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After a decade away, Dixie Chicks haven’t lost it
By Steve Smith, Globe Staff
MANSFIELD — A lot can change in a decade, from prevailing musical trends to the party affiliation of
the nation’s leader. The Dixie Chicks at the height of their popularity epitomized mainstream country-music success,
with chart-topping singles and best-selling albums. Then in 2003, nine days before the US invaded Iraq, Natalie Maines, lead
vocalist of the Texas trio, told a London audience, "We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that
the President of the United States is from Texas."
The country-music industry turned on the group, banishing it from the airwaves even as its 2006 LP, "Taking
the Long Way," went on to sweep up five Grammy awards. The trio laid low, concentrating on raising families. Maines cut a
solo record, while her bandmates, founding Chicks Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, toured and recorded as Court Yard Hounds.
When the reunited Dixie Chicks came to the Xfinity Center in Mansfield on Tuesday, you sensed even before
they took the stage that no one was walking anything back. In the concession area, volunteers registered voters; in the theater
you saw public service announcements for Human Rights Campaign and Proclaim Justice projected on screens alongside Dixie Chicks
trivia questions and Maines’s snarky tweets.
Dressed in black-and-white, playing on a black-and-white stage, the Chicks and their five stellar supporting
musicians opened with "The Long Way Around," from "Taking the Long Way," and devoted a healthy portion of their show to that
album’s songs. This also being a chance to get re-acquainted, the show’s two generous sets included big gulps
of favorites: "Goodbye Earl," "Cowboy Take Me Away," "Sin Wagon," "Wide Open Spaces," familiar covers of Bob Dylan’s
"Mississippi" and Fleetwood Mac’s "Landslide," most sparking joyous sing-alongs.
Still, there was plenty to make clear that the Chicks didn’t stop paying attention while they were away.
Prince’s recording of "Let’s Go Crazy" having set the stage for the concert literally, an impassioned cover of
his "Nothing Compares 2 U" provided one of the show’s early highlights.
Later, after a video interlude in which the Chicks waged a post-apocalyptic car chase over a twanged-up cover
of Motörhead’s "Ace of Spades," an intimate acoustic set sandwiched "Daddy Lessons," from Beyoncé’s "Lemonade,"
between Chicks staples "Travelin’ Soldier" and "White Trash Wedding." In the bluegrass romp that followed, you could
just make out the chorus of the Weeknd’s "Can’t Feel My Face" over what sounded like a chord progression from
the White Stripes’ "Seven Nation Army."
Maybe you caught the Beyoncé T-shirt Maines was wearing under her jacket for the first half of the concert,
or the stylized version of Miley Cyrus’s leer that replaced it — more signifiers that the Chicks hadn’t
lost touch.
Really, they didn’t have to try so hard. A lot can change in a decade, but this show made clear the
Dixie Chicks essentials — Maines’s appealing voice and punky charisma; the way the gifted Robison and Maguire
ground her brash energy, rooting her deftly and sympathetically — remain intact. And to judge by audience response to
some of the evening’s more pointed inclusions — a defaced snapshot of Donald Trump onscreen during "Goodbye Earl";
the chaotic political circus that accompanied "Ready to Run" (including President George W. Bush added to Mount Rushmore);
the all-embracing sentiment proclaimed before an evening-closing cover of Ben Harper’s "Better Way" — the band
has mounted its comeback at exactly the right moment.
After 10 years away, Dixie Chicks still got it
The Dixie Chicks brought their first American tour in 10 years to The Xfinity Center
By Jay
N. Miller, The Patriot Ledger
"Next time, let’s not wait 10 years to do this again," Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie
Maines drawled near the end of Tuesday night’s concert at The Xfinity Center in Mansfield, to the delighted roar of
the 16,000 fans on hand.
The Dixie Chicks’ first American tour in a decade certainly touched a chord, even if the
band doesn’t have any new music to promote. But while the 24-song set that covered just over two hours included tunes
from all of their albums, it was also marked by some tantalizing – and often surprising – covers, which made it
feel like they were doing new music.
The Chicks, who celebrated their 20th anniversary as a band last year, include Maines, 41, Emily
Strayer, 43, on banjo and guitar, and Martie Maguire, 46, on fiddle. Strayer and Maguire are sisters, and between the three
women they have nine children (ages 3-15), which was the primary reason the Dixie Chicks had been more or less in mothballs.
During their decade away, Maines released a 2013 solo album, which was more pop than their usual rockin’ country feel.
After 2010, the former Erwin sisters (Strayer and Maguire) released a couple of albums as The Courtyard Hounds, both of which
were similar to the Dixie Chicks, although a bit more traditional Americana, with Strayer as lead singer.
But none of those other projects quite matched the special sound the trio achieves together,
with frequently stunning three-part harmony or unison vocals, all woven around Maines’ strong lead vocals. During their
career, starting with their 12-times platinum debut "Wide Open Spaces," the Dixie Chicks have sold upwards of 30 million albums,
and won 13 Grammy Awards, five of which went to their last album, "Taking the Long Way" in 2006.
Most notably of course, the Dixie Chicks incurred the wrath of many country music conservatives
in 2003, when Maines, from a London stage, expressed their opposition to the invasion of Iraq. How times have changed, from
that episode prompting some quarters to urge burning their records, to this year, when both major party presumptive nominees
consider that invasion a mistake. Last night’s show had some very minor jabs at politicians running for office, and
a very brief video image, flashing amid many more characters in quick succession, of Donald Trump with devil’s horns
drawn on him, during "Goodbye Earl."
But in the main, Tuesday’s concert was a rowdy reunion for the Chicks and their fans,
and the tour’s logo "DCX" was visible everywhere, telling you that the merchandise stands were doing boffo business.
Overall, some of those inspired covers really conveyed the impression that the Dixie Chicks
want to broaden their musical horizons. The full bore Southern rock treatment of Bob Dylan’s "Mississippi," for instance,
was so gritty and potent, it might have convinced fans some of Southern rock’s royalty are actually musical wimps by
comparison. And the down-home, back-porch take on Beyonce’s "Daddy Lessons," with the trio and their backing quintet
all on acoustic instruments, transformed that hit pop song into starkly realistic traditional country. And what could top
their soulful tribute to Prince, as Maines sang her heart out on "Nothing Compares to You" on a stage bathed in purple light,
with the Prince symbol dominating the back video screen, and Strayer giving it a new sonic flavor with pedal steel.
Longtime fans naturally came to hear the hits, and they got plenty, and plenty of tasty album
cuts too. "Taking the Long Way" opened the show with verve, with Maines in a black leather jacket over black shorts, Strayer
in a black tank top, and Maguire wearing a black shirt over white jeans. The stage set was built around a black-and-white
theme, with tall white towers framing the huge back-of-the-stage video screen, and a row of smaller pillars forming a frontal
barrier utilized to good effect, as it peeled away to reveal the three singers outlined against white backgrounds.
By the second tune, "Lubbock or Leave It," you could be forgiven if you wondered if ZZ Top was
in town, as the eight musicians built a muscular driving rock sound. It was, by the way, a relatively loud concert, and it
seemed that the bass drum and tom-toms were too high, with too much reverb (a problem that affected the first two acts as
well), which worked OK on the more thumping rock-tinged numbers, but also served to drown out any nuance on quieter moments.
That seemed to have everyone else playing – and singing – at top volume, and while it projected effectively to
all corners of the venue, it also seemed like some moderation would’ve been helpful.
Patty Griffin’s "Truth # 2" was an early nugget, focused on acoustic guitar, the fiddle
and banjo, but with that rockin’ foundation. The cinematic video backdrop to "Easy Silence" was superb, but that ballad
could’ve had more impact without the pounding rhythm section underneath it. The sheer exuberance of "Some Days You Gotta
Dance" had the throng dancing and singing along, and the brisk country-rocker "Long Time Gone" got an extended, bluesy coda.
The sense of empowerment behind "Goodbye Earl" was palpable and the audience sang along enthusiastically
and Trump’s brief visage in that array got a big roar. After that the Dixie Chicks took a break for what Maines noted
was their "first ever onstage wardrobe change," but the video screen played a mythical racing cars story featuring the three
singers, while a bluegrass version of Motorhead’s "Ace of Spades" blasted out of the speakers.
Returning to the stage front in an all-acoustic format, the Dixie Chicks delivered some of the
night’s best moments, including the poignant Bruce Robison ballad "Travelin’ Solder," that superb Beyonce’
cover, and a banjo-fueled romp through "White Trash Wedding." The two sisters on banjo and fiddle joined Maines on kettle
drum for a wickedly entertaining bluegrass instrumental. Then it was back to full band mode for "Ready to Run," which was
marked by video cartoon figures of all the Presidential candidates, including with clown noses and rainbow wigs, before it
all climaxed with a blizzard of red, white, and blue confetti raining down on the audience.
That sizzling take on the Dylan tune was followed by a magnificent version of Fleetwood Mac’s
"Landslide," centered on banjo, mandolin and acoustic guitars, with three-part unison lead vocals. The power ballad "Cowboy
Take Me Away" got a huge crowd response/singalong, and "Wide Open Spaces" became a communal choir of 16,000. The regular set
closed with "Sin Wagon," highlighted by the banjo and fiddle in an arrangement best described as roadhouse/bluegrass-rock.
The Dixie Chicks encore began with "Ain’t Ready to Make Nice," their musical reply to
all that 2003 controversy, and it was one of Maines’ most stirring vocals, full of hurt but powering through with the
kind of resilience that sustained them. With some brief remarks about the Orlando tragedy, the Dixie Chicks ended with Ben
Harper’s "Better Way," with a rainbow shield dominating the video screen behind them.
One more indication of the Dixie Chicks’ openness to broadening their style, or their
audience was their choice of openers, as British rhythm and blues septet The Heavy delivered a potboiling 40-minute set. The
midtempo steam of "No Place for a Hero" led into the raucous "Curse Me Good," which I’d wager was played slower, with
more twangy guitars than usual by the group. Lead singer Kelvin Swaby is a most riveting frontman, and his intensity during
"Since You’ve been Gone" helped make that number a memorable concoction, sort of Motown-meets-Arthur Lee. The amiably
chugging "That’s My last Confession" was more traditional soul, while the call-and-response choruses of "Tell Me Now"
solidified Swaby’s status as the 21st Century Wilson Pickett. By the time The Heavy finished, with their first hit,
"How You Like Me Now?" even the most diehard Chicks fans were moving and groovin’ along with them.
Even earlier, around 7 p.m., songwriter Josh Herbert played half-a-dozen tunes with just his
acoustic guitar and a drummer. Herbert’s "California" had a neat soft-rocking vibe, but his joyous love song, "Ohio
Is Where She’s From," was so giddy it had you thinking of Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch.
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