Dixie Chicks pack energy, fun into a real country show

By Cathalena E. Burch, Arizona Daily Star

Chicks rule!

There's no other way to put it.

No sense cloaking praise in a blanket of musical accolades for Martie Seidel's fabulous fiddling, or Emily Robison's expert picking on banjo and steel guitar.

Why waste a basketful of words to say that Natalie Maines has a voice that lulls you into whatever story she's weaving and infects you with an overwhelming desire to jump out of your seat and dance.

The Texas trio last night proved their immense popularity on all sides of the radio dial has nothing to do with hype and good marketing.

You can market a pretty face, but you can't manufacture the energy and charisma the Chicks radiate when they get on stage before about 17,000 people.

And you can't fake the overwhelming sound of applause coming from those 17,000 people who stayed standing for almost two hours at America West Arena last night.

The Chicks served up rip-roaring, high-energy, rollicking country music so full of sass and attitude you forgot you were at a country concert. But the whine of Seidel's fiddle and the twang of Robison's banjo reminded even the staunchest non-country fan among the incredibly blended audience that this is the genre's future.

With Maines leading the way, the Chicks make it cool to like country music again. But from the moment they emerged from behind a zipper-draped stage, you knew this wasn't going to be your mama's country music.

The audience members knew it, too. As soon as the lights dimmed, they stood up.

With the exception of sitting out the occasional ballad, they remained standing.

The crowd lent its voices and boogie to the Chicks' repertoire of fiddle-rich cheatin' and drinkin' songs: "Let Er Rip," "There's Your Trouble," "Sin Wagon" and "I Can Love You Better." Some didn't even realize that the rock-tinged songs were very much in keeping with country's tradition.

That's where the Chicks have pulled off their biggest coup: They make you believe that what you're listening to isn't country. But listen more closely. The Chicks are just tweaking country's rules a little to make it appealing to a wider audience.

They're also restoring audiences' faith in live entertainment None of this 75 minutes, a quickie encore and out they go. The Dixie Chicks put on a solid 90-minute show before launching into a two-song encore that brought the action up close to the fans in the worst seats imaginable: the ones on the uppermost upper tiers.

Seidel slipped unnoticed on one side while sister Robison posed on the other side and Maines manned a stage area on the back end of the floor section.

If it weren't for the spotlights keeping tabs on them, you would have lost sight of the trio with the crush of bodies waving, weaving and bouncing along to "Goodbye Earl."

With shows like this, the Chicks could capture the one laurel that has so far eluded them: entertainers of the year.

Not a bad notch for their first official headlining tour.

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