Dixie Chicks take 'Home' on the road

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Feb 28, 2003 by Bill Blankenship Capital-Journal

Sony Music

From left, Dixie Chicks Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines and Emily Robison, will perform in Kansas City on May 10.

Tickets go on sale Saturday

for concert at Kemper Arena

By Bill Blankenship

The Capital-Journal

After three years of being cooped up, the Dixie Chicks are ready to leave the roost.

The county music superstar's just-announced "Top of the World Tour," which gets started Thursday, May 1 in Greenville, S.C., will include a stop eight days later in Kansas City, Mo.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. Saturday, May 10, concert in Kemper Arena go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 1, through Ticketmaster, 234- 4545, and all of its outlets, including the JM Bauersfeld's stores in Topeka and on the Internet at www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices are $66, $46 and $36.

The trio announced the tour three days before the Grammy Awards, where they won in three categories: Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocals for "Long Time Gone," Best Country Instrumental Performance for "Lil' Jack Slade," and Best Country Album for "Home," a low-key disc the trio at one time didn't think they would release.

However, "Home" debuted 25 weeks ago at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, where it remains in the No. 2 spot this week.

The sales came without any touring as the trio took time off for domestic activities, including marriages and births.

However, at the announcement of the upcoming tour, Emily Robison, who sings and plays banjo in the Chicks, said, "We're hungry to get back out there and I think we are all prepared and looking forward to that aspect of our career --- being back on stage and doing live shows in front of thousands of people."

The other Chicks are Robison's sister, fiddler Martie Maguire, and lead singer Natalie Maines.

The last time the Dixie Chicks performed in Kansas City, Mo., was on Aug. 4, 2000, in a concert at Kemper Arena. The trio's last concert in the region was Nov. 16, 2000, at Bramlage Coliseum at Kansas State University.

Bill Blankenship can be reached at (785) 295-1284 or bblankenship@cjonline.com.