The Chicks Setlist: Every Song From the Trio’s Opening Night of ‘Taking the Long Way’ 20th Anniversary Tour In Detroit

In May 2006, the Chicks (still more than a decade away from dropping Dixie from their name) released Taking the Long Way. Tonight the trio — Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison — kicked off Taking the Long Way 20^th Anniversary tour at the Fox Theater in Detroit, an outing celebrating the landmark album that won five Grammys including album, record and song of the year in 2007.

The trio’s 23-song set comprised of two acts: for the first act, the trio — all dressed in black and white — performed the 14-track album in its entirety, including “Not Ready to Make Nice,” the band’s response to the backlash they received after Maines, from stage in London in 2003, criticized then President George W. Bush for the invasion of Iraq, saying “we’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas,” the same state the band hailed from. (In a weird coincidence, today marked the U.S. military’s final withdrawal from Iraq more than 2 decades later).

The second act of the show was devoted to the Chicks’ hits, including hilarious revenge tale “Goodbye Earl,” softly romantic “Cowboy Take Me Away,” their luscious cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” and “Gaslighter,” the title track from their most recent studio album from 2020.

From Detroit, the tour moves on to two nights in Chicago and continues into November, concluding in Los Angeles with three nights at the Dolby Theater, Nov. 1-3.

On Friday (Oct. 2), Sony’s Legacy Recordings will release an expanded edition of Taking the Long Way in a 3 LP and digital versions. The new editions include five bonus tracks: three unreleased demos of “Not Ready to Make Nice,” “So Hard” and “Flowers” and two rare songs, “Thin Line” and “Live Wire.”

Below is the set list from the Chicks’ opening night in Detroit.