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Dixie Chicks give a sold-out Sprint Center crowd a long, rousing thrill
BY Timothy Finn, Kansas City Star
As Prince’s "Let’s Go Crazy" blared through the P.A. system, the Dixie
Chicks took the stage at the Sprint Center on Tuesday night, where a sold-out crowd of about 16,000 welcomed them euphorically.
They had been sorely missed.
More than 13 years had passed since the Chicks performed in Kansas City. In May 2003,
they played a sold-out show at Kemper Arena that followed a volcanic controversy over something the trio’s lead singer,
Natalie Maines, had said in March of that year about an impending invasion of Iraq by a coalition that included the U.S. military.
The comment ignited a conflagration of protests, and the Chicks were subsequently
banned from all contemporary country radio stations. The war itself eventually ended, but resentment for the Chicks did not,
and after a rocky 2006 tour that suffered more than two dozen show cancellations because of poor ticket sales (including a
Kansas City date), they retreated and put the band to rest, raising families and working on other music projects.
Earlier this year, they announced the DCX MMXVI World Tour, their first headlining
tour of U.S cities in 10 years. The time away did not diminish their appeal or their skills, but, as evidenced by the reaction
from the big Sprint Center crowd, it did arouse a longing for their music and their electrifying live shows.
They performed for more than two and a half hours, plumbing a catalog that goes back
to 1998 and their breakthrough "Wide Open Spaces" album. The set list included several covers, including Prince’s "Nothing
Compares 2 U," a twangy version of Beyonce’s "Daddy Lessons" and a raucous rendition of Bob Dylan’s "Mississippi."
It also included a bluegrass instrumental, in which Maines played percussion while sisters Emily Strayer and Martie McGuire
showed off their virtuosity on banjo and violin.
Things got political only once, during "Ready to Run," when the large video screen
behind the Chicks and their five-man band broadcast a goofy animation that mocked the entire presidential field.
Otherwise, it was all about the music and favorite songs like "Goodbye Earl," "Traveling
Soldier," "Truth No. 2" (one of three Patty Griffin covers), "White Trash Wedding," their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s "Landslide,"
"Wide Open Spaces" and the country-punk anthem "Sin Wagon," all of which aroused loud and rowdy sing-alongs all the way up
to the last row of the upper-decks, where fans were engaged all night.
They closed with "Not Ready to Make Nice," their screed against those who banished
(and threatened) them for Maines’ comment in 2003, then another cover, "Better Way," a song about taking a stand and
pursuing dreams written by Ben Harper (who co-produced Maines’ solo album, "Mother"). Maines prefaced that with some
words about all the hatred and anger in the world. There was none of that in the Sprint Center this evening, though. Instead,
the Chicks received 10 years worth of love and appreciation, all of it deserved.
SET LIST
The Long Way Around; Lubbock or Leave It; Truth No. 2; Easy Silence; Some Days You
Gotta Choose; Long Time Gone; Nothing Compares 2 U; Top of the World; Goodbye Earl; Traveling Soldier; Don’t Let Me
Die in Florida; Daddy Lessons; White Trash Wedding; instrumental; Ready to Run; Mississippi; Landslide; Cowboy Take Me Away;
Wide Open Spaces; Sin Wagon. Encore: Not Ready to Make Nice; Better Way.
The Dixie Chicks reunited for a spectacular sold-out Sprint Center show last night
by Mike Warren, The Pitch
This is what a triumphant return looks like.
Ten years after last playing Kansas City, and a long 13 years after their own messy, career-threatening political controversy,
the Dixie Chicks stuck the landing last night. It wasn’t a return from exile; they were clearly wondering, loudly, what
all the fuss had been about in the first place.
The show opened in stark black and white (White: piano, drums, guitars, fiddle, lights, even mic stands; Black: everything
else). An IMAX-size screen behind the band flashed tightly timed and choreographed images—swooping travelogue montages,
kaleidoscopic morphs of the band, ancient clips from the American past. The band dove into the appropriate "The Long Way Around,"
and from that moment, the spectacle was on. Even without a new album to tour on, the trio provided the music the adoring crowd
craved.
The music was immense, and strictly speaking, not the bluegrass and country of Wide Open Spaces, but that wasn’t
the point. As they tore into the aisle-filling (and usher-challenging) "Some Days You Gotta Dance," many good things ripped
free from the crowd, whose backing vocals were a crucial part of the show throughout the concert.
In addition to all that black and white, there was quite a bit of purple. The second most moving moment of the night was
a surprise tribute to Prince, the band’s version of "Nothing Compares 2 U," with Emily Robison’s lap steel providing
the necessary guitar whispers. (The most moving moment was the way the show opened with an empty stage—including white
piano and guitars—and let Prince’s own "Let’s Go Crazy" play all the way through.)
Natalie Maines’ archival comment about George Bush now seems absolutely innocuous compared to the full-on, non-subtle
and confident attacks of this show. As the arena filled with the revenge lyrics of "Goodbye Earl, the frantic video images
included vintage mug shots, femme fatale imagery from classic films and snippets of villains past and present, including O.J.
and a Donald Trump photo defaced with horns and crumpled into nothing instantaneously, almost subliminally. Combined with
18,000 or so singing "Earl had to die," it was a recipe for sensory overload.
About the time the pageantry threatened to become overwhelming, the Dixie Chicks reined things in, playing a bluegrass
medley (including a few "Seven Nation Army" licks) while the stage was re-set and the space was transformed into a hay-colored
barn side. The trio’s version of "Travelin’ Soldier" was a return to their traditional sound—and a reminder
of the instrumental talents of Maguire (fiddle) and Robison (seemingly anything with strings).
Openers Vintage Trouble and Smooth Hound Smith joined the Chicks for an unplugged version of the third Patty Griffin song
of the night (after "Truth No. 2" and "Top of the World"), the not-yet-recorded swampy version of "Don’t Let Me Die
in Florida." That was followed with an unexpected front-porch version of Beyonce’s "Daddy Lessons," which segued perfectly
into the crowd favorite "White Trash Wedding."
The Dixie Chicks opened the stage back up for the final songs, and Maines introduced Fleetwood Mac’s "Landslide"
(one of the night’s biggest sing-alongs) by saying they’d originally been attracted, all those years ago, to the
line "I’m getting older, too." "Now we’re nine babies in," she said, grinning, "and that line’s just irritating."
The show built to a grand finale of the powerfully hopeful "Better Way," and as all three bands (and a generous portion
of their families) joined the Dixie Chicks, Maines asked, repeatedly "Are you ready to change the energy of the universe?"
It was a big charge, even for a packed arena, but by the time she asked, it had already happened.
Leftovers: Bluesy roots duo Smooth Hound Smith opened, and even though ITS format was more Tiny Desk than arena-ready,
Zack Smith’s slide guitar and creative percussion and singer Caitlin Doyle’s huge and affectionate vocals made
them part of everyone’s family.
Second band Vintage Trouble, an L.A.-based R&B powerhouse—think James Brown backed by the West Pennsylvania Bootlegger’s
Union--was the near-perfect opener. Singer Ty Taylor was a dervish, completely sweating through his tailored golden suit,
and he also provided the best antidote for the inevitable and goofy hatred of the Westboro Baptist Church. "It’s 20-fucking-16,"
he declared earnestly, previewing the Dixie Chicks message, "and we’re supposed to be in love with ourselves."
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