Fans gather for Girls' Night Out as Dixie Chicks return to Texas turf

By John T. Davis, American-Statesman

Things were a lot simpler when they were playing at the Broken Spoke.

Back in that distant epoch -- about five years ago -- going to a Dixie Chicks show was an uncomplicated affair. You paid your six bucks at the door, grabbed a beer and staked out a spot on the dance floor. Gigantic inflatable houseflies, indoor blizzards and multimedia video presentations didn't figure into the equation.

But that was before their two most recent albums, "Wide Open Spaces" and "Fly," catapulted the Texas trio into the rarefied atmosphere of Dead-Solid Big Deal Stardom. Nowadays if you want to enjoy the Dixie Chicks, you journey to an all-but-sold-out arena like the Erwin Center and share the experience with about a dozen shopping malls' worth of young girls, along with their moms and big sisters.

There was a visible minority of us gender-challenged males in the Erwin Center crowd Saturday, but the prevailing mood of the evening was definitely Girls Night Out. The Chicks' concert seemed like the pop culture equivalent of a South Texas dove hunt: a bonding experience complete with souvenir T-shirts.

Even though they have had this show ori the road for months, and any spontaneity has been steamrollered by repetitive professionalism, the Chicks --Emily Robison, Martie Seidel and Natalie Maines -- did their best to perpetuate a slumber-party atmosphere, complete with gawd-awful high-school yearbook photos, sing-alongs and a few corny but well-chosen effects (a prairie moonrise during "Cowboy Take Me Away," a billowing scarlet backdrop for "Sin Wagon," a faux snowfall to accompany "Cold Day In July").

The gimmicks played to a receptive audience. The Austin crowd seemed . . . well, giddy is the only word for it. They sang along to even the most obscure album cuts, they cheered the briefest of Maines' just-us-girls asides and they stayed on their feet even during the ballads. It was a welcome change from the vaguely glum, Pavlovian mass one finds at most concerts these days.

But for a couple of brief exceptions (Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough" and a bluegrass breakdown medley), the Chicks' set was derived entirely from their two hit albums. Seidel's Celtic-flavored fiddle intro kicked off "Ready To Run," which segued with brisk economy into "There's Your Trouble," "Hello Mr. Heartache" (the women seemed relieved to be performing in a part of the country where they didn't have to explain what a two-step is), "Without You," and "If I Fall You're Going Down With Me."

Though the Chicks' calling card has always been their instrumental prowess (and, lately, Maines' highballing vocals), the demands of a headlining tour have seemingly compromised their ability to step out. Seidel spent a goodly part of the show holding her fiddle like a security blanket. And although Robison switched from banjo to dobro to guitar, she was frequently overshadowed by the six-piece destined-to-remain-nameless backup band and its heavy-handed rhythm section.

It was a relief when the band took a break and the three women -- along with show-opener Patty Griffin -- sat on a giant couch at center stage for a more intimate interlude. The crowd didn't mind the shift into lower gear; they knew rockers like "Let 'Er Rip," "Some Days You Gotta Dance" and everyone's favorite singalong revenge fantasy, "Goodbye Earl" were just around the corner.

Speaking of Griffin, it was great to see the adopted Austinite playing before a huge hometown crowd. She acquitted herself well, and her climactic rendition of "Mary," with her bare arms outstretched in benediction while the last notes of her vocal rose to the rafters, was one of the evening's most memorable moments.

As for the Dixie Chicks, they have come a long way from the Broken Spoke by any yardstick's measure. And they give every appearance of enjoying the trip.

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