Fly show soared on southern sass and brass

By Jim Abbott, Orlando Sentinel

In an era when most country acts want to sound like Garth Brooks or a watered-down Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Dixie Chicks represent a refreshing set of influences.

When the trio's "Fly" tour touched down Saturday at Orlando's TD Water-house Centre, the Chicks proved that bluegrass, folk, pop and country is a powerful potion when properly mixed.

Singer Natalie Maines, multi-instrumentalist Emily Robison and fiddler Martie Seidel also showed they know the recipe in a well-paced 90-min-ute set that drew heavily from the band's 1999 Fly album.

Young fans who never heard of blue-grass giant Bill Monroe or veteran singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt got an introduction to the kind of music that might have been created if those two giants had ever collaborated. They also got to see a band where the stars actually are among the most capable musicians on the stage.

And how many arena concerts elicit a standing ovation for dueling solos between dobro guitar and fiddle? But that's what happened when Robison and Seidel traded licks during a raucous version of "Give It Up or Let Me Go," a Raitt song that the Chicks covered on their 1997 debut.

The band opened the show with its hit "Ready to Run," which showcased Seidel's fleet-fingered fiddling in the song's Celtic-flavored introduction. Maines swirled about the stage in a shiny red blouse with tuxedo-style tails, matching shoes and blue jeans adorned with red rhinestones.

Maines' voice was powerful and expressive, shifting from twangy country weepers such as "Hello Mr. Heartache" to the rocking "If I Fall You're Going Down With Me."

Robison and Siedel, who are sisters, provided breathtaking harmonies on "I Can Love You Better" and "You Were Mine," a ballad about coping with divorce,

The group saved its two biggest' hits -- "Goodbye Earl" and "Wide Open Spaces" -- for the encore.

The gals generally didn't waste much time talking, except for an extended joke-telling session that fevolved around a slide show of embarrassing baby pictures and high school photos.

Seidel also noted that Maines was expecting. "We decided that he or she will either have a lot of rhythm or will be deaf," Seidel joked. "Actually, we're hoping it will be a girl, so we can have another generation of the Dixie Chicks."

Judging from Saturday's show, that would be a worthy legacy to carry on.

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