Review: Dixie Chicks still tug on the heart strings
By Stuart Derdeyn, Postmedia News
Natalie Maines dissing Dubya permanently divorced Dixie Chicks from
its cracker and Tea Party crowd. But the Dallas trio apparently didn’t offend anyone in B.C.
As Saturday’s packed Rogers Arena date on the Long Time Gone Tour
proved, ladies love the Chicks.
The almost entirely female audience was on its feet harmonizing with
Maines, multiple-instrumentalist Emily Robison and fiddle player Martie Maguire from the first notes of the opener Wide Open
Spaces. Maines sounded a bit rough on the title track to the trio’s breakout 1998 release.
It was a mere glitch as the faux-hawked singer nailed it perfectly on
the band’s first Top 10 single I Can Love You Better. Robison laid down some nice Dobro slide on the song, too. The
eight musicians found their sweet spot right quick.
Performing a sequential set list was the structure of the performance
which was pure platinum to fans hungry to hear that almost Stones-y riff on Ready to Run from 1999s Fly. The song selection
didn’t miss a hit and the three seemed to be having a fine time.
Maines — as ever — was full of fire and, sometimes, funky
dance moves. But, watching this group, you cannot fail to notice how good Maguire is. None of the songs would sound as good
without her contribution.
This holds true for the Court Yard Hounds, her band her sister Emily.
Their latest, Amelita, was promoted before the show which makes one wonder exactly what the long term plans for the Dixie
Chicks. Maines solo album was well-received and it’s clear from the more pop/rock sound of classics such as Goodbye
Earl that the country is getting left behind for an adult contemporary vibe.
This isn’t a new thing. Just one that was even more out front
Saturday night.
It certainly sounded good if the streaming tears all around on Cowboy
Take Me Away were anything to go by.
This is a band that has always had a way with pulling heart strings,
and hasn’t lost any of that potency even after being “gone” awhile.
