Full review: Dixie Chicks at the BOK Center

By Jerry Wofford Tulsa World

Tulsa fans welcomed the Dixie Chicks back to Oklahoma after a long time gone, and the trio gave fans just want they hoped to see.

On their tour, the band’s first in the United States in 10 years, the country stars showed why they dominated the charts with hit after hit, the crowd singing along throughout most of the night.

It was a big opening with "The Long Way Around" and lead singer Natalie Maines singing with the spirit and strength for which she is known. She’s mastered the touch of twang in her voice, a wide vocal range and a ferocious strength.

If ever too severe in her voice, the delicate harmonies from Martie Maguire and Emily Robison evened out the sound for something perfectly balanced.

But most impressive throughout the night was the musicianship of the members. Sisters Maguire and Robison are such seasoned musicians they make their fiddle and banjo work look effortless. As if to emphasize the point, they would rip through intricate solos while looking up and smiling, getting a kick out of blowing the crowd away.

Songs like "White Trash Wedding" and an instrumental portion highlighted their roots as superb bluegrass musicians, playing remarkably fast, again, with seemingly little effort. Playing like they do while making it look as easy as they do is something few have achieved.

Songs like "Top of the World," "Not Ready to Make Nice" and "Traveling Soldier" showed their skill as songwriters. They're able to tap emotions with their stories, accented by the stellar musicianship. They also know how to have fun, like "Sin Wagon" and "Some Days You Gotta Dance" for example.

The set also included a range of songs from their albums, but they treated the fans to several covers that were fun to hear with the Dixie Chicks twist. "Nothing Compares 2 U" from Prince and Beyoncé's "Daddy Lessons" were delightful and fit well into their sound. Of course, the song "Landslide" from Fleetwood Mac was covered on an early album and their rendition Thursday was on point. Maines sang with such skill, showing her voice is better than ever.

Though with such great tracks throughout their history, powerful and emotional songs that are quintessential Dixie Chicks, a few more could have been traded out with some of the covers and kept the crowd, which was unfortunately sparse in parts of the arena, just as enthralled.

Without new music since 2006, the band featured many of their big hits, which have earned them several Grammy Awards and made them one of the best selling country acts in the last 30 years.

In 2003, their notoriety changed after Maines told a London crowd in the days before the U.S. invasion of Iraq: "We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States (George W. Bush) is from Texas." That led to widespread boycotts across the country, with some still blackballing the trio's music. Their 2006 album, "Taking the Long Way," served as something of a retort, but the fallout was hard on the band, and that led to a decade off the road.

The crowd in Tulsa either forgave, looked past it or saw vindication with time. Maines during the acoustic portion of the show during an unrelated story told the crowd advice she got from a bandmate: "You can say anything if you say it with a smile."

"And boy was she wrong," she added, drawing laughter from the crowd.

The show didn't shy away from politics this time around, with the background video lampooning all of the candidates from this presidential race with silly cartoons during "Ready to Run."

Tulsa was the first night that opening act Elle King was on the tour, and she gave a strong performance that surely gained her some new Oklahoma fans. With a blend of country, rockabilly and folk rock, her set was lively and fun.

King’s voice is powerful and passionate, highlighted in songs where she really let loose. There was a guttural quality to it that emphasized power and passion.

Thursday showed the Dixie Chicks are still at the top of their game musically, and while that likely won't wane anytime soon let's hope it's shorter than a decade before they come around again.

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