Dixie Chicks tie politics to first Colorado show in a decade
By Candace Horgan, Hey Reverb
"We hope you don’t wait another 10 years to invite us back," said Natalie Maines late in the Dixie Chicks’
triumphant set at Fiddler’s Green Thursday night as part of their DCX MMXVI tour.
Over the course of two hours, the Dixie Chicks delighted the nearly sold-out crowd at Fiddler’s, playing many of
their most popular songs and throwing in a couple of interesting covers, like Beyonce’s "Daddy Lessons," that nevertheless
hewed closer to bluegrass and country in the instrumentation.
Just after 8:30 p.m., the house lights went down and Prince’s "Let’s Go Crazy" pumped through the PA. Rather
than just play a fraction of the song, the Dixie Chicks honored the late genius by playing it in its entirety. As the last
notes faded, the stage lights came up in a strong blaze of white and the band, plus backing musicians, among them Denver’s
own Justin Weaver, launched into "The Long Way Around."
The white theme of the lighting extended to the instruments, which, with exceptions on one song, were all white as well,
while the band members mostly wore black.
Maines’ voice sounded as strong as it ever has on "Truth No. 2," one of three Patty Griffin tunes the band played
during the night. While most of the songs were played very similar to their album versions, the Darrell Scott song "Long Time
Gone," a huge hit for the band in 2003, got a slower, sultrier take for its first half before returning to the usual jaunty
rhythm.
The band also offered another tribute to Prince with a stunning cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U," with Maines singing matching
and even surpassing Sinéad O’Connor’s. The video screen behind the band showed shades of purple, as well as the
non-pronounceable glyph Prince utilized in place of his name for a while. Multi-instrumentalist Emily Strayer played a bluesy
solo on an electric slide guitar, while her sister, Martie Maguire, took a gorgeous and soulful solo on the fiddle.
The first set ended with the long-time favorite "Goodbye Earl," a song that fans had paid tribute to in a break between
the opening acts Smooth Hound Smith and Vintage Trouble via a YouTube montage. The first mild political statement of the night
flashed by on the video screen during the song, as an image of Donald Trump was drawn over with devil horns and a mustache.
The politics of the band were subtle, but there. On the concourses around the venue, gay rights organization Human Rights
Campaign and voter registration organization HeadCount both had booths, and some volunteers were walking around offering to
register people to vote. The closest political statement from the band came during "Ready to Run," when the video screen showed
images of the Democratic and Republican Parties’ donkey and elephant icons, as well as images of the presidential candidates
from this year’s race.
The set break consisted of a video of the three Chicks driving cars in a mock drag race while Motörhead’s "Ace of
Spades" roared in the background, a playful and cheeky bit of fun.
The show went off like clockwork, and by the time the band launched into a double-play late in their set of two early hits,
"Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Wide Open Spaces," most were on their feet singing along and dancing.
The encore started with "Not Ready to Make Nice," and while that song seemed polarizing when it was released, even it had
everyone in the venue standing and singing along.
As Maines said, hopefully we won’t have to wait another 10 years for the band to return.
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