Every one of the Dixie Chicks’ 28 years of experience was on show Wednesday
night.
The Texans have gone from bluegrass buskers to Grammy Award-winning megastars;
and endured a controversial journey from country music outsiders to politically confident spokeswomen.
Their Perth Arena gig combined all that, plus a little all-American glitz,
for a near- perfect show.
New Zealand up and coming folk act Avalanche City was a perfect if inconsequential
opener in two-piece format, while the quiz on the big screen between acts was a nice touch.
But from the moment the lights went down and Prince’s Let’s Go
Crazy thundered through the PA, the night kept getting better.
The visual show was immediately as good as anything Adele or Guns N’
Roses served up at recent Perth concerts. The black and white colour scheme was as stylish as it was spectacular, from the
big screen visuals to monster lighting rig to the custom white instruments against black clothing. Classy.
The Long Way Around got some of the 8000 punters out of their seats while
the rollicking Lubbock or Leave It was an even more political swing at their deep south fan-base.
Taken from their Grammy Award-winning 2006 album Take the Long Way, both tracks
referenced their fall-out with Republicans after singer Natalie Maines told a London crowd she was ashamed then-president
George W. Bush was from Texas in 2003.
Addressing the audience with confidence and sporting short hair with a spunky
undercut, she outshone the trio’s more glamorous sisters Emily Robinson and Martie Maguire (banjo and fiddle, respectively)
with charismatic banter and endless energy.
"We’ve got a real s…head of a president right now in the United
States," she said to rapturous applause before calling for revolution on a cover of Thunderclap Newman’s Something in
the Air.
The highpoint came midway with a cover of Patty Griffin’s Top of the
World, which morphed into a surprisingly epic crescendo of violin and crashing drums before fan favourite Goodbye Earl displayed
spectacular visuals of criminals past and present on the big screen. It was darkly humorous, with a deadly serious feminist
undercurrent.
Following an intermission for an intimate acoustic rethink, Travelin’
Soldier’s harmonies were exquisite as the Chicks gave their five-piece band a break. But the razzle dazzle soon returned
with sparkling confetti showering the crowd during Ready to Run.
Their signature cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide, followed by Cowboy
Take Me Away and Wide Open Spaces sealed the deal before an overtly political encore kicked of with their classic Not Ready
to Make Nice.
"I’m a hippy chick at heart, Perth are you ready to change the energy
of the universe with me tonight," Maines asked before closing on a cover of Ben Harper’s Better Way.
Complete with audience participation and their kids onstage, it left a sense
that neither people power nor the power of a protest song is a thing of the past.
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