out their contract (GH packages are generally filler and put out by labels to get that last nickel out of an artist). Sony doesnt give their acts many chances these days - it's produce numbers, or get out.
They're so dropped. Nobody can afford not to tour these days, and the amount they probably owe Sony will not be recoupable through small theaters and clubs - and I'll bet you they demanded and got top dollar for their recording budget.
If they blow this tour, it's OVER. No promoters will take a chance on them, and touring is musician's bread and butter from merch and ticket sales. A band that can't tour, or get airplay...is not a band anymore. Touring and radio are the two money streams you cannot do without - you either tour a lot, or sell a lot of albums - and even then, with artist's percentages being so low on sales, you have to sell A LOT, like quadruple platinum, to see any real money.
So yeah...watch for the "ending the tour early due to exhaustion", and then the break up. The other two should distance themselves from Natalie, and by rights should be blaming her for tanking their career. You get one shot at the limelight, very few have managed to come back from less. The best they can hope for now is small theater runs in random markets, and state fairs - and the state fair market has a lot of competition (and the people that go to state fairs tend to be the same people angry at them). They'll survive...but the stardom and money and TV appearances is over. Done. Kaput.
They'll be very lucky if Sony lets them walk scott-free - their catalog will pay off the debt to Sony (they'll never see a dime), and the Chicks will have to get a job. If they blow the tour, there's a bunch of guarantees they have to pay back, and any advances from merch they'll have to pay back. They may end up penniless and living with Mom and Dad once the lawyers and accountants and record execs get done with them - it's happened before to Grammy winners, it will happen again.
Someone should give them the tip, that the Tower Records in Hollywood likes to hire ex-music stars, for the tourists. Many a musician who blew their career stocked shelves there, I think there's one or two hair band musicians from the 80's there right now.
And, of course, there's always reality shows. Natalie melting down and abusing drugs/food/people is a ratings guarantee.
Right now, I feel sorry for their accountants, this is probably going to get ugly, behind the scenes - if it's not ugly as hell right now. I thought it telling the statement came from THEM, not their management, nor their label. Very telling, that...
Who bought all the albums? Their producers? George Soros? Probably.
___________
It's very chic for liberals to use them as coasters.
Oh! That's my favorite Natalie hairdo of all time!!
Leans toward the left!!! They fell over and can't get up.
The Jones Beach date that was cancelled because of "the hot weather" was only 20% sold.
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