"You can't go lower?" "Easy!" "Come play Mommy's guitar." " You wanna play guitar?" " Yeah." "You wanna play?" ""It's too bad, really." "I loved listening to the Dixie Chicks." "I love their music." "Even this new angry song is good."" "Who is this?" "Rightwingsparkle blog." "Sparkle!" ""Country music is a 90% Bush-supporting bunch." "These lamebrains are talented, sure, but they're sticking a finger in the eye of their own customer."" ""Dixie Chicks?" "Are they still around?" "I thought their 15 minutes were up a long time ago."" "Oh!" "I'm not gonna read the next line." " Come on!" " No no no no..." " We don't get our feelings hurt." " No no no no." ""Who are the Dixie Chicks, anyway?" "I mean, they're not like an important band where you know all their names, like the Beatles." "The Dixie Chicks suck." "They don't know what they're talking about and should shut the fuck up."" "It's easy for people to feel a sense of anonymity behind their computer and write ugly things and hateful things." "And, you know, a lot of that stuff you don't take seriously, but when somebody hates you so much for what you say that they want to kill you..." "I think if you walked out on the street right now and asked, "What did Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks say?"" "I don't believe that they would know what I said." "But it is a part of... who we are as a band now, whether we asked for it or wanted it or like it." "I feel like... people relate to us because we're real." "And when you're real, you stick your foot in your mouth sometimes." "People don't understand how tight we are." "We're a sisterhood." "We go through the good, the bad and the ugly all together." "Ladies and gentlemen, Grammy Award winners, the Dixie Chicks." "The Dixie Chicks are returning to the road on their "Top of the World" tour which kicks off in London on March 10." "And after only three albums, the Dixie Chicks are now the best-selling female group in history." "The Dixie Chicks' music is rooted in tradition but, just like the Dixie Chicks are redefining the traditional conventions of country music, we're going to redefine tea and serve it up in a way that's new," "full of energy and, frankly, is really refreshing." "So, Lipton is proud to be the official beverage sponsor of the Dixie Chicks' 2003 "Top of the World" tour." "USA!" "USA!" "USA!" "Go for it." "Hi, I'm Simon Renshaw." "I'm the Dixie Chicks' manager." "And I just thought I'd take this opportunity to say hello to all of you and welcome you to the tour." "And we're looking forward to a good one." " Who's online?" " I am." "What's the war update?" "Richard?" "They're moving troops but they haven't crossed yet." "Army units are now moving into positions at the border, battle-ready." "The feeling here-- war may be only hours away." "Calling them facts and not assertions," "US Secretary of State Colin Powell today presented what he says is evidence that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction." "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." "We know they have weapons of mass destruction." "We know they have active programs." "There-- there isn't any debate about it." "The danger is clear." "Using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions." "Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours." "How's it looking?" "Are you sure it's not too much?" " No." " Hmm." "Okay, let's walk." "We've gotta go." "Can I have someone take her baby?" "Martie, we've gotta hit the stage." " Martie, we've gotta go." " Grab Martie, let's go." "Behind the growing buildup to war there's also a growing antiwar movement." "This may have been the biggest political rally in UK history." "Perhaps as many as a million people converged on the center of London to march and denounce American plans for war." "You know what?" "For a first show, it was awesome." "It was definitely mission accomplished." "Audience loved it, it looked great." "You know, one down, 99 to go." "If you want to feel some good old-fashioned American pride, look no further than the uproar over the Dixie Chicks." "And how they can say, 'I'm ashamed that the president's from Texas'?" "Come on, man." "That's crazy." "The comment was quoted by London newspaper "The Guardian."" "In a matter of days, the London story was picked up by the Associated Press and printed in newspapers all over the United States." "Personally, I hope you don't play their music again for quite a while." "I think that was very disrespectful." "Natalie's comment, especially on foreign soil, just was a slap in the face." "The American media is picking up from the-- from the-- from the UK media, you know, "Dixie Chicks diss the President" kind of thing." "Everyone's calling." "Everyone's looking for the statement." "And the area of concern is actually what's coming out of country radio, which is a far more right-wing Conservative" "Really?" " Uh, yeah, that's right." " Yeah." "So what I just did was, I just closed down both the websites, all right?" " Oh my God!" " Hold on, hold on." " Just let me" " Was the chat room a part of it?" " Closed." " Both of the chat rooms?" "Yeah, so the idea is we need to put a statement up on the website." "And in terms of the American media, we need to have a statement to release to the American media." "What if you just go something like, you know," ""I apologize." "We were at a smoky bar gig and I got a little carried away."" "You know, play it down instead of..." "But it's more serious than that." " ..."This is what we really--"" " It is more serious than that." "But it was meant-- it was amidst kind of a joking thing." "But it was true." "Here's" "We have never been-- or "I"-- if y'all don't want to keep saying "we."" "It should be "we."" " Sorry..." " Sorry, girls, but it should be "we."" "Well, if anybody asks me personally," "I'm gonna go, "Hey, I didn't say it." "Go talk to her."" "Thanks for the support." "No, but I'm not gonna try to dig you out." "I mean, I would end up saying something totally wrong." "Like, I would like to say that my comment was made..." "In reference to-- ...in reference to the disappointment I feel-  or the something I feel" " Frustration." "the frustration I feel as an American citizen for being ignored." "All right, so" " I mean, I don't think that we should shy away from controversy." "I mean, so" " I mean, wouldn't it be great if we could get them, like, burning CDs and banning you from the radio..." "We're gonna boycott them for their music and we're gonna boycott you for playing it if you don't stop playing it." "Well, ma'am, that was the last one you're gonna hear." "The Chicks' number-one hit "Travelin' Soldier"" "quickly fell from the top of the charts." "They had the hottest song in the country." "All this stuff started, and it died." "We've never been a political band and now we're thrown into the middle of this political whirlwind." "The radio station set up these garbage cans for people to come by and throw out their CDs." "I liked them, you know, but for what they said, it's trash." "They didn't only whack "Traveling Soldier,"" "they whacked all the play." "You've been really targeted by a couple of groups out there." "I mean, you've been really targeted." "American bombers dropped a series of 1000-lb bombs on the compound." "Now who was the one who talked about the war?" " Do you regret it?" " The thing is, it wasn't even a political statement." "It was a joke made to get cheers and applause and to entertain." "And it did." "But it didn't entertain America." "Some protestors used a tractor and their feet to smash the group's CDs." "Martie, have you talked to Mom?" "No." "I left a message and then I was sick all day so I didn't call her again." "And I think that's all she wants to hear from us-- is how much we know it's affecting her." "The people who got it all started was a right-wing group called the Free Republic." "An extreme right-wing group for their own political reasons are attempting to manipulate the American media, and the American media is falling for it." "The Free Republic is very well organized." "There's definitely a Free Republic hit list with all of the radio stations they're trying to affect." "And they are totally focused." "And the girls are gonna get whacked." "Good morning." "61 Country." "They should send Natalie over to Iraq, strap her to a bomb and just drop her over Baghdad." "A million things have really pissed me off about it." "And I'm ready to go home and set the record straight." "It's not about, necessarily, our point of view." "The story's how out of hand it's gotten, isn't it?" "The-- the issue's not that-- what-- what has happened is that the issue is not what was said." "It's how it's being reported and how it's been turned into something that it's not." " It's snowballed." " It's all about you were not patriotic." "It's got" " nothing to do with what was said." " We're not making excuses." " We're not making excuses for beliefs." " Because she didn't show support" " for the president." " It doesn't matter" " Support for the troops." " It doesn't matter what was said." " No, that's" " But that's bullshit!" "That's bullshit!" "Who has my statement?" "They take what they want." " Exactly!" " Correct." "That's the point." " I already said I'm patriotic." " Absolutely." " In my statement, I said I'm patriotic." " Exactly." "In my statement," " I said I support the troops." " Exactly." "But I don't support the troops and I'm not patriotic?" " Exactly, so..." " There you go." " That's exactly it." " That's it!" "Look, hang on, let's start by looking at some research, because one of the things that was very interesting when Lipton brought Michael's company in was" "Was Lipton about to pull out?" "Uh, I think Lipton is concerned." "They are looking for a reason to do it." "Everybody on the Lipton team is saying, "Give us a reason to go forward."" "I think part of the reason that they brought me to you guys is to help you manage through this, because at the end of the day, while you're great musicians, you are a brand." "And if somehow your brand is-- is-- now has issues circulating around it, you know, do they want do take that sort of risk?" "I" " I personally... think we should let Lipton off the hook, saying, "We're backing out because, you know, we don't want to hurt their product"" "and that's it." "But that's a whole other story." "To me, that's-- that's what" " snowballs." "We've been away." " Right." "People have not been able to see our faces, hear our words." "To me, that is the greatest advantage of doing an interview-- is that we-- I feel like we are endearing people." " Absolutely." " I feel like we will win people over just by sitting there and looking-- saying honest things." "It's fine." "I think this is better for our career." "I think we've gotten more attention than we ever were going to get." "We were never gonna be on the cover of "Entertainment Weekly."" "We were never gonna be interviewed by Barbara Walters." "75% awareness?" "We were never gonna have these people..." "It's insane." "...who never even knew who we were, care to listen to our music, listen to it." "But hang on" "And that's fine." "I think when we apologize and we tell, blah blah blah, then our fans-- and that will all be smoothed out" " and worked out." "Do I believe--?" " I've got one thing" " But I do think this could affect tea" " Do it on your terms." "Don't-- you're reacting to the reaction." "And all I'm saying is, carry on as you want, but do it on your terms." "I think people are gonna say, "Oh my God!" "What happened to them?"" " But they say "traitor," so..." " It's not we say about ourselves." " It's what people have imposed on us." " It's what you've been branded." "I" " I'm sorry." "I just" " I don't like-- that is going to be so prominent on the cover that my concern is the average person isn't gonna get it." "They're gonna be horrified when they see that." "It's not ridiculous to call you opinionated." "It's not ridiculous to call you brave." "Like, we've got to show how cruel" "It's not ridiculous to call you a big mouth." "No, that's true." "Truth hurts." "This is a brilliant artistic shot, but just to see "Dixie Sluts"" " Jesus Christ!" " What?" "You need something to counterbalance it" ""Proud American." Yes, they've been branded, but I don't think" "I think you're giving too much credit to the American public." "They're not that smart." "I don't think the average person's gonna get any of it." "Then we're fucked, if that's the case." "Don't" " I" " I'm not-- I'm not gonna go there." "This is about fixing it." "Well, that racy magazine cover on the stands today pretty much sums up some of the names the Dixie Chicks are being called in America these days" ""Traitors," "The Dixie Sluts," "Anti-American"-- all because of one split-second comment aimed at President Bush right before the war with Iraq." "Maines says she was just trying to fire back when she shot herself in the foot." "She apologized to the president, but it only added fuel to the fire." "We've analyzed the way that Diane Sawyer and Chris Willman-- what they've done in previous interviews, and we'll give you some examples." "Uh, it's likely to start" " with a real hard punch." " Absolutely." "It will." "You know, what you said and why you said it-- you know, you don't rehearse what you say in between songs, and sometimes it doesn't come out the way that you intend it." "I'm not saying I support their commander-in-chief, but I'll say I support the troops." "That-- that's fine." "But try-- try not to be judgmental of the president." "I'll tell you why:" "He's got sky-high approval." "The war couldn't be going better." "By the time this interview airs, he's likely to be at the highest point." "Remember, this is two weeks out." "The looting will be done." "The rebuilding of Iraq will be started." "Saddam Hussein will most likely be dead or found out." "It" " I'm just telling you, two weeks from now it's gonna be even a more positive situation." "Are you ashamed that the President of the United States is from your state?" "No, I'm not truly embarrassed that, you know, President Bush is from my state." "That's not really what I care about." "It was the wrong wording." "Am I sorry I said that?" "Yes." "Am I sorry I spoke out?" "No." "But you can't tell me that at no point the two of you, however much you love her, however much you understand her-- that you didn't say," ""Why did she do that?" "Why did she do that?"" "Why can't you say that?" "Partially why our audience has allowed us to get to where we are today is because they like her the way she is." "Hi." "Rudy Blair, 680-News." "I guess I'm gonna have to be the evil one on this one." "I gotta ask, how have things been going since this whole Bush controversy?" "How are things going for you guys now?" "Our album sales are definitely down and we don't get played on the radio." "We heard they've turned what happened to us into a verb." "You can get "Dixie-Chicked."" "And if we had to be the example, that's fine." "We don't want this to be our legacy." "We want our music to be our legacy." "And one positive with that is it's sort of opened the door for us to do anything musically that we wanna do now without feeling any pressures that we have to please, because we don't really have anyone to answer to," "as far as radio is concerned." "Oh yeah, baby." "That's a nice touch." "Doing good." "We moved out to LA just for a little while, just for Emily to have the babies and us to write some music and stuff." "Well, first of all, I think there should be some "we's," like..." "That's hilarious." " Wouldn't kiss all the asses..." " Oh-ho-ho!" "...that they told me to." "Is that good?" "Gave a lot of blowjobs, but wouldn't kiss all the asses?" "'Cause you did kiss some ass." "That's good." "I don't know if I could sing that, but if you could, more power to ya." "What-- what about, "I fought with a stranger"?" " Fought with a stranger, yeah." " Kinda like the stranger is Bush." " It's not" " Good, Emmie, good!" "Big money, big money!" "I mean, we've never been able to write a whole album of songs." "And when you're writing so much, you start noticing just things in your everyday life that are worthy of a song." "And almost anything that isn't written by us, now, at least on this album, seems a little bit false almost." "This record is, like you said, our therapy, in a way." "This is what we wanna say." " That sounded great." " Yeah, come in." "How do y'all-- do y'all all write your songs?" "Yeah." "I mean, we'll just get in the room and we'll just jam and improvise." "And something will start from a drumbeat or a bass line..." "Does everyone write equally on everything?" " No." " But you split writing equally?" " Yep." " Wow." "I wouldn't feel right if I was..." "The guy doing all the-- ...you know, the bass player or whatever" "I wouldn't feel right taking writing credit or money." "But he's smart to keep them happy, in a way, because band members tend to start resenting the lead singer no matter what" " because they get more attention" " Oh, really?" "No." " In male bands." " Female players" "I mean, band members..." "But you know, it can breed" "But that's why bands break up, because..." "I think so too-- ...the members of the band start resenting that..." "But I'm saying he-- this band could break up because the lead singer resents." "That's what I'm saying." "It's a chemistry thing, you know." "Well, he could go solo." "That's the thing that the lead singer could hang over the band's head." "Yeah." "You know why she picked up the banjo?" "Because we all played violin, and I started playing fiddle and I was really jealous of her playing the fiddle, because whatever I would do, she would do better-  like sports, whatever." " Yeah." "And so when she would play the fiddle," "I'd go in and I'd, like, beat her over the head with my fiddle." "So you drove her to the banjo." "So mean." "So I was like, "You have to pick another instrument."" "Wow." "I don't know why she picked the banjo." "It worked out good." "It's a good combo." "Yeah." "Oh, she was just-- oh, just that little sister that just-- anything you did, she just had to one-up ya." "Check check." "Did we do as long an intro on the real version as we did the demo?" "Okay." " Should we try one?" " Yeah." "All right, here we go." " That's incredible." " Thanks." "Now this-- do you wanna know what this is about?" " Sure." " It's about Lubbock, Texas." "I remember there was the line about the statue." " And Buddy Holly." " Yeah." "They hated him when he was a star and they thought he was evil and rock 'n' roll and," " you know..." " It's Natalie's hometown too." " And they basically turned" " Oh, Lubbock?" "the whole city basically turned on her, and all the radio stations were horrible and..." "It's like Buddy Holly all over again." "Seems much more ordinary right off the bat." "Yep." "This line..." "Good change." "In this chorus, the melody is good." "The chords and the melody are strong." "Do you not like the words?" "It's worth pursuing even though you don't like it." "But I would rewrite all the words." "I think" " I think the pre-chorus and chorus, musically and melodically, are really strong." "I'm just missing a connection to the lyrics." "Just rewrite-- rewrite 'em for yourself." "Yeah, easy for you to say." "You rewrite." "No I'm kidding." "Then you won't feel a connection." "I'm still a little confused." "I'm still having a hard time hearing, like, our role in some of the songs." "Because at the end of the day, you know, what's best for the song has to be best for the song." "It can't be a forced" ""Let's slap some fiddle on there just because I play the fiddle," you know?" "I" " I-- at this point," "I-- my interest is just any way we can get great songs, from any direction." "And then we'll put it through whatever the Dixie Chicks' filter is gonna become, which we'll see." "It'll-- it's gonna reveal itself" " as we work on the songs." " Mm-hmm." "See, I'm nothing but a glorified lackey... waiting on her hand and foot." ""I can't believe she made me carry this..."" "Oh, sorry." "Uh, was that solo too country?" "I like the nut choices." "I don't know if that would be one" " but it was good." " I was just kinda" "That one sort of weird thing you did-- I wish it was more of that." "All right." "Got it." "But everything you're doing is awesome." "Quit sucking up." "We did a demo tape for Natalie for her to get into Berklee School of Music up in Boston." "And I was playing a gig with the Chicks in Dallas or somewhere, and I just gave 'em a cassette." "You know, it wasn't really pitching her at all." "It was just like, "Hey, check this out." "It's my daughter."" "I think it was about a year before they even heard it." "I mean, they kind of left it in their motor home-- the pink motor home that you hear about." "But, apparently, Martie and Emily must have kept it in the back of their minds, and when they decided to change lead singers, they called about Natalie." "That was an incredible song, man." "Oh, good." "You just blew everybody else off the record." "I was barely trying." "I met the Chicks in 1994." "There they were, and they had their hair really big, and they had the hoop dresses on and the spangles and the cowboy hats." "And they went on stage and they performed these songs which were pretty bad-- basically, Western swing, very old-fashioned, very not contemporary." "But the one thing that was very very clear was that they were three beautiful girls, and incredibly talented, and they could really play." "And if they had a willingness to kind of like change direction, moving more into a contemporary country music space, there actually could be a really interesting slot for them." "We had to go out, we had to find the right material and we had to develop it into something new." "But anytime the girls say to me," ""You know what, Simon?" "We can't believe that you booked us here." "How could you have let that happen?"" "I go, "How could I have let that happen?" "Just remember who booked this show"-- oh, yes." "This is 1996." "This is the Pillsbury Bake-Off." "And that's in the-- which department is this in?" "Oh, that's the produce department they're playing in-- a fantastic booking, one that I had nothing to do with." "The girls handled this all by themselves." "Could it be something about maybe the fear of losing that one person that you know you can go to, and sort of your salvation, or your sanity?" " Oh, hi!" " Hi!" "I missed you!" "I missed you." "He looks so big." "I haven't seen you in so long." "You look so different." "You look like more of a boy." "You look like you've been eating nothing but ribs and Cheetos with Dada." "Gussie, what's in Mommy's belly?" "What's in Mom-- What's in Mommy's tummy?" " Whales." " Whales." " Two of 'em!" " Whales!" "No, Mommy's as big as a whale." "Take it-- yeah, I'm-- he calls me "Shamu."" "Is there a baby in there?" "Are there babies-- are there babies in there?" " What about babies?" " What about babies?" "I love you." " So how you feeling?" " Uh, just ready." " Soon." " Very ready." "All right, guys." "This is-- whoo!" " There." " Scariness." "Let's go peek." "I think-- obviously, before we got married, we knew we wanted children." "But then, you know, all of a sudden, we start trying, and nothing's happening." "You know, you start to get a little nervous." "It was about two and a half years of just nothing, and going through fertility treatments-- everything from artificial insemination all the way to what eventually ended up being in vitro." "Tell me if something hurts." " Does that work?" " Sorry, I went to the wrong note." "My sister and I both went through in vitro." "Emily started trying first and, oh, I watched her do it all." "And it just went on and on." "It's an expensive process." "It's hard on your body with all the hormones, all the injections." "You have to take a lot of drugs and alter your cycle, alter your chemistry in a lot of ways." " And it's a huge deal." " Yeah, but we just assumed that we would get pregnant straightaway." " We were like, "Okay..."" " Yeah, but when Emily started having problems, I started thinking it could happen to us." "But we were very lucky, very fortunate." "We just did in vitro and it worked." "Hi!" "We knew there was a 30% chance of having twins." "We went in and he did the sonogram and, just very nonchalant and calm, just goes," ""Well, there's the heartbeat." And we were all excited." "And then he moved it over and said, "And there's the other one."" "And Gareth and I just... screamed." "He said, "Don't scream, don't scream,"" "like I was gonna hurt the baby." "Okay, how's she feeling?" "She's comfortable." "She's had her epidural." "And her contractions are moving, you know, slowly along." "There's not much progression." " There's not much going on." " Does she want magazines?" "Does she have the "US Weekly" with Brad and Angelina?" "They're on." "Oh, there's you." "I was like, "God, that looks like Natalie."" "Ew, I was hoping that didn't wind up..." "Why?" "You look good." "And Emily looks skinnier than me." "Emily could use a little eye makeup." "I could use a lot of everything." "Oh, ew!" "Ew!" "Look how big my boobs look." "They've done something." " Bill Maher's tomorrow night, right?" " Yep." "But Bill Maher has been pissing me off." " I know." "He is so" " Unfortunately," "I agree with him." "I'd rather" " See, I don't." " I'd rather it go well in Iraq and then they be right..." "No, I know that, but let's back up to "We should not be there."" "Of course, now that we're there-- yes, make the best of it." "But we should not be there." "It was still such lies and bullshit." "She's having a baby, by the way." "The kids are, like, listening to what we're talking about." "It's like, "I ain't fucking going out there."" "Oh..." "Oh, two of 'em." "What am I gonna do with two?" "Sore nipples are on the way." "They are so beautiful." "Say, "We squeezed before, we can squeeze again," right?" "I think now that we're making music again," "I'd really be sad if this didn't have-  if it didn't get heard..." " An audience." "...and we couldn't continue our careers effortlessly as we have in the past." "I mean, it's just been a way of life, part of our life." "Emily and I started in a band when we were very young." "I started when I was 12, and then she joined the band I was in when she was 10." "And the Dixie Chicks started in 1989." "I mean, this is more than just a job." "This is a lifestyle." "It's-- it's part of our lives." "So I think-- just recently" "I've thought," ""God, I just really hope we can get our career back on track." "'Cause I need it."" "I thought it was probably a good idea for us to start talking about what a schedule might look like for the next couple of years." "What's your strategy on, like, wooing MTV and VH1 and...?" "VH1 will" " VH1 will gladly air your videos." "MTV's not your-- you're outside-- you're too old for where MTV is at." "We're too old?" "You're just too old." "Even if we get cool, we're too old already?" "You're still too old already." "Can't I-- can't I sort of lead them?" " I'm not old yet." " Hey, you're 30 now." " You're in the same bracket." " You're too old." "Shit." "To be honest with you, I'm not sure yet what method we're using to get music out there." " I mean, the traditional" " You don't want a single" " before the end of the year?" " Well, the traditional method is-- is you take a cut off the album and you service it to radio." "Right?" "But we've got to assume right now that, you know, we're not dealing with the country format." "I think you still let Sony do what they want there." " We just aren't involved." " I don't." "I don't." "You release the single;" "they play it;" "the campaign starts up again" ""I'm never listening to your station";" "it's plummets to "We want that"" "before our album comes out." "I didn't mean for us to do anything for country." "I just thought" "I am just not willing to work country radio because I think it's gonna be a huge disaster." " And we shouldn't." " I don't think we should, either." "But having said that, if country radio embraced it and turned around, and all of a sudden you're sitting in number one on country radio," "I think it would be crazy not to go back and go," " "We're glad you like the new record."" " Water under the bridge." "So we're all gonna be friends again now." "We're gonna have to deal with some more redneck bullshit." "But I think it's at a point where you cannot go back and put yourself in the crosshairs." "Be proud of your country." "Be ashamed of the Dixie Chicks." "The controversy from the country music world has landed tonight." "The Dixie Chicks launched the US leg of their "Top of the World" tour in Greenville, South Carolina." "They're ignorant, and they don't know what they're talking about." "If you support the Dixie Chicks, you're supporting communism." "You're supporting traitors." "We're tired of the anti-American voices." "We're tired of the antiwar voices." "Tickets for the Dixie Chicks concert went on sale months ago." "We did buy the tickets before they said these things." "We couldn't get our money back, so that's why we're here." "But these South Carolina fans had no idea that the show they were paying to see would end up becoming much more than a concert." "I think we in South Carolina ought to say goodbye to the Dixie Chicks, and anybody going to that concert ought to be ready to run away from it." "God Bless GW!" "When Natalie Maines made her comments on the eve of war, most of us recognized that was reprehensible." "It hurt our men fighting overseas who think their cause is just." "Is this a matter of free speech or bad manners?" "Their opinion is so ignorant." "They don't know what they're talking about." "I think they are the Ditzy Twits." "These are the dumbest, dumbest bimbos, with due respect, I have seen..." "These are callow, foolish women who deserved to be slapped around." "Absolutely." "The Bi-Lo Center is working with Greenville police to provide extra security surrounding the Dixie Chicks concert." "Sit." "Bomb-sniffing dog." "I mean, the Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind." "They can say what they want to say." "And just because-- they shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't wanna buy their records when they speak out." "You know, freedom is a two-way street." ""They shouldn't have their feelings hurt"?" "What a dumb fuck." "You're a dumb fuck." "Of course, everyone anxious to find out here what happens when the Dixie Chicks go before a live audience for the first time." "14,000 Dixie Chicks fans ready to go." "It feels real good." "Deafening cheers and a standing ovation greeted the Dixie Chicks as they opened their first US tour since Maines made her controversial comment." "The down-home greeting came just as President Bush addressed the nation aboard the USS Lincoln." "America is grateful for a job well done." "They said you might not come, but we knew you'd come." "Because we have the greatest fans in the whole world." "Oh wait, I hear some boos." "We have a plan for this." "If you're hearing a boo, we welcome that... because we welcome freedom of speech." "So we're gonna give you 15 seconds to get whatever you have out." "So here we go, on the count of three, you can start your booing." "One, two, three." " Ladies..." " Was there boos at the end?" "...that was fucking brilliant." " It was." "It felt like..." " Oh, it was brilliant." "Oh, that was brilliant." "All the media people are just like, "Oh--" I mean" " Simon, you're our manager." "Shut up." " Okay." "Sorry." "This sucked, actually." "It was really fucking lame." "Whoo!" "Cheers, you guys." "So being the pain in the ass that I am, we've gotta do a little radio thing now," " so..." " Aw, come on!" "But what made it tough was it wasn't your normal call," ""I wish you wouldn't play that song," or "I don't really like what you did."" "It was, "I will never listen to you again." "I will drive to the station." "I will," you know, short of threats, to us, it was like, "I will never listen again." That was just weird." "We have this audience, and we wave that country flag all the time, defend country music, and in an instant, they turned their backs on us." "No, I mean, you being the biggest ambassadors for country radio." "No bullshit, how do you all feel about country radio?" "The people who abandoned us," "I'll never talk to them again." "And the people who've supported us are gonna get more love than they've ever seen." "Can you say, "Hi"?" "Say "Aghhh!"" " Sneak attack!" " Aggh!" "You scared me." "Freedom of speech is fine, but by God, you don't do it outside of the country, and you don't do it in mass public place." ""Being ashamed of our president means being ashamed of our country." "Move to France, Dixie Chicks."" "Screw 'em!" "Right?" "Say it." "Did Simon tell you all the American Red Cross wouldn't take a million dollars from us?" "Well, you do know that George W Bush is the honorary chairman." "This whole week they didn't play us." " This whole week they didn't play us." " That's one song." " No one boycotted you." " This is a boycott." " That one did." " That is not a boycott." "How is it not a boycott?" "They haven't been playing our music for a few weeks." "A boycott is when someone says, "We are not playing--"" "Simon, actions speak louder than words." "What's the difference?" "You tell me the difference." "All I know is all these radio stations, they pretend to support 'em, but they won't play 'em." "We call and ask, and they won't." "No other artist that we play on the radio would get the kind of hate mail and complaint calls, and "I'm never listening to you again." "I'm never doing business with you."" "No one gets that." "I could probably put Marilyn Manson on the radio station and not get that kind of negative feedback, even though we're a country station." "These people haven't "boycotted" us, but they haven't been playing our song and are partially responsible for our number-one single to plummet." "I'm just trying to find some medium ground here." " Ignore it." " It's up to them to do the right thing." "We have not done anything wrong, and there's nothing" " for us to climb back from." " I agree." " Where are our record sales?" " Near the shitter." " How much?" " Right now you're down to 56 on the top 200." "But yet" " Is that the lowest ever?" " Yeah." "I think time's the greatest healer of all." "Listen, they'll give Tracy Lawrence, who's a wife beater, another shot." "I don't want another shot." "Until the mood of our audience changes, we're not going to play them anymore." "It'd simply be financial suicide." "Keep playing, keep making music." "And keep your mouth shut." "Now that we've, you know, fucked ourselves anyway, I think we have a responsibility to continue to fuck ourselves." "I am so" " I just-- the rest of our career just better not be overanalyzed like this because of this one episode." "USA!" "USA!" "USA!" "I almost started crying out there tonight." "Why?" "All these people in this huge arena, and I thought, are we ever gonna be at this level again?" "It made me so sad." "I thought," ""Is this the top, you know, and everything's downhill from here?"" "Today's country, KJ97." "Good morning." "It's Randy Carroll and Pam Tyler." "It's 8:54." "Their career is a lot bigger than the country music core." "Now as a radio station, we can't afford to lose the country music core." "As entertainers, they obviously feel like they can, and I think that's probably the thing that bugs me the most about the whole thing-- not so much what they say, but in the things that they've said." "And several different things, not just the comment about the president, but some of the things that they said about Toby Keith's music and about him and people that believe that way shows a real contempt for what a whole lot" "of country-music listeners believe." "I just have a quick question regarding things that have been happening with Toby Keith lately." "He was in town a couple of weeks ago with a little bit of a video poking fun at you." "What are you thoughts on that?" "Is it all just in fun, or is there any seriousness to what's going on?" "It's not in fun for me." "I don't appreciate what he does in his show with my picture, and he has not been banned for that." "You have had a famous feud, and does it bother you that you are sometimes linked with this simple-minded redneck?" "And by that, I mean George Bush." "You're getting us in a lot of trouble, Bill." " I don't think we can get in more." " What is the status of that feud?" "You don't mind if I wear a shirt that says "Fuck Toby Keith"?" "I think it's cool." "I bet you $1,000 that you won't wear a T-shirt that says," ""Fuck you, Toby Keith" in three-inch" "I should wear a T-shirt that says "I love Toby."" ""I love TK."" ""FCTK."" "Ooooh!" " What is that?" " FUTK." "What does that mean?" "Fuck you, Toby Keith." "And then when people ask about it, what's the line?" "Use your imagination." "It means something different to everyone." "I'm gonna do that." "That's so safe." "Fans United Together in Kindness." "Personally, I wish they would just shut up and sing." "About the time things start dying down, somebody else says something stupid and gets everybody all riled up again." "Dixie Chicks rule!" "Fuck you, T.K.!" "F.U.T.K.!" "My shirt means "Freedom, Unity, Truth, Knowledge."" "Oh sure, it says "FUDC." You can infer whatever you want from that." "I don't know what it means." "I'd say it's "Freedom for the United States which is a Democratic Country."" "You see that person shaking their sign with so much energy" " that said "FUDC"?" " Yeah." " You should have said" " I almost said" ""Hey, that's not nice of you, crowd."" ""We love you all's signs, but what do you have against Dick Cheney?"" "The Committee continues its series of hearings examining media ownership by returning to the topic that started it all-- radio." "As a result of statements made by members of the Dixie Chicks at a concert, two radio networks-- Cox and Cumulus-- banned the Dixie Chicks from their playlist at a chain level." "Mr. Chairman, first of all," "Mr. Renshaw refers to our radio companies as networks and we are not networks." "We are a confederation of 270 individual stations in 55 cities" "You made a decision from corporate headquarters that was binding on-- on your DJs." " Mr. Chairman" " And just prior to that, you said that you are a group of independent radio stations." "See, that's a total contradiction, Mr. Dickey." "I think that mischaracterizes it." "As I mentioned, this was a collaborative decision-making process." "Everybody fell in line." "This was not-- this was a unanimous overwhelming decision." ""Fell in line," I understand this." "Do you think what you did sent any type of a chilling message to people that they oughta shut up... and not express their views one way or other?" " I would hope not." " Okay." "Let me conclude" "Mr. Renshaw, do you think that program directors ever have the right to select the programming based on the actions, activities or public statements of the entertainers?" "I believe that they have the right to make the decisions about whether they do play something or they don't play something." "But I think that what we were seeing that was going on at the time was people were making decisions in a politically-censuring mode, despite what everyone says." "Not very many managers would be so brave." "They had-- they had unwittingly entered into the world of politics." "It just seems to me that when people get into politics, even if they're entertainers, it has consequences." "She made a decision, politically, to speak." "It had a business consequence to her." "And I think entertainers, increasingly after this conflict, are now recognizing that their involvement in politics does have a political fallout in terms of business to them." "Oooh, did you see that?" "If we give VH1-- if we're doing the VH1 thing, and we give them the remixed version of "Top of the World"" " Yes." " Can we give CMT simultaneously" " the country version?" " Why are we beating a dead horse?" " CMT viewers, I don't think, want" " Well, that's" "I don't think we should penalize-- if they want to try-- penalize CMT when they have done nothing but stand by us." "I don't want to be in a market and industry that doesn't want us right now." "I just feel like..." ""Let country music rest."" " Just not wanting to go" " We're not going to the CMAs." " We're not" " You're not?" "!" "So, uh" "You mean we can't-- uh..." "So I'm just gonna tell them, "No, pass." "Forget it." "We're over it." " See you in a couple of years."" " Maybe." "Well, "Whether you like it or not is gonna be irrelevant, but we'll see you in a couple of years with something."" " Maybe." " You may never make another record?" " It may not be a country record." " Oh, I know that." " It works" " It could be." "I'm assuming that it-- that" "I'm assuming there will be another record at some point." "All right." "Yeah, but they're not-- anyway, we can argue about it" " in two years." " Yes, oh yeah." "Here we go." "I'm probably totally outnumbered, but I think this is a country record in a lot of ways." "Knowing country through and through because that's what I listened to, you know, most of my life," "I don't think this is that far..." " I don't think so." " ...from country" "There are songs like "Lubbock" where it's hardly kind of country, but it's kind of like-- I don't know," "I really haven't heard a band that sounds like that." "The last thing I wanted to do was for Rick to come in and say, "Okay, we're making a rock record."" "That would've scared the crap out of me." "He hears something different, Natalie hears something different," "Emily hears something different, I hear something different, but to me this is reminiscent of the country I grew up on which is why I love it." "I feel like I just decompress the second I go through the gate." "It's just like I can just relax, you know?" "Being on the road's one thing, but LA is a whole other thing." "It's just not my cup of tea." "I don't understand how people can live in a place like Los Angeles." "When I'm out there visiting her, I'm just pissed off the whole time." "He is-- he's literally pissed off the whole time." "I'm like, "Go home."" "I've always been able to separate work and family and I've never had to do that as long as I have this time with this project, you know?" "I've never had to relocate." "It was a hard year." "You know, being split up like that, especially, you know-- with our son being two and a half." "Yeah, he'd get to fly back and be with Dad for a week, but for a two-and-a-half-year-old to conceptualize," ""Why aren't you together?" That was really hard." "Hey, Mommy." "Stop." " He's pretty good." " Gimme." " Got him!" " Shoot." "Dance in circles, do your hands" "Where's jazz hands?" "I don't know too many women who get to bring their husband and two children to work." "Yummy yummy?" "I'm so lucky." "My husband travels everywhere with me." "He's like a Mr. Mom and he loves being a dad" " and travels on every tour." " I love being there for her when she comes in in the evening from the studio." "You know, the babies are there and I'm there." "Dinner's on the table-- sometimes." "And uh, you know, it's-- it's good." "It really is, it's great." "No matter where we are, as long as we're together, I feel like we're home." "Happy Halloween." " I don't want it, I don't want it." " We'll do it loose." " Huh-uh, huh-uh." " Do it." "Watch." "If you don't like it, we'll take it off." "Trust me, man." "I have to wear one all the time." "You know, Daddy plays lawyers." "It's all I do." "Look at me-- do I look like a lawyer?" "It's the tie-- it fools everyone." "Aw, it's so cute though." "Girls are suckers for boys in ties." " I don't want my tie." " Hey, you know what, buddy?" "I don't blame you." "Ties suck." "Who wants to tie a noose around their neck?" "This is basically like this." "So in corporate America you go," ""Come on." "Let's go." "Come on." "Come on, come on." "Another couple hundred million dollars." "Come on, come on." This is how they walk around the halls at Exxon." "Just like this." "Come on, let's go, come on, chop-chop." "Okay, so I don't blame you." "You don't have to wear it." "What else do we need?" "Oh!" "You're beautiful." "Look at Kathleen." "Beautiful." "I think we're ready." " Happy Halloween!" " Hey, you ready, Harry?" " This." " Mama, look, a graveyard." "I know." "Look at that scary guy." "Where is Kathleen?" " Ta-dah!" " Dah!" "I feel like I've aged five years since I had my twins." "I just look in the mirror and think I look so old, and the other morning I was so tired." "When you're just so tired, you'd give anything not to have to get up." "I offered Adrian a thousand bucks to get up once, and he didn't do it." "A thousand..." "I was like, "I'll give you $1000."" "I was so serious." "What does that mean to the person you're married to, though?" "What's it mean that he didn't get up?" "In our world, okay, we give you a blowjob." ""All right, you have to give me a blowjob." I was like, "No, I'll do it."" ""I'll get up." "Never mind." "You drive a hard bargain."" "We need to find a way of introducing people to the new sound on the new album, and I think we go out and we do four shows." "I think we should go and play in LA," "New York, Chicago and Austin." "It would be more industry?" "It would be more industry, fans." "That's too soon, Simon." "And especially for industry people, I don't think our first time performing these songs need to be in front of industry people while we're still feeling out how we are gonna" " How are we gonna do that?" " --move and look." "If you want it to be really good, all we have to do is start early enough to make it good, so I don't understand what your problem is." "I don't think we're being cautious enough." "I think it should be very calculated." "I feel like we're treating this like every other record, and we all agreed that that is not the way this needed to be treated." "It scares me." "There's a lot of people out there who already have their minds made up." " It doesn't matter." " What's that gotta do" "We have never gone into a record being judged the way we are gonna be judged this time." "Never." "After the comment, when we got all the criticism, it was just a really scary time." "It was just wrong what happened, not only to us, but other people that were, you know, shut up or made to feel threatened for feeling a certain way, you know, about the war or whatever." "Everything was so bizarre, it was almost humorous." "I just could not believe people cared what I said." "But it had to be somebody or some group that seemed like the all-American girls." "It was perfect." "It had to be the unlikely voice from what looked like the conservative heart of America saying it." "That was perfect." "To me, it was something really just an episode, and okay, we're gonna lose some record sales, and it's more important to stand up for what's right, and be a strong unit together and support each other." "But then when the death threat came, I thought," ""Okay, this is different league." "It's a totally different league."" "Thank you, Los Angeles!" "That was the envelope tonight." "It says, "Natalie Maines will be shot dead Sunday, July 6th, in Dallas, Texas."" " You know the Dallas threat?" " Yeah." "They have a guy, the police have, reason to believe he might be the guy." " Really?" " Because he's made other threats against senators in the same way" "Can they make sure he's nowhere near Dallas?" "I'm gonna have a policeman on him for the whole time we're in Dallas, and outside his house, and just so they're always on him the whole time." "They think this is the person." "God." "The handwriting sort of matches." "The FBI had some intelligence on this guy with some other threats, possibly to you guys, but they didn't share it to anybody." "We're trying to get more info on it, but we're gonna have people watching him during the show." "He's kind of cute." "He is." "He's a good-looking guy." "The hairspray's got you." "When we start Texas, we're in serious danger territory." "So get your shit together because" "It's very scary." "As I said, we're making some changes with security." "This should be a Texas Rangers issue." "No one fucks with the Texas Rangers." "Do you think the National Guard should be in Dallas?" "The National Guard?" "What, like tanks?" "Armored personnel carriers?" " Like they do at the airports." " Inside the building?" "Keeping an eye on the section?" "If I was a person bringing a gun into a show," "I'd bring the smallest possible gun and probably put it in my crotch because nobody is gonna feel somebody's crotch up." "I wouldn't." "I'd put it up in my ankle." " They wand your feet." " They don't get down that far." "And you expect us to want to play a show in Dallas and you're telling us they don't feel people's legs." "They can't touch people." "They cannot touch people." "Okay then, at Dallas we have metal detectors." "I know how vulnerable I feel." "I can't imagine how Natalie feels." "Standing up there, you feel so naked." "So naked." "Hello." "The last thing I said to Charlie was..." ""I'll call you tonight if I don't get shot."" "Oh!" "Say, 6:30, we walk out the door at 6:45 and we fly in, and then when we land, the cops are gonna take us right to the stage." "There's never any time where we're stopped inside the venue." "Hi, Asvia, this is Natalie Pasdar." "You gave me a reading about a year ago, probably." "I just wanna know if you feel like" "I'm in any danger or if I'm safe." "So please give me a call." "Thank you, bye." "Be right there." "Come in, Mindi." "I'm not expecting to look at anybody before we walk out of the room and say, "Is it clear?"" "I'm just expecting it to be clear." "And I want someone in front of me when we're walking, and I want someone to be sitting there waiting for us when we get there." "Number two check." "I had proposed a song idea to them called "Undivided,"" "'cause I thought that people were being divided by politics and being like, "Okay, you have to be on this side, and you have to be on this side." "Now you all go ahead and hate each other."" "And be about also how the girls have dealt with controversy." "Instead of being divided and conquered, they stuck together." "Natalie thought about it for a second." "Then she said, "Well, does that mean that in the song I would have to forgive the people who did all that to us?"" "And I said, "Maybe it would for the song." "Maybe it would."" "And she went, "Nope."" "That's just the most emotional song on the record for me." "It took about, I'd say, a hundred listens before I didn't get choked up, literally, just every time I play it for somebody, or heard it in the car or whatever, it made me realize how raw the emotions still were." "The Dixie Chicks may soon cause a stir with lyrics from their upcoming album." "This single "Not Ready to Make Nice"" "is not big on the radio, and is really not big on country radio." "The Dixie Chicks have all but challenged country music stations to stop playing their music." "Joanne's e-mail this morning was the south of the Mason-Dixon Line." "We have no one other than one station" "So lose a few." "Miami, LA and Knoxville." "At least the album's fucking delivered." "Mind your step, ladies." "I know you're having fun, but mind your step, please." "So, girls, one thing that did come up today in my meeting with Sony, the big concern that they have is we really don't know what's gonna happen on radio." "They wanna have us doing as much TV as we can get done." "So let me throw out some TV ideas and get some feedback from you:" ""The View," if it was just an interview with Barbara Walters, and if we went in and we did the production as opposed to "The View" doing the production." ""Regis and"" "Kelly?" "Now tell us, first, with each show what's the mandatory performance?" "Okay, can I just throw this out there?" "Why can't we... can we decide what kind of artists we want to be right now?" "Sure." "Can we be the Bruce Springsteen and the Bob Dylan-- not that I'm comparing our music and ourselves to them-- but do we have to be on everything that they'll let us be on?" "I just don't care." "Here's what everyone is wrestling with." "You are the biggest-selling group in North America in the last eight years." "No one has sold, combined, more records than you have." "I don't give a shit what Sony wants We know what Sony wants-- money." "We've always been a cash cow." "They're worried we're not gonna be that." "I think what they're wrestling with is they're wrestling with expectations." "They look at you as the act that they expect to drive more sales with than any other band on Columbia releasing an album this year." "Hey, Natalie, Natalie." "I read that you all felt like this album was a rebirth or kind of like starting over." "Everything seems like the first time again." " We knew it had to be personal." " It feels really good." "As we expected, Dixie Chicks album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and on our country albums chart as well." "Everybody is talking about the Dixie Chicks." "They're right there on the cover of "Time" magazine." "Does it still surprise you what went down?" "The biggest surprise to me was how many people were terrified to even be associated with us." "Public opinion has changed so much in the last three years." "Bush's approval rating is kind of down." "Does that impact on you?" "We just made the album we'd-- not even wanted to make, but needed to make." "The new poll is certainly a blow for the president, showing a public fed up with the war and his handling of it." "Tonight questions about claims the president and members of his administration made in 2003." "There are a lot of legitimate questions about this president, how he misled the public on the issue of weapons of mass destruction." "We did not find the weapons of mass destruction and that's raised questions about whether the sacrifice in Iraq has been worth it." "59% call the war in Iraq a mistake." "Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary and that has caused these kinds of casualties?" "As we mentioned earlier, the number of US deaths has hit 2500, and so far, 18,490 troops have been wounded." "The president has completely blown it with this war." "I am sorry about what I said, I'll tell you the truth." "'Cause they took a very bold and brave stand." "You guys were absolutely right." "Right now you're not wearing panties." " Is that a political thing?" " Is that a Dixie Chick thing?" "I won't wear panties until the war is over." "They got a number-one-selling album and didn't have to depend on radio to do it." "Does it matter to you how this album does?" "I'm more scared about if the tour will sell" " than the records." " Yeah, than buy the album." "No matter what, we will always make music, but there's a certain energy and just that adrenaline when you go out onstage and you have those fans that are there." "The live show, for me, is the-- is the total payoff." "When you have seven kids, you can't go back to the RV." "You can't-- you can't pile everybody in and, you know, go play small clubs." "I won't go out without my family." "And so I think you have to maintain a certain level of touring." "So, you know, to me that's-- that'll be the measure of success." "Arenas or nothing." "There's a whole new deal that's been proposed." "AG will make an offer for the entire tour." "The guarantee is basically $26 million, versus a 90-10 deal." "You keep saying the word "risk-- we're covering our risk."" "What it comes down to is if we want to take that risk." " Absolutely." " Maybe I'm bass-ackwards here, but I would rather know that we took the risk and had faith and lose out on money than to do what I think it's gonna do and sell out and have that feeling of "Why didn't we fucking have confidence in ourselves?"" "You know what?" "If we're gonna have this conversation, we should involve Al in it, and we should just look at the economics." "You're not gonna sell out in Nashville, you won't sell out in Memphis, you won't sell out in Oklahoma City." "Now, I mean, we can lose money really quick." "I know we can." "Here was an option for you to hedge your bet." "If you don't wanna hedge," " you don't wanna hedge." " I am" " I am saying I get all of this." "I'm totally with Natalie." " And it's" " And as hard-- as hard as you think it is for us to work, it'll be harder for me to work with a tour that sold out in two fucking days and I didn't bet on myself when I knew I should" "and I'm taking-- and it's not even about the money!" "I'll be pissed at myself." "That will make me unhappy." "It's almost like if you don't sell it and you took a gamble on yourself just like how-- it lights a fire." "It makes you fight." " Just like" " I'm not" "I mean, they love the-- listen, I love the fucking attitude." " Bring it on!" " Nat, don't get me" "Isn't that what Bush said?" ""Bring it on!" Exactly." "Listen, and you and Al are either with us or against us." "Unfortunately, we're with you." " Whether you like it or not." " Whether we like it or not, we're in." "Okay, according to Ticketmaster, time-- one minute away from the on-sale start." " Good morning." " Okay." "Ah..." " Philadelphia..." " Okay." "...sold, 69; open, 7942." "Toronto?" "Simon, uh..." " Toronto needs to roll right now." " That's too bad." "Can you roll Toronto to the second show?" "Definitely." "I will send it off right now." "Thank you." "Philadelphia, pull back." "Pull back, Atlanta." "So don't roll any of them with the exception of Toronto." "Really?" "Okay, bye-bye." "So we rolled Toronto." "What else is happening?" "Toronto rolled right out." "The other ones-- you still had open seats." " It's the South." " Atlanta is definitely slow." "This is not good." "I mean, I hate to throw a dose of reality on this." " I don't disagree with you." " Even in Boston-- those aren't good counts." "We've gotta be honest with each other," " they're not good counts." " No." "Can I throw a radical idea out here?" "Do we take Milwaukee, KC, Saint Louis, Indy, Des Moines, literally move them back into October and try to just slam Canada in-out of Chicago and Minnie and go spend our time up in Canada?" "That's a great idea, I think." "'Cause Canada seems to be really strong." "I'm talking about playing Kamloops, Moose Jaw-- everywhere there's a hockey arena, let's go play." " Moose Jaw." " Yeah, there's a town called Moose Jaw." " And it's got a hockey arena?" " Yeah." "And that's where we're at." "We are not selling to country right now." " We are selling to a new audience." " Well, we're not-- yeah." "We're a new band." "And the next tour we do, if this record is a hit to the new audience, we're back playing-- that's where we're rebuilding a career with a whole new-- it's a new band and a new audience." "It feels like we've been beat up and then we've been pushed back in the ring." "It's just emotionally draining and-- and" "And the tour, I think it's the first... non-success we've had." "People ask about sluggish tickets... there's no denying we have sluggish tickets." "I'm not-- and I'm not embarrassed by that." "So I don't feel the need to put a spin on it." "But I think it had gotten to the point where it was just kind of scary-- when the ticket sales were sluggish-- that we had committed to a lot of people." "You know, these people depended on us for the next six months of their lives." "It's a huge burden and, at the same time, it's a lot of stress." "We know everyone's been hearing a lot of rumors about the tour... what's happening, and we just wanted to settle all the rumors, just saying that we will be starting the tour on the 21st of July as planned." "Oh-oh-- we did want to say though we are having to cut corners in places and meat's expensive and y'all drink a lot of beers so both of those are off." "If you gauge your career by how many people buy your albums or are at the concert," "I don't think we'll ever be in that place again." "But, you know, it's giving us this fire back." "I don't know, there's just something to say for-- having that back, that want to... garner new fans, or uh... just prove yourself all over again." "I think Natalie still feels pressure about what's happened, even though we say over and over and over again," ""It was the best thing"" " I can tell her that and shake her all day long." ""It's the best thing that ever happened to me." "It's the best thing that ever happened to our career." "We'd never change it." "You're fine." "You didn't do anything."" "And I just think she still-- she still, um... feels responsible." "And if she came to me tomorrow and said," ""I don't want to tour." "I don't want to record anymore." "I don't want to do this,"" "I care for her." "I'd say, "Okay." I'd give up my career... for her to be happy, be at peace." "It's great to be back at Shepherds Bush." "The return to the scene of the crime." "And all week, the only thing people keep asking is," ""What are you gonna say?" "Do you know what you're gonna say?"" "As usual, I didn't plan anything, but I thought I'd say something brand new and just say, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.""