Chicks rock The Mark
By Jonathan Turner, The Dispatch
Talk about great timing. The Dixie Chicks are flyin' high, and just two days after nabbing the Country Music Association's
coveted Entertainer-of-the-Year Award, the adorable Texas trio touched down at The Mark of the Quad Cities Friday night to
deliver an electrifying show.
They brought a nearly sold-out house up to their wide open spaces, where popular success, childlike enthusiasm and seemingly
limitless potential intermingle in a heavenly mix.
"I must say, we feel an extra pressure we haven't felt up to this show to entertain you," lead singer Natalie Maines joked
early on, to an amazingly boisterous and appreciative crowd.
With an easygoing confidence, and ready to party in a black leather mini-dress, Ms. Maines didn't appear as though she
ever had performance anxiety.
She and her equally talented, glamorous partners -- fiddle player Martie Seidel and guitarist Emily Robison, both in leather
pants -- had the crowd on their feet from the beginning and many stayed there. It's easier to dance that way.
I had a seat to one side of the stage and to see the whole audience reaction and absolutely intense connection with the
Chicks was incredible. Imagine what it must feel like on stage.
The band -- which offers slick pop-country with rock show dazzle and volume -- did a good job of alternating the fast and
festive and the slow and sad.
"Don't Waste Your Heart on Me" featured one of many big, sensitive fiddle solos, and the trio's strong, sweet and smooth
harmonies. "Without You" gave Ms. Maines a chance to really belt in a melancholy song of loss.
Soon after, she gave us another plaintive heartbreaker about divorce, "You Were Mine." Its power and passion belied the
Chicks' reputation for light-hearted and sometimes shallow tunes.
But we also got a generous portion of the irresistible, unrestrained glee, such as the rocker "I Can Love You Better."
One of the evening's highlights was the cover of Bonnie Raitt's "Give It Up or Let Me Go." It was much more hard-driving
than the original, and included scorching solos on keyboard, fiddle and guitar.
Wind flying into the Chicks' hair, fast-moving video cuts of the performers and Ms. Maines up front madly shaking a tambourine
gave the song a thrilling climax.
Because of a late cancellation of scheduled opening act Patty Griffin, the Tex-Mex band Vida was the opener. They were
hot, very energetic -- La Vida Loca? -- and somewhat too eager to please. They had to practically beg for the crowd to scream
and wave their hands. The Chicks just showed up and we did the same.
My only quibble was the 40-minute length of the intermission. Without some entertaining hosts, games and prizes, the wait
would have been interminable. Throughout the opener, the entire Dixie Chicks set was covered, waiting. What took so long to
get ready?
Dixie Chicks thrill Quad-City audience
By David Burke, Quad–City Times
Any doubts that the Dixie Chicks deserve to be the Country Music Association entertainers of the year were blown out of
the water big time Friday night at The Mark of the Quad-Cities, Moline.
In the Texas trio's first concert since walking away with four CMA honors -- including the top award --Wednesday night
in Nashville, the Chicks rolled out an extravaganza that owed as much to Van Halen as Hank Williams. The award was briefly
mentioned by lead singer, Natalie Maines, at the top of the show.
"I must say we feel some extra pressure we didn't have before this show to entertain you," she told the capacity crowd
at The Mark.
The group rolled through its 2 ½ years of country music hits, including "I Can Love You Better," "Wide Open Spaces," "There's
Your Trouble," "Goodbye Earl" (which won the group video honors Wednesday night) and the current hit "Without You."
Clad in various degrees of leather and sequins, the trio also gave versions of hit songs by other performers, including
Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough." The group was brought to the stage by the sounds of rocker Lenny Kravitz's "Fly Away."
The set, whose curtain was modeled after a pair of blue jeans -- "fly," get it? -- opened to a sprawling stage created
by the designers of Cirque du Soleil.
Backed by a six-man band, the women showed their chops as musicians as well, with Maines, fiddler Martie Seidel and picker
Emily Robison, each getting a chance in the spotlight.
Three video screens behind the group were mostly trained on the three singers, shifting at times to kaleidoscope images
and excerpts from their videos.
A DJ -- accompanied by a cast member from MTVs "Real World" -- roamed the crowd with a microphone 20 minutes before the
Chicks came on stage, passing out prizes and raring up the crowd even more than it was before.
It was a similar warm-up atmosphere to last spring's Britney Spears concert, but virtually unheard of at a country music
show.
The country Tex-Mex act Vida -- a last-minute replacement for folk singer Patty Griffin -- opened the show. Other opening
acts on the tour have Texas trio included country stalwarts Willie Nelson and Ricky Skaggs.
At a time when country music is torn between commercialism and traditionalism, the Dixie Chicks have been among the most
successful at satisfying both camps.
And that's why, at least for now, they're at the top of the country music pecking order. '
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