Dixie Chicks Fan Lets his T-shirt do the Talking
It didn’t take a lot to stand out at the Dixie Chicks concert if you https://fanchicks.net/pic/n/dance weren’t a chick.
Saturday’s near-capacity crowd at the Resch Center was probably 75 to 80 percent women. Larry Smith figured as much going in, which is why he sprung for the extra $22 to make a T-shirt.
The truck driver from Racine was the guy in the “Not Earl” shirt, a clever nod to the abusive husband who “had to die” in sing-along favorite “Goodbye Earl.” Smith was inspired, he said, by a fan spotted wearing a rolled-up tarp – Earl’s ultimate fate after his wife and best friend taint his black-eyed peas in the video – at an earlier stop on the DCX MMXVI World Tour.
Well, that and the fact he knew he was wading into “the alcohol-fueled estrogen ocean that would be a DCX Show in Wisconsin,” he said. “I felt compelled to wear a disclaimer.”
His sense of humor got him high-fives all around, from men and women, when “Goodbye Earl” came up in the set. There were laughs and waves the rest of the night, too.
“Even the police when I was walking in said, ‘Well, we don’t have to worry about that guy, because it’s not Earl.”’
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It was the first Dixie Chicks concert for Smith, a fan since “Wide Open Spaces” came out in 1998 when he was driving truck cross-country. He knew just the perfect person to bring along for his date that night. Not his fiancee, who isn’t as big of a fan, but his 70-year-old future mother-in-law. He affectionately calls her his “mother outlaw.” When some in country music were dumping their Dixie Chicks CDs after lead singer Natalie Maines’ controversial comment in 2003, she went out and bought one as a show of support.
Smith warned her he wasn’t going cheap if he was going to the concert – not for a trio he considers a genre onto themselves. He splurged on Row 14 seats on the floor.
“I have a mad crush on Martie Maguire, the fiddler, so I made sure to get stage right,” he said.
See? So much smarter than Earl.
Smith’s shirt wasn’t the only fun to be had with “Goodbye Earl.” Banjo player Emily Strayer posted a photo on Instagram of cheese with specially designed labels to welcome the Chicks to the Resch Center, including one that read “Gouda Bye Earl.”
The Chicks reportedly stuck around to take in the Detroit Lions-Green Bay Packers home opener the next day at Lambeau Field. According to the tour itinerary, their next concert isn’t until Thursday in Canada.
Concert news
» Celtic Woman, which has a history of filling the Weidner Center, will return to the hall June 10 for its “Voices of Angels” World Tour.
The Ireland group is playing more than 90 cities on the trek that kicks off March 2 and goes through June 25. The trek will support a new album of the same name, which comes out Nov. 18, and features vocalists Susan McFadden, Mairéad Carlin and Éabha McMahon and introduces new Celtic violinist Tara McNeill.
Tickets go on sale at noon Wednesday at ticketstaronline.com, (800) 895-0071 and Ticket Star outlets. Prices are $103-$43. For a limited time, each ticket will include a digital download of the upcoming album.
» Lera Lynn will play a Near Water Concert Series show Nov. 11 at Backstage at the Meyer. If you watched Season 2 of “True Detective,” you may recognize her for her role as the burned-out barroom singer or her music on the soundtrack. Lynn spans Americana to indie rock on her two most recent releases, 2014’s “The Avenues” and this year’s “Registor.” General-admission standing tickets are on sale for $15 through Ticket Star.
» Tickets are on sale for $20 for the Life Is Manditori concert at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Meyer Theatre. It’s the third year Nashville-based duo Manditori (Bay Port High School grads Mandi Sagal and Tori Occhino) is coming home to play a benefit for Happily Ever After Animal Sanctuary. Tickets are available at the HEA Adoption Center, 2255 Fox Heights Lane, and Ticket Star.
Gigs
» Shoots Bar & Grill, 3375 Side St. in Suamico, celebrates its 25th anniversary Saturday with a full day of music, including Nicki Sims at 1:30 p.m., Spinal Compression from 4 to 8 p.m. and Shocker from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. They’re going whole hog for the milestone.
