Concert Memories: The Chicks @ Jones Beach

People constantly raise their eyebrows when I tell them what my concert list looks like for the summer. Usually it’s because it’s very fucking long (getting all my concert refunds during lockdown really put my spending in sharp and dramatic relief) and because folks still have pre-conceived notions of what music you’re “supposed” to enjoy (or what it looks like you would enjoy).

When I mentioned that I would be kicking off my summer of shows with The Chicks, July 2nd at Jones Beach, there were many furrowed brows and mild confusion.

Q: They’re still making music??

A: Yes! They released a new album, Gaslighter, that was produced by Jack Antonoff (fun., Bleachers, produced music for Taylor Swift and Lorde). It’s pretty damn great.

Q: What is your favorite album by these ladies?

A: Mine has gotta be Taking the Long Way (produced by THEE Rick Rubin, with supporting instrumentation/vocals by Chad Smith of The Chili Peppers, Bonnie Raitt, Dan Wilson of Semisonic, John Mayer, and more).

Q: Wait, you like country music?

A: I do! Most of the more popular country stuff (Florida Georgia Line, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood) I don’t care for at all but I grew up listening to Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and the like because my mom had their CDs. I think I can speak for other Caribbean American folks when I say we have an appreciation for music that tells a good story and has great instrumentation - when music is good, it’s good. Also, a well-placed fiddle and a banjo in a song accompanied by sky-reaching harmonies makes my heart sing.

After many years of hoping for a chance to see them live, their new album gave me a reason to keep an eagle eye on my inbox. The Northwell Theater at Jones Beach is a bit of a hike for me since I don’t drive, but it’s a really rad place to see a show. Once I got my concert crew ready (my best friend Tana, who is also a big Chicks fan, and a new friend, Tara (aka Sweaty Lamarr, a tremendous performer in her own right) and the tickets purchased I was READY.

The concert gods were on our side that night - even though the threat of a thunderstorm hung over the entire day, we only had a bit of a drizzle that gave way to clear skies before The Chicks went on stage. I had my usual pre-show thoughts: what if this sucks?? What if this moment that you’ve been building up for 10+ years isn’t exactly what you’d been hoping for?

Silly, silly me. They started off their set with the rollicking foot stomper, “Sin Wagon” from 1999’s Fly - then zoomed right into Gaslighter’s title track, so I should have already known that we were in for a damn good night. No one likes a shaky iPhone video from a concert, but luckily I found a great YouTube video of the song “Not Ready to Make Nice”, one of their huge hits from Taking the Long Way. After speaking out against the Iraq War and criticizing George W. Bush, the group had countless death threats made against them and their families and were blacklisted from country radio - this track explicitly references that moment.

It's a sad, sad story

When a mother will teach her daughter

That she ought to hate a perfect stranger

And how in the world

Can the words that I said

Send somebody so over the edge

That they'd write me a letter

Saying that I better

Shut up and sing

Or my life will be over?

Thankfully, The Chicks didn’t back down. Even better, I got to share such a special moment with my ladies and with an entire theater.