Dixie Chicks - PNC Bank Center 2016

The Dixie Chicks brought their long-awaited return to the road to PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, on June 8, 2016. The show was part of the DCX MMXVI World Tour, their first major tour in a decade, making the performance a particularly anticipated stop for fans who had been waiting years to see Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Robison back together onstage.

The timing made the concert feel even bigger. The group had not released a new studio album since 2006's Taking the Long Way, but their catalog had remained remarkably familiar. Songs such as “Wide Open Spaces,” “Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Goodbye Earl,” and “Not Ready to Make Nice” still had plenty of life, and the PNC crowd was ready to hear them performed live again.

The set drew from throughout the band's career, balancing the massive country-pop hits with more reflective material. “The Long Way Around,” “Easy Silence,” “Travelin' Soldier,” “Top of the World,” and “Truth #2” were among the songs featured during this stretch of the tour.

The concert also showed just how much the Dixie Chicks had evolved as a live act. Maines remained the unmistakable focal point, while Maguire and Robison supplied the instrumental depth that made the group's performances more than straightforward country-pop shows. Their harmonies, musicianship, and ability to shift between intimate material and huge crowd favorites gave the evening plenty of variety.

There was also something satisfying about seeing the Dixie Chicks return to a major outdoor venue after such a long absence. The DCX MMXVI tour was one of the summer's biggest country tours, with stops at major amphitheaters and arenas across North America. The Holmdel performance came early in the tour, just days after the opening run through Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago.

For fans at PNC Bank Arts Center, the show was ultimately about getting a beloved band back where it belonged: onstage. After ten years away from major touring, the Dixie Chicks sounded confident, polished, and completely comfortable together. The 2016 Holmdel concert was a reminder that a great catalog doesn't disappear during a long break—it just gives fans more time to miss hearing it live.