Review: The Chicks were ready to deliver a message of protest and harmony at State Fair

The Chicks are not ready to shut up and sing.

In this summer when support for Jason Aldean's canceled, controversial video for "Try That in a Small Town" helped propel the song to the top of the country and pop charts, the Chicks — country music's original victims of cancel culture — are back on tour and letting their voices be heard.

Loud, clear and harmoniously.

In their first local appearance since a 2016 Minnesota State Fair gig, the Texas-launched trio returned to the sold-out grandstand Friday night full of spunk, spirit and social commentary. It was a terrific show, one that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as those by Taylor Swift, Pink and Beyoncé this summer.

While the Dixie Chicks (they changed their name in 2020) were ostracized for criticizing President George W. Bush at a London concert on the verge of the Iraq war in 2003, Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer won't back down from speaking their minds 20 years later.

That was apparent Friday from their limited conversation and pointed visuals. The Chicks didn't exactly jump on their soapbox often, but their messages were obvious. In introducing a cover of the Miley Cyrus/Dolly Parton tune "Rainbowland," lead singer Maines, 48, declared, "We celebrate Pride 365 days a year." The crowd cheered.

Before singing Patty Griffin's "Don't Let Me Die in Florida," Maines pointed out, "There are many reasons we're glad we're not in Florida."

One of those reasons was communicated visually during "Tights on My Boat," a tune directed toward a cheating husband. Animated visuals depicted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on a flamingo flotation device wearing a Mickey Mouse Club hat as well as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump riding together on a rainbow unicorn. The audience roared.

The most virulent message was transmitted via visuals before and during the Chicks' 2020 protest scorcher "March March." First, there was a countdown with names of U.S. cities with mass shootings and the numbers of victims at each. During the song, names of Black victims of police brutality including Philando Castile and Breonna Taylor flashed on the screen as Maguire's fiddle provided a haunting soundtrack. The performance ended with a photo of a protester's sign: "Keep your law off our bodies."

It was one of the most stunningly powerful musical moments ever experienced at the State Fair grandstand.

The Chicks saved some of their vitriol for exes and others who've done them wrong. "Gaslighter," the night's opener and title track of the trio's 2020 album, was a blistering diss of a lying, no-good man. The more low-key "Sleep at Night," another "Gaslighter" track, found Maines delivering the searing lyric: "My husband's girlfriend's husband just called me up. How messed up is that?"

Backed by a six-man band (that included Maines' teenage son Slade Pasdar on guitar), the Chicks offered a generous helping of "Gaslighter," their first record in 14 years and one influenced by Maines' 2019 divorce. Not all of the songs were spilling over with anger, though.

"For Her," a delicate ballad, talked about the challenge and power of sisterhood. "Julianna Calm Down" administered sisterly, been-there advice to female friends going through a breakup.

There were plenty of old favorites, too, including the frisky bluegrass-tinged "Sin Wagon," the dreamy sing-along "Cowboy Take Me Away," the graceful, harmonious "Travelin' Soldier," the spirited, liberating "Ready to Run" and vengeful, battered-woman anthem "Goodbye Earl." The Chicks even mixed in the well-received "Daddy Lessons," their 2016 collaboration with Beyoncé, who was seen in video clips playfully dancing with her fellow Texans.

As the end of their nearly two-hour performance approached, the Chicks underscored their steadfast position, offering the 2006 Grammy-winning "Not Ready To Make Nice," a rejoinder to cancel culture (co-written by Minnesotan Dan Wilson). Aldean may have reached No. 1 this summer on the charts, but the Chicks will be forever No. 1 in the hearts of the 13,589 fans at the State Fair grandstand on Friday.