Dixie Chicks ticket sales bombing

So much for their "#1 album" spin! From al-Reuters:

Initial ticket sales for the Dixie Chicks' upcoming tour are far below expectations and several dates will likely be canceled or postoned.

Ticket counts for the 20-plus arena shows that went on sale last weekend were averaging 5,000-6,000 per show in major markets and less in secondaries, according to sources contacted by Billboard. Venue capacities on the tour generally top 15,000.

In contrast, the band's new album, "Taking the Long Way," sold 526,000 units in its first week, according to Nielsen Soundscan, the third-largest sales week of 2006. The album logged a second week in the period ended June 4, according to sales data issued Wednesday.

Despite those numbers, early ticket sales are clearly not meeting projections. The plug was pulled on public on-sales for shows in Indianapolis (August 23), Oklahoma City (September 26), Memphis (September 27) and Houston (September 30) because of tepid pre-sales in a national promotion with Target stores.

The Memphis show has been pulled off the route and the status of the shows in Indianapolis, Houston and Oklahoma City remains uncertain. Industry speculation has it that much or all of the tour may be postponed. At the very least, it is likely routing and capacity will be reconfigured.

The good folks of my hometown Memphis used to be rabid Dixie Chicks fans...until Maines opened her ample piehole in 2003. Such resentment isn't unique to Memphis.

This part is pretty damning, unless you're an anti-American leftist:

But not all shows on this tour are below projections. "We're happy (with our on-sale) and comparatively seem to be ahead of most," says John Page, Global Spectrum COO/GM at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, where the trio is booked for July 25. A second date was added for the Air Canada Center in Toronto, where the first show sold out in eight minutes. "Canada loves the Chicks," says ACC booking director Patti-Ann Tarlton.

Bush-bashing anti-Americanism is a big hit for the Canucks, "eh"? Those "hosers" may drool over the Dixie Chicks like Mikie Moore over a Cindy Sheehan pin-up, but the country that the DC's used to love (for those of you on the left, that would be the United States) are as receptive to that as Ted Kennedy to non-alcoholic beer.