It is every die-hard music fan’s dream to pull back the curtain and unveil the irreplicable alchemy that brought their favorite album to life. Listeners want to know it all: the inspiration behind the metaphors, who came up with the most unforgettable lyrics, whether a song is truly about the celebrity gossip fans assume it to be. Above all, they want to know the process that leads to a purely electric album.

The 20-year anniversary tour of The Chicks’ “Taking The Long Way,” which arrived at MGM Music Hall at Fenway on Oct. 9, transported the audience back to 2006 to explore these questions and more. Viewers were there offered a time capsule — a candid glimpse into the intimate, painstaking process of bringing the beloved album to life.

“Taking The Long Way” is The Chicks’ seventh studio album, and tracks like “Not Ready to Make Nice” remain among its most well-known. The record won five Grammy Awards and sold over 2.5 million copies in the U.S., placing it firmly at the top of the charts when it was released.

But the album’s success had been far from guaranteed. In fact, just three years earlier, The Chicks had been banned from country radio stations and their records were burned by fans nationwide. The controversy came on the heels of the band’s critique of the Bush administration and the Iraq War. At a concert in 2003, lead vocalist Natalie Maines said, “We do not want this war, this violence. And we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.”

The fallout was immediate. Marcus Hummon, one of The Chicks’ major co-writers, recalls a music publishing executive asking him, “Did you read about what happened? They’re done at country.”

But The Chicks were far from done. “Taking the Long Way,” their public response to the firestorm, became a smash hit — and now, twenty years later, they’re reliving one of the most tumultuous periods in their history and revisiting the album that helped them move past it.

The first half of the concert was a no-skips, start-to-finish performance of “Taking The Long Way.” The set had a casual, stripped-back feel, with band members Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Strayer sitting in a semicircle at center stage and reflecting on the creation of the album. In between songs, they discussed the writing process, their collaborators, their inspiration, and the impact of the 2003 controversy.

The performances were also interspersed with projected footage — recorded clips from writing and recording sessions, media segments of protestors reacting to their Iraq War statement, and videos from their time on the road.

One particularly memorable montage stitched together responses from commentators, ex-fans, and activists condemning The Chicks, concluding with the angry command: “Shut up and sing.”

From the stage, Maines looked out at the audience and answered, “No, thank you.”

Her attitude reflects the band’s unwavering commitment to speaking up for what they believe in. This defiance is best exemplified by “Not Ready to Make Nice,” one of the most galvanizing anthems on the album. A direct response to the 2003 criticism, it includes lyrics like “I’m not ready to make nice / I’m not ready to back down / I’m still mad as hell and I don’t have time / To go ‘round and ‘round and ‘round.” Live, this song was more rousing than ever — the bridge had the audience shouting, hands in the air.

The force of “Not Ready to Make Nice” was balanced by the slower, gentler tone of “Lullaby” and the emotional weight of “Silent House,” written in honor of Maines’ grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Before “So Hard,” Maguire reflected on her struggles with infertility and her hope that if she opened up about the experience, it would ease the road for other women. The set ended on an upbeat note with “I Hope,” an affirmation of the endless, empathy-fueled pursuit of a better future.

The song is a testament to the band’s ability to endure — and not just to endure, but to rise above the censure and transform it into fuel. Watching The Chicks perform now, it’s evident that the 2003 controversy lit a fire in the band that blazes brightly even twenty years later when they take the stage. This scorching fervency was on full display in the second act, which featured the band’s most famous tracks. For this part of the show, the production intensity was turned up to match their sentiment: the lights flared to life, Maines, Maguire, and Strayer commanded the spotlight at the front of the stage, and the audience responded with a roar of enthusiasm.

The highlights of the set were crowd-favorite “Goodbye Earl,” wistful ballad “Travelin’ Soldier,” coming-of-age anthem “Wide Open Spaces,” simmering smack-down “Gaslighter,” and a moving cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” Throughout the show, Maguire contributed striking instrumentals on the fiddle, and Maines proved that even if she has taken the long way, her voice is as powerful as ever. The concert ended with a thrilling rendition of “Sin Wagon,” with red lights bathing MGM in gleeful, hedonistic furor.

All in all, the concert was a demonstration of the band’s tenacity and a reaffirmation of the ethical resolve that has guided them for decades. “Not Ready to Make Nice” ends with the lyrics, “Forgive? Sounds good / Forget? I’m not sure I could / They say time heals everything / But I’m still waiting.” In 2026, the words read like a prophecy from 2006.

It’s officially been two decades since “Taking the Long Way” and The Chicks’ cancellation, but it seems that they were right: Time doesn’t heal everything. The Chicks are still full of righteous indignation — and they’re still not ready to make nice.

—Staff writer Makenna J. Walko can be reached at [email protected].