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The Chicks Recall ‘the Incident’ and Compare Bush to Trump in ‘Taking the Long Way’ 20th Anniversary Shows: Concert Review
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
The Chicks’ anniversary shows have drawn fresh attention to Natalie Maines’ comparison of George W. Bush with the current president, as the band revisits the controversy that shaped their 2006 album. The timing of the concerts, around the 2026 US midterm elections, prompted Maines to reflect on how the political climate has changed.
The trio performed all 14 songs from *Taking the Long Way*, sharing stories and documentary footage between tracks. The album won five Grammys, including album, record and song of the year. At a Hollywood show, Maines said she would now give Bush “a big kiss” and criticised the current president; a White House spokesperson had recently responded to her with an insult.
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In short
- The Chicks revisited the controversy behind their 2006 album.
- Maines compared her past criticism of Bush with her view of today’s president.
- The shows featured the full album and stories from its making.
How this story developed
- 1 hour ago The Chicks’ short tour marking the 20th anniversary of *Taking the Long Way* gave the trio room to revisit the events behind the album, including Natalie Maines’ 2003 criticism of George W. Bush.
- 1 hour ago The Chicks’ anniversary shows have drawn fresh attention to Natalie Maines’ comparison of George W. Bush with the current president, as the band revisits the controversy that shaped their 2006 album.
Full account
The Chicks’ 20th-anniversary shows for *Taking the Long Way* put the album’s history at the centre of the concert. Across the first two-thirds of the performance, Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer played all 14 tracks, with the trio seated on a raised platform and discussing many of the songs between them. Film clips, including material from the documentary *Shut Up and Sing* and previously unreleased footage, added context about the record’s creation.
The conversations reached back to the events that shaped the 2006 album, including Maines’s 2003 criticism of President George W. Bush. The band has sometimes referred to the controversy as “the incident”. Rather than treating it as a passing anecdote, the show connected the backlash to the album’s change in direction. The format blended performance and recollection, giving the evening the feel of a documentary concert.
The record later won five Grammy Awards, including album, record and song of the year. Its anniversary provided the tour’s stated purpose, while the timing also brought contemporary politics into view: the Los Angeles engagement began shortly before the 2026 midterm elections and included election night. The review notes that this coincidence prompted comparisons between the political atmosphere around Bush in 2003–04 and the current climate under Donald Trump, though the supplied report ends before giving the band’s full remarks.
The show’s appeal therefore rested on more than the familiar songs. The commentary offered fans a fuller account of how the group arrived at an album shaped by a public dispute, while the complete sequence gave the record room to unfold as a connected work. The Los Angeles run was due to conclude on Wednesday, with that performance replacing a Monday date cancelled shortly beforehand because of an unspecified illness in the band.
Explained simply
The Chicks are a US country music trio whose members are Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer. In 2003, Maines criticised President George W. Bush during a concert in London, shortly before the US-led invasion of Iraq. The remark led to a public backlash and some radio stations stopped playing the band’s music.
The controversy shaped the group’s 2006 album, Taking the Long Way, which addressed the reaction and won five Grammy Awards. The album’s title refers to the longer path the band took after the dispute, which included stepping back from touring and recording. The Chicks later changed their name from the Dixie Chicks in 2020.