Party-loving Chicks Meld Music, Fun Into Winning Mix
By Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun
A Texas tornado breezed through GM Place Thursday night, leaving 15,000 country fans stunned, breathless and with a "what-hit-me"
look on their faces.
The Dixie Chicks trio captivated their audience from the moment they emerged from the zipper of a massive denim drape designed
by Cirque de Soleil’s Luc Lafortune amidst the sound of buzzing flies and the Lenny Kravitz song, Fly Away.
As lead singer Natalie Maines launched into Ready to Run - the first hit single from their latest album, Fly, and
from the Runaway Bride movie soundtrack - several dozen fans handpicked for their energy were allowed to crowd the front stage.
Judging by the deafening screams throughout the stadium - a sound rivaled, by my experience, only by a certain Ted Nugent
concert, circa 1975 - the group's 70-city North American tour should be an entertainment success.
The Dixie Chicks equate with fun as much as solid music commercial, sure, but still rooted in tradition; even classic cry-in-your-beer
songs such as Hello Mr. Heartache, Without You, and If I Fall failed to take the edge off the good-times
crowd of predominantly young ladies.
There wasn't a huge amount of dialogue with the crowd, but all it took was a "Whoa!" or a "Holy Crap!" from Maines - ever
the foot-stompin', hair-shakin' party girl - to send fans to their feet in full-throated howl.
It was a pleasure to see the youths' genuine interest in Martie Seidel's fiddle playing, suggesting there just might be
hope yet for the new country. Sister Emily Robison, meanwhile, confidently roamed the raised half-circle ramp behind the six-piece
band, switching between banjo and dobro.
The most touching moment proved to be the performance of You Were Mine, cowritten by the sisters and based on the
breakup of their parents.
But you know it doesn't stay serious too long with this group. After some self-deprecating humour based on early childhood
photos displayed on the three jumbo screens, it was toe-tappin' time again - one familiar song after another - including the
high-energy Let 'Er Rip, their current hit Cold Day In July, and the soaring Cowboy.
The group also found time in their 90-minute set for a blues cover, Give It Up Or Let Me Go, from one of Maines'
career influences, Bonnie Raitt.
The crowd was in the eye of the hurricane, however, with two encore numbers Goodbye Earl, a song that is hard to
dislike despite its kill-the-abusive-spouse theme, and their first big hit-turned audience singalong, Wide Open Spaces.
Opening act Patty Griffin came off as a talented and versatile artist, drifting from poignant ballad to raunchy rock, but
her 40-minute set frequently turned gothic, and the young impatient crowd seemed impatient. Unfortunately, she got some of
her loudest applause when she said: "Thank-you, I have just one more song to do."
Gotta Love The Chicks
By John P. McLaughlin, The Province
Well, the "Fly scene" certainly predominated last night as the Texas trio, the Dixie Chicks, electrified a near-sold-out
crowd of 14,000 at GM Place.
Echoing the title of their latest, second album, Fly, the trio of Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Seidel and Emily Robison
kicked off the show with the buzzing of a huge fly -- presumably the giant inflatable one hovering over the crowd -- as a
half-dozen spotlights danced over a mammoth pair of denim shorts covering the stage.
As the six-piece band kicked into the opening "Ready to Run," down came the zipper, down dropped the shorts and the show
was on.
These first five Canadian Dixie Chicks dates from Winnipeg to Vancouver were intended as a bit of a farm camp for the group
before they step up to the plate in Spokane tomorrow night and head off for points east and south over the next five months.
And while the show felt almost palpably fresh and new, the trio was loose and obviously having a great time, as excited
as their fans to be there.
They all seemed to hit their marks faultlessly as the gorgeous and leggy sisters Martie and Emily picked dobro, banjo and
guitar and sawed a fiddle like a couple of Nashville cats beside the irrepressible Natalie hamming her way through Chicks
fare such as "Trouble," "Hello, Mr. Heartache" and "I Can Love You Better Than That."
Slowing down for "You Were Mine," the Emily and Martie-penned song about their parents' divorce, the trio's amazing harmonies
pretty much hushed the crowd.
One of the highlights had to be the mid-set cover of Bonnie Raitt's "Give It Up or Let Me Go" with Natalie leaning into
the microphone with vein-popping blues-mama intensity that would have made Raitt proud as Emily tore into one smoking dobro
riff after another.
But the show-stopper bar none was "Goodbye Earl," a tune the Dixie Chicks will be singing for the rest of their career.
All in all, if these three are the future of country music -- and last night they made a very persuasive argument -- then
we're in great shape.
Meanwhile, opening act Patty Griffin did her game best, arms a-waving, between her four-piece band and the fairly indifferent
house.
I think she was trying for a moody, textured sound but it came out sorta smudged, obscuring most of the lyrics, no doubt
her strong suit.
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