Dixie Chicks, Joan Osborne; HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY, 6.13.03 performance.
This 22.75"h x 13.5"w color print is from a 2003 pressing, custom-printed on heavy gloss stock and signed and numbered by the artist, Bob Masse. Unmatted/unframed ( Click here for framing options and costs)
Although this show on the 3-month-long (50 cities in 52 nights, from 5-1-03 thru 8-4-03) American leg of their 7-month “Top of the World” world tour came shortly after lead vocalist Natalie Maines told a London audience in March (10 days before the U.S. invaded Iraq) that they were ashamed the President was from their home state of Texas, the resulting news coverage and backlash from a segment of their fan base made a noticeable dent in their ticket sales in some markets. To illustrate the point, soon after the NY-area show featured in the poster, Natalie received a death threat saying she'd "be shot dead" at the July 6, 2003 concert in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center.
However, other fans – and many supporters/free speech advocates from outside the Country music business – rallied behind the band, and the resulting tour became the highest-grossing Country tour of all time (at the time, with over $60 million in tickets sold).
The tour was documented CD and DVD packages (Top of the World Tour: Live) as well as the 2006 documentary titled Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing. The music industry lauded the band at the 49th annual Grammy Awards, where the Dixie Chicks won the award in all 5 categories they were nominated in (bringing the total number of Grammys they’ve won to 12).
Singer Joan Osborne opened for the band during the first half of their U.S. shows, with Michelle Branch finishing out the tour. She had just completed a tour with Motown stars The Funk Brothers and was then scheduled to open for (and sing with) the Dead, who had recently reformed to stage their “Summer Gateway Tour”. Osborne herself had experienced throngs of protesters as she toured following the release of her 1995 hit single “One Of Us”, which some people had labeled as “blasphemous”. The song went on to become the theme song for the popular TV series “Joan of Arcadia” and the album that featured it – Relish – did quite well in the charts.
Bob Masse is from Canada's west coast and has been producing concert posters since the 1960s. While attending art school in Vancouver, British Columbia, he began his career doing posters for the folk acts that came through town, in exchange for free drinks, tickets, and the opportunity to meet the musicians.
Bob was greatly influenced by the art and music scenes in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where he spent considerable time in the late 1960s, producing posters and album covers for various bands of the day. His work from this time is highly sought by collectors.
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