Dixie Chicks fans enjoy big singalong at SPAC

The Dixie Chicks　have had quite the roller coaster career, but they certainly seemed to be back on the upswing on Saturday, as they delivered a generally rousing, two-hour-plus concert to kick off the 2016 summer concert season at the Saratoga Perrforming Arts Center. And despite the fact that Kenny Chesney was headlining the Taste of Country Music Festival at Hunter Mountain and country star Craig Morgan was headlining the Americade concert in Lake George — both on the same night — more than 17,000 fans chose the Dixie Chicks.

Of course, the Dixie Chicks' musical palette has always extended pretty far the usual borders of what's considered current in country music, but at SPAC diversity seemed to be the battle cry, as Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire　paid tribute to Prince ("Nothing Compares 2 U"), Beyonce (an impressive, sit-down reading of "Daddy Lessons"), Bob Dylan's　(a Cajun stompin' version of "Mississippi"), Fleetwood Mac (a sweet but uninspired rendition of "Landslide") and Ben Harper　(ending the concert on an optimistic note with their encore of "Better Way").

It's been a decade since the band mounted a major U.S. tour. They don't have a new album to promote. And they don't have plans to record one, either ... which may explain the cover-heavy setlist. Or perhaps they feel that they no longer have anything to prove.

But they weren't just coasting. Maines is still the focus, lead singer and spark plug of the band, and she was in excellent voice. Sisters Emily Strayer (banjo, lap steel, Dobro) and Martie Maguire (fiddle, mandolin) chimed in with harmonies, although it was a bit difficult to hear them over the very loud, very enthusiastic gaggle of young woman singing only slightly off-key in the row behind me. I imagine there were many pockets of similar fans peppered throughout the amphitheater and the crowded lawn — they came to party.

The Dixie Chicks were quite ably backed by a solid five-piece band, who shined brightest during the midshow informal sit-down performance of the crowd-pleasing bluegrass hoedown, "White Trash Wedding." They were also backed by a gigantic floor-to-ceiling video screen that was as distracting as it was enhancing.

"We are the Dixie Chicks, and we are going to attempt to entertain you tonight," Maines explained early in the show: Mission accomplished.

Josh Herbert　opened the show with a brief 20-minute romp through five of his uptempo pop songs, followed by the seven-piece British R&B band the Heavy, with singer Kelvin Swaby leading the way through such catchy soul nuggets as "What Makes a Good Man" and "How Do You Like Me Now."

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