Top of the World Tour

The Top of the World Tour was the 2003 concert tour by American country music trio Dixie Chicks. It was in support of their album Home, and named after the song "Top of the World" on that album.

Top of the World Tour
Tour by Dixie Chicks
Tour memorabilia
Associated albumHome
Start dateMay 1, 2003 (2003-05-01)
End dateOctober 12, 2003 (2003-10-12)
Legs3
No. of shows65 in North America
10 in Europe
6 in Australia
81 Total
Dixie Chicks concert chronology

History

The tour began with three promotional concerts in Europe and Australia. During the first of these on March 10, 2003, at Shepherds Bush Empire in London, Natalie Maines made her controversial remarks criticizing President George W. Bush a few days before the start of the Iraq War: "Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas."[1] The backdrop to this statement was the large protests in Britain against the impending war.[2]

The first leg of the tour then took place in North America, running from the beginning of May to mid-August. The Bush controversy and a comment against a Toby Keith song resulted in the state of South Carolina not wanting to let the band in. Natalie Maines stated, "These fans paid their hard earned money to see us play, and we will give them the show they paid to see!" The concert went on. The second leg took place in Western Europe in September, followed by a brief third leg in Australia that finished in early October. A couple of concerts back in the United States finished the tour.

The tour grossed $60.5 million, making it the highest grossing country music tour up until that time (since superseded by several artists). It was also the 8th highest-grossing tour of any genre in 2003.

The live album Top of the World Tour: Live and DVD Top of the World Tour: Live document the tour — both are composed of performances from multiple shows. Dressing room and on-stage scenes from the tour, as well as the effect of Maines' controversial statement on the venture, were included in the 2006 documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing.

The show

The multi-tiered in-the-round stage was a feat of engineering complete with shifting hydraulic-lift levels, winding catwalks and walkways that extended over the heads of the audience. It weighed over 80,000 pounds and took up most of the arena floor. A crew of 120 traveled in thirteen busses and seventeen trucks. This show included the largest touring video show, with 1.5 million LED lights displaying graphics on video screens and on the floor of the stage. During the show, artificial flowers, grass, trees and a windmill sprung up from underneath the stage. It took over 2000 amps of power and 240 pounds of CO2 gas to run the special effects for each show.

Recorded pre-show music included "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?", "Band on the Run", "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", and "Born in the U.S.A.".

The Dixie Chicks front and center: Madison Square Garden, June 20, 2003.

During the show the three singers used headset microphones and were frequently well apart from each other. Nevertheless, stage patter was fairly frequent, with a notable case of Martie Maguire confessing that her rather unusual clothing assemblage made her look like "Crack whore Barbie". A new addition to the group's repertoire was a long, churning rendition of Bob Dylan's travelphobic "Mississippi".

In the opening U.S. show, Natalie offered fans 15 seconds to boo, in reference of the controversy surrounding the tour. However, after a count of three, there was thunderous applause instead.

Opening acts

Set list
An actual set list retrieved from the stage, from the June 20 concert at Madison Square Garden.

The following songs were performed during the concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It does not represent all songs performed on tour.

  1. "Goodbye Earl"
  2. "Some Days You Gotta Dance"
  3. "There's Your Trouble"
  4. "Long Time Gone"
  5. "Tortured, Tangled Hearts"
  6. "Travelin' Soldier
  7. "Am I The Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way)"
  8. "Hello Mr. Heartache"
  9. "Cold Day in July"
  10. "White Trash Wedding"
  11. "Lil' Jack Slade"
  12. "A Home"
  13. "Truth No. 2"
  14. "If I Fall You're Going Down with Me"
  15. "Mississippi"
  16. "Cowboy Take Me Away"
  17. "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"
  18. "Landslide"
  19. "Ready To Run"
  20. "Wide Open Spaces"
Encore
  1. "Top of the World"
  2. "Sin Wagon"

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue Tickets Sold / Available Revenue
North America[6]
May 1, 2003 Greenville United States BI-LO Center 14,811 / 14,811 $855,146
May 3, 2003 Orlando TD Waterhouse Centre 15,726 / 15,726 $872,525
May 4, 2003 Sunrise Office Depot Center 15,470 / 17,924 $927,560
May 5, 2003 Tampa St. Pete Times Forum 15,535 / 17,969 $953,993
May 7, 2003 Knoxville Thompson–Boling Arena 18,521 / 18,521 $1,084,740
May 8, 2003 Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse 15,878 / 15,878 $927,085
May 10, 2003 Kansas City Kemper Arena 17,890 / 17,973 $1,047,310
May 11, 2003 St. Louis Savvis Center 18,029 / 18,449 $1,072,595
May 13, 2003 Ames Hilton Coliseum 13,845 / 13,845 $805,680
May 14, 2003 Moline MARK of the Quad Cities 10,476 / 10,476 $611,310
May 16, 2003 Birmingham BJCC Arena N/A N/A
May 17, 2003 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
May 18, 2003 Louisville Freedom Hall 16,894 / 16,894 $996,970
May 20, 2003 Oklahoma City Ford Center 16,992 / 16,992 $1,001,425
May 21, 2003 Austin Frank Erwin Center 14,769 / 14,769 $828,925
May 29, 2003 Chicago United Center 36,500 / 36,500 $2,213,900
May 30, 2003
June 2, 2003 Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills 35,389 / 35,389 $2,110,958
June 3, 2003
June 5, 2003 Milwaukee Bradley Center 17,364 / 17,364 $1,032,690
June 6, 2003 Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center 39,636 / 39,636 $2,152,655
June 7, 2003
June 9, 2003 Cincinnati U.S. Bank Arena 15,546 / 16,800 $950,300
June 10, 2003 Columbus Nationwide Arena 17,498 / 17,498 $1,026,200
June 11, 2003 Cleveland Gund Arena 16,252 / 19,769 $968,265
June 13, 2003 Buffalo HSBC Arena 18,102 / 18,102 $1,054,685
June 14, 2003 Pittsburgh Mellon Arena 16,276 / 16,276 $871,090
June 16, 2003 Philadelphia First Union Center 36,058 / 36,058 $2,431,384
June 17, 2003
June 19, 2003 Boston FleetCenter 16,850 / 16,850 $1,111,390
June 20, 2003 New York City Madison Square Garden N/A N/A
June 21, 2003
June 23, 2003 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 25, 2003 Washington, D.C. MCI Center 34,155 / 34,155 $2,063,455
June 26, 2003
June 27, 2003 Albany Pepsi Arena 14,691 / 14,691 $884,635
July 6, 2003 Dallas American Airlines Center 16,704 / 16,704 $1,011,720
July 8, 2003 Denver Pepsi Center 16,034 / 16,034 $964,820
July 9, 2003 Salt Lake City Delta Center 15,435 / 15,435 $929,425
July 11, 2003 Vancouver Canada General Motors Place 17,429 / 17,429 $1,060,338
July 12, 2003 Seattle United States KeyArena 13,484 / 13,484 $787,220
July 13, 2003 Portland Rose Garden Arena 17,857 / 17,857 $1,071,345
July 15, 2003 Oakland The Arena in Oakland 17,072 / 17,072 $1,047,651
July 16, 2003 San Jose HP Pavilion 16,977 / 16,977 $999,300
July 17, 2003 Sacramento ARCO Arena 15,006 / 15,006 $862,535
July 19, 2003 Los Angeles Staples Center 15,609 / 15,609 $889,285
July 20, 2003 Anaheim Arrowhead Pond 29,985 / 29,985 $1,866,945
July 21, 2003
July 23, 2003 San Diego Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl 11,168 / 11,168 $723,021
July 25, 2003 Phoenix America West Arena 15,984 / 15,984 $965,950
July 26, 2003 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena 22,098 / 22,098 $1,845,845
July 27, 2003
July 29, 2003 San Antonio SBC Center 14,965 / 14,965 $857,275
July 30, 2003 Houston Compaq Center 14,700 / 14,700 $884,964
August 1, 2003 North Little Rock Alltel Arena 16,790 / 16,790 $998,500
August 2, 2003 Memphis Pyramid Arena 18,745 / 18,745 $1,112,664
August 3, 2003 Atlanta Philips Arena 17,101 / 17,101 $1,001,135
August 4, 2003 Nashville Gaylord Entertainment Center 15,696 / 15,696 $921,730
August 6, 2003 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre 17,470 / 17,470 $1,031,779
August 7, 2003 Ottawa Corel Centre N/A N/A
August 8, 2003 Hamilton Copps Coliseum
August 12, 2003 Edmonton Skyreach Centre 12,590 / 12,590 $732,590
August 13, 2003 Calgary Pengrowth Saddledome 13,442 / 13,442 $850,800
Europe[5][7]
September 6, 2003 Stockholm Sweden Annexet N/A N/A
September 8, 2003 Hamburg Germany CCH Hall 1
September 10, 2003 Birmingham England NEC Arena
September 11, 2003 Manchester Carling Apollo Manchester
September 14, 2003 London Royal Albert Hall 7,022 / 7,216 $323,270
September 15, 2003
September 18, 2003 Dublin Ireland Point Theatre N/A N/A
September 19, 2003 Glasgow Scotland Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
September 21, 2003 Munich Germany Olympiahalle
September 22, 2003 Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle
Australia[5]
September 28, 2003 Melbourne Australia Rod Laver Arena N/A N/A
September 29, 2003
October 1, 2003 Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment Centre
October 2, 2003
October 4, 2003 Sydney Sydney Super Dome
October 5, 2003 Sydney Entertainment Centre
North America[8][9]
October 10, 2003 Charlotte United States Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre N/A
October 12, 2003[A] Washington, D.C. MCI Center 11,102 / 12,200 $896,827
Festivals and other miscellaneous performances
A Recording Artists Coalition Benefit[9]
Cancellations and rescheduled shows
June 2, 2003 Cleveland, Ohio Gund Arena Rescheduled to June 11, 2003
June 12, 2003 Toronto, Canada Air Canada Centre Rescheduled to August 6, 2003[10]

Backing band

There may have been minor changes to this lineup depending on the venue.

  • [www.dixiechicks.com Dixie Chicks Official Website]
  • Tour Info

References
  1. Democracy Now! (2007). "Shut Up And Sing: Dixie Chicks' Big Grammy Win Caps Comeback From Backlash Over Anti-War Stance" Archived 2007-11-14 at the Wayback Machine Democracy Now! (accessed 24 Feb 2007)
  2. "Thousands more take stand against conflict in demonstrations throughout Britain" The Guardian, 10 March 2003. Access date 15 May 2010.
  3. Seely, Mike (May 7, 2003). "Dixie Chicks with Joan Osborne". The Riverfront Times. Voice Media Group. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  4. Moss, Corey; Pak, SuChin (May 23, 2003). "Michelle Branch Ignores Sophomore Jinx Like She Ignored Death Threats". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  5. Jeckell, Barry A. (July 31, 2003). Cohen, Jonathan (ed.). "Dixie Chicks Pluck Thorns For Euro, Oz Dates". Billboard. VNU eMedia Inc. Archived from the original on August 2, 2003. Retrieved November 19, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. "Top of the World Tour". Dixie Chicks Official Artist Club. Yahoo! Inc. Archived from the original on April 2, 2003. Retrieved November 19, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. "Chicks in Europe". Dixie Chicks Official Artist Club. Yahoo! Inc. May 14, 2003. Archived from the original on June 21, 2003. Retrieved November 19, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. "CALENDAR AND EVENTS". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. September 19, 2003. p. 14E.
  9. "Chicks Join Eagles at Benefit Concert". CMT News. September 8, 2003. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  10. "The Buzz: Dixie Chicks Concert Postponed". WHDH. Sunbeam Television. Archived from the original on November 19, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
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