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Dixie Chicks show Calgary crowd they just keep doing what they do best
By Gerry Krochak, Calgary Sun
The Dixie Chicks have earned the right to go back to the Saddledome well …
at least one more time.
Despite not releasing any new music since their 2006 comeback,
Taking The Long Way, the feisty trio has not surprisingly taken to the road during a U.S. election year.
What some may find surprising, however, is that one-time George W-bashing front woman Natalie Maines barely
bothered mentioning Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.
Er … too easy a pair of targets, one has to surmise.
No, on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the Chicks stuck to what they’ve always known and
done best. Come to think of it, they have stuck around long enough to do whatever they want, whenever they want for the fans
who keep buying the tickets. Fair enough.
Flanked by longtime cohorts and multi-instrumentalists Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, Maines was in superb
form early through The Long Way Around, the rollicking, straight-ahead groove of Lubbock Or Leave It and the Patty Griffin
nugget, Truth No. 2.
"You look fantastic, Calgary," Maines offered.
"I love your hair," she proclaimed before divulging the show was being filmed for a forthcoming concert DVD.
Despite a nifty (flashy even) stage production, the troika (and entire five-piece backing band, for that matter)
all dressed head-to-toe in black and white, with white instruments, as if try to say, ‘This is who we are … take
it or leave it.’
No grey areas turned out to be a good thing on the clean, well-lit stage, which featured a plethora of moving
images on a giant video screen backdrop.
The near-capacity throng bought what the chicks were selling, giving the first ladies of bluegrass-infused
pop-country a warm welcome and some polite applause while enjoying Easy Silence, Some Days You Gotta Dance, Long Time Gone
and a stunning Prince tribute with Nothing Compares 2 U.
Those patiently waiting for the heavy hitters were rewarded during a rollicking rendition of the anti-abuse
anthem Goodbye Earl as well as Ready To Run, the title cut of the 1998 landmark Wide Open Spaces, and a Fleetwood Mac-inspired,
but Chick-fuelled interpretation of Landslide.
Well-placed and well-meaning covers of Dylan’s Mississippi, Beyonce’s Daddy Lessons (for real!)
and a further pair of Patty Griffin numbers in Top Of The World and Don’t Let Me Die In Florida coloured the set, and
reinforced the veteran trio’s status as hardcore music fans.
They don’t have to play covers … they want to play ’em.
That said, if you don’t own any Patti Griffin albums, do yourself the favour.
At times, the Chicks seemed almost flawless to the point of sterility. A frivolous complaint, however, when
you consider that Cowboy Take Me Away, Sin Wagon and Not Ready To Make Nice made way for perhaps the best cover of them all
with Ben Harper’s Better Way. Picture perfect harmonies, as always.
Come back to this well any time, ladies.
Opening the evening’s festivities was Ex’s & Oh’s hit-maker, Elle King.
The 27-year-old daughter of sometimes funnyman Rob Schneider is working hard to shake off the very strong
potential of being a future one-hit wonder.
The leather-lunged, banjo-toting pop and rock chanteuse had a healthy smattering of early-arriving fans on
her side through The Compromise, Oh! Darling, Ain’t Gonna Drown and the Joplin-esque strains of Last Damn Night.
One of last year’s major-league hits had them dancing in the aisles to the admittedly ultra-catchy pop
nugget. Ex’s & Oh’s was the song you just couldn’t shake last year — and it caught everyone again
last night.
Elle King has surely got something, but it’s not entirely clear just what. Only time — and album
No. 2 — will tell.
Dixie Chicks deliver an incredible and entertaining night in Calgary
by Mike Bell, Calgary Herald
It’s the harvest.
A plentiful one. Bountiful.
Thanksgiving has come early.
This past month has been all about country music in this city, with Saddledome shows by Keith Urban, Dolly Parton and,
on this Saturday night in Calgary, American trio the Dixie Chicks.
And the reaping has been rewarding.
In the case of Urban, it was contemporary country at its finest, the Aussie singer and guitarist putting on a typically
sensational show. He played, he sang, he showcased with an urgency, immediacy and understanding of what a performer should
be.
Parton? Wow. An icon on every level and an evening to remember for anyone in attendance, with the talk as entertaining
as the song. She told stories, she sirened timeless material and she charmed her way into everyone’s heart.
Dixie Chicks?
A delightful half-ton truckful of the two — albeit more of the former than the latter, with the chatter at a minimum,
the music at max.
The threesome of Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire returned to the Saddledome for the first time since their
Halloween 2013 show with a blistering and blissful night of twang-filled tunes and welcoming warmth.
During their two hours onstage, they and their excellent, excellent band generously, happily delivered hay bales of entertainment.
Taking the stage after a piped-in playing of Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy — more of that was to come in a
more original way — the ladies then proceeded to show off a stellar mix of professionalism and showhership.
They stood centre stage and played hard, performing tunes such as The Long Way Around, the full-on rock version Lubbock
or Leave It, Patty Griffin’s Truth No. 2 and Top of the World , the oh-so pretty Easy Silence, Some Days You Gotta Dance,
the murderific Goodbye Earl, a seriously stellar take on Beyonce’s Daddy Lessons, the hillbilly fun-time of White Trash
Wedding and a spectacular Landslide from Fleetwood Mac.
And as for that stage they stood and played upon, it was roomy with subdued lights, a giant screen behind with relevant
visuals — waterfalls, the girls in speeding convertibles, etc. — some unnecessary confetti cannoned late into
the evening, and a pair of screens showing closeups of the artists doing what they do best.
They showcased that further with a set in front of a curtain that descended giving them a sliver of the stage, offering
some beautiful versions of Travelin’ Soldier and Griffin’s Don’t Let Me Die In Florida — the latter
Maines introduced with a vague, winking, coy and cheery reference to her well-documented political comments from a decade
ago.
Whatever your political or musical affiliation, it was fab and fantastic, something that made you thankful on many levels.
And there were also many, many moments that it was impossible not to fall in love with the mohawked Maines and her voice
— a wonder, a treasure in music, with the harmonizing offered by her two mates only icing on a cake, or whipped cream
on the pie, that was home-baked.
Perhaps the highlight of the night was an early tribute to the man whose song they took the stage to, a take on Nothing
Compares 2 U that unfurled shivers for everyone in the room.
There were many, but this was notable, memorable and lasting.
Which brings us to opener Elle King. She was simply stunning. Simply amazing. The singer-actress put on a sensational set
that in any other room, on any other evening was a headliner’s show-stopping 45 minutes of fabulousness.
Her voice, her songs, her band, her passion-soaked delivery of a remarkably soulful blend of gritty roadhouse C&W,
dusty tumbleweed rock, polished Adele pop and Heartworn Highways Americana left a mark that won’t soon be forgotten.
Honestly, if you didn’t walk out of the Dome a fan, invigorated and in love with her then you were late to the show,
stuck in a beer line or simply weren’t paying attention.
Leading off with the tune Jackson, she then all-but re-kickstarted the ’70s renegade country movement in real time
with tunes such as her banjo-backed Good to Be A Man, the monster rock Chain Smokin’, Hard Drinkin’ Woman and
a glorious cover of the Beatles tune Oh! Darling.
It was astounding how good and refreshing she was on every level, eschewing the contemporary tropes for something real,
lasting, memorable and wonderful.
And when she wrapped up with her singalong hit Ex’s and Oh’s and then America’s Sweetheart there was
nobody in the room whose heads weren’t brimming, whose hearts weren’t full.
A harvest. A bountiful harvest.
Blessed are we.
And thanks be for this.
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