CONCERT REVIEW: The Dixie Chicks

by Jeff DeDekker, Leader-Post

CRAVEN — After a day of wind, rain and mud, the Dixie Chicks were precisely the antidote needed to return the mojo to the Craven Country Jamboree on Saturday night.

It was a coup when festival organizers were able to get the Chicks to sign on the dotted line as replacements for Lady Antebellum, the initial Saturday night headliners that cancelled after band member Hillary Scott announced her pregnancy.

As much as Lady A is currently one of the top acts in country music, organizers didn’t drop their standards in bringing the Dixie Chicks to Craven. With 13 Grammy Awards and 30 million albums sold, the Dixie Chicks have an impressive track record. What made Saturday’s appearance so unique is that the band — Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire — has been inactive in recent years. Their last studio release was Take The Long Way in 2006, which was also the last major tour the group embarked on.

Originally one of only four dates this summer — the flooding in Calgary resulted in the Saddledome date being cancelled — Craven joined Ottawa and Cavendish, P.E.I., as the only venues fortunate enough to get a rare glimpse of the Dixie Chicks.

Although it wasn’t a sunny Prairie evening when the band took to the stage at 9:05 p.m., the weather conditions had improved dramatically.

“Thank you for sitting it out in the rain, you look fantastic. I love what you’re wearing,” Maines told the crowd with a laugh.

When the music started, it quickly became evident that the Chicks had not lost anything from their heyday. Maines’ voice was in peak form and was astonishing at times. While its quality is undeniable, Maines also benefits from having a distinctly unique sound. When anyone hears it, it’s instantly recognizable as Maines and only Maines.

Production-wise, the show was quite different from Friday night headliner Tim McGraw. His set was production heavy with all the bells and whistles expected of a major touring act. The Chicks, on the other hand, kept the production to a minimum — no video screens or strobe lights, just the house lights.

But that’s not to say the Dixie Chicks show was lacking in any way, shape or form. The bare bones format actually enabled the fans to focus on the music and that focus was richly rewarded.

The 18-song, 95-minute set was an eclectic mix between hits like Long Time Gone and Ready To Run, lesser known tracks like Give It Up Or Let Me Go and Lubbock Or Leave It and covers of Bob Dylan and the White Stripes.

Whatever the song, the Chicks brought their ‘A’ game — their harmonies were silky smooth, the band was tight and it appeared a fun time was had by all.

Two prime examples were Travelin’ Soldier and Not Ready To Make Nice. Both songs are emotionally charged and the Chicks definite struck a chord with each. For Travelin’ Soldier, which Maines introduced by saying, “We’re going to see if we can pull one off, just the three of us,” the arrangement went low key with just three stars manning an acoustic guitar, a fiddle and a Dobro. It was intimate storytelling as its best, or at least as intimate as you could tell a story to thousands of people in an outdoor venue.

Not Ready To Make Nice, the group’s response to the backlash from a negative comment Maines made about President George H.W. Bush, was a powerful reply from the Chicks. Maines’ emphatic vocals Saturday appeared to show the band believed in their stand just as much now as when the song was released in 2006.

The only minor quibble might be that three of their No. 1 hits — There’s Your Trouble, You Were Mine and Without You — didn’t make the set but I guess even the Dixie Chicks can’t please everybody.

Set List

1. Goodbye Earl

2. Truth No. 2

3. Long Way Around

4. Landslide

5. Long Time Gone

6. Give It Up Or Let Me Go

7. Mississippi

8. Travelin’ Soldier

9. Cowboy Take Me Away

10. White Trash Wedding

11. Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn

12. Lubbock Or Leave It.

13. Top Of The World

14. Ready To Run

15. Easy Silence

16. Not Ready To Make Nice

Encore

17. Wide Open Spaces

18. Sin Wagon

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