Dixie Chicks prove they're more than pretty faces

About an hour into the Dixie Chicks' near-capacity concert last night at the Coliseum, the music stopped for several minutes while the band ran through a slide show of less-than-flattering photos (a bad perm here, a gaudy dress there and so on).

With scripted dialogue intended to seem spontaneous, the gag went on too long. But its point was clear: The Chicks were out to prove that their music transcends their famous good looks.

They were all but shouting, "We weren't always sexy, but we could always play."

Determined to prove once and for all that they are not the Spice Girls of country music, thank you very much, the Dixie Chicks used last night's concert to showcase their legitimate musical chops.

The show opened with a brisk version of　Ready to Run, during which pregnant lead singer Natalie Maines held her belly and appeared ready to run straight to the bathroom. Her Chiclet must have calmed down after that, because the kewpie lead singer danced and stomped uninhibited for the rest of the set.

Throughout Ready and several other upbeat numbers, Martie Seidel's fiddle solos threatened to steal the show. The lyrics tend to get all the attention, but the band's songs pretty much revolve around Seidel's impossibly catchy hooks and her sister Emily Robison's guitar.

The show was off to a flying start, but the back-to-back power ballads　Don't Waste Your Heart　and　Without You　momentarily stalled the show's momentum. Hearing this freewheeling band sing traditional jukebox fodder is like watching Michael Jordan play baseball.

Thankfully, the Chicks resurrected the show with a terrific version of　If I Fall You're Going Down With Me. And it only got better from there.

Seated on a plush red sofa, the band ushered opening artist Patty Griffin on stage to sing a show-stopping　Let Him Fly. They followed that up with a much-improved cover of Sheryl Crow's　Strong Enough. The songs were stripped down and intimate, making them far stronger than the heavily stylized ballads played earlier. It's not that the Chicks can't play slow; they just need to play as if they really mean it.

That conviction was never clearer than when Seidel and Robison rose from the couch to perform decade-old instrumental material from their days playing bluegrass on Dallas street corners. Soaring on their respective instruments, the sisters exhibited the kind of jaw-dropping virtuoso performances almost extinct in country music, and virtually unheard of in the female ranks.

The crowd, who stood for most of the show, exploded in delight. This was a glimpse at the pre-stardom Chicks, and these were the songs they played before little girls started mimicking their haircuts.

The women are stars now, of course. Superstars.

But the great thing about the Dixie Chicks is that they aren't content to be popular just because they blossomed into bombshells. Last night's show proved that beneath their blond locks are three seriously talented performers.

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