There weren't many things dumber in the music world in this millennium than
the boycott and banishment of the Dixie Chicks.
Aside from the fact that the Chicks were dead-on in their protest of the Iraq
War, the music scene lost one supremely talented band, a group that straddled modern country, classic country and pop in a
class above their peers.
If you stayed away from the Dixie Chicks’ DCX MMXVI World Tour Friday
night at the First Niagara Pavilion because you're still mad, the joke's on you, because it was one of the best concerts of
the year so far. Major artists designing their own tours should study this one because it was a state-of-the-art beauty — and
they might want to take a few more music lessons, too.
The Chicks arrived on a wide open stage in glorious black and white —
clothes, lighting, eye-popping videos, even the instruments — breaking into "The Long Way Around" and shining bright
on the harmonies. The largely female crowd of what looked to be about 10,000 to 12,000, seeing them back here for the first
time in a decade, roared out their joy and approval.
Having opened on the rootsy side, the Chicks stayed with 2006’s "Taking
the Long Way" (the last album they made), but kicked into a hard-rock gear on an electrifying "Lubbock or Leave It."
"We are the Dixie Chicks and we are going to attempt to entertain you this
evening," Natalie Maines said, with what had to be false modesty. Looking tanned and toned, sporting short platinum hair,
the 41-year-old frontwoman was stunning on vocals, and with closeups of her sharp glares, bright smiles and occasional head-banging,
it was hard to take your eyes off the screen.
Her partners, violinist Martie Maguire and banjo/dobro player Emily Strayer,
who had split off as Court Yard Hounds, turned into a dynamic bluegrass duo on just about every song. They were backed by
a five-piece band that included guitar and mandolin virtuoso Keith Sewell.
Six songs in, on the Sheryl Crow-sounding rocker "I Like It," with black-and-white
aerial scenes of New York City on the screen, they pulled a "Wizard of Oz," shifting the show into Technicolor. The contrast
made it all the more powerful when the set went purple, Prince symbol huge on the screen, for Maines to offer a soaring, tear-jerking
"Nothing Compares 2 U."
For the murderous tale of "Goodbye Earl," the screen showed mug shots and
headlines about violence against women, including images of O.J. Simpson, Chris Brown and a quick flash of Donald Trump --
with devil horns. He would turn up again later, along with cartoonish cut-outs of all the candidates dancing across the screen
(and W. on Mount Rushmore), in a blur of confetti, putting a whole new double-meaning to "Ready to Run."
While setting up for a sit-down session, they honored the late Lemmy Kilmister
with the Chicks in a slick "Speed Racer"-type video over a fiddle-led fly through Motorhead’s "Ace of Spades."
The unplugged session came with Maines delivering an impassioned version of
Beyonce’s "Daddy Lessons" (better than the one at Heinz Field) and "Don't Let Me Die in Florida," a dirty Southern blues
stomp courtesy of Patty Griffin. (With "Truth #2" and "Top of the World," that made three Griffin covers).
At this point, we were only halfway through. They barreled through a giddy
"White Trash Wedding" with some fast picking, and stripped down a trio, with Maines beating a tom-tom, for a bluegrass jam
that referenced "Single Ladies" and "Seven Nation Army." As the set wore on, Maines only got stronger, doing Dylan’s
"Mississippi" and "Fleetwood Mac’s "Landslide," chart-topping country hits "Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Wide Open Spaces"
and a wild, punk-speed ride on "Sin Wagon."
They encored with the defiant comeback song "Not Ready to Make Nice" and a
final message of hope in an anthemic version of Ben Harper's "Better Way."
Earlier in the set, they had breezed through Darrell Scott’s "Long Time
Gone," which rips on modern country on the line, "Now they sound tired but they don't sound Haggard/They got money but they
don't have Cash."
You want a band that can pull off Haggard, pull off Cash, pull off Beyonce
and Prince and Dylan and Fleetwood Mac and [bleeping] Motorhead, and more than hold their own? They played the Pavilion Friday
night, and they killed it.
Also on the bill were Pittsburgh pop singer-songwriter Josh Herbert and rock
band The Heavy.
SET LIST
The Long Way Around
Lubbock or Leave It
Truth #2 (Patty Griffin cover)
Easy Silence
Everybody Knows
I Like It
Long Time Gone
Nothing Compares 2 U (Prince cover)
Top of the World (Patty Griffin cover)
Goodbye Earl
Video Interlude: Ace of Spades (Motörhead cover)
Travelin' Soldier (Bruce Robison cover)
Please Don't Let Me Die in Florida (Patty Griffin cover)
Daddy Lessons (Beyoncé cover)
White Trash Wedding
Instrumental Bluegrass
Ready to Run
Mississippi (Bob Dylan cover)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Silent House
Cowboy Take Me Away
Wide Open Spaces
Sin Wagon
Encore:
Not Ready to Make Nice
Better Way (Ben Harper cover)
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