Dixie Chicks Dish Out A Little Country, A Lot Of Rock 'n' Roll　

by Michael Hill, South Sound

If it weren't for the banjo and fiddle, you might not have known the Dixie Chicks, who performed to a near sold-out crowd Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome, were a country band.

Between the Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt cover songs, the three video screens　and the giant, Pink Floyd-style blow-up fly that hovered above the crowd, the　Chicks' show had all the trappings of a rock concert.

Emerging from curtains painted like a giant pair of blue jeans, the Dixie Chicks - two blondes, one brunette - unzipped the evening with "Ready to Run," the first single from their most recent release, Fly."

While pixie-ish vocalist Natalie Maines stomped and twirled her way through the number, sisters Emily Robison and Martie Seidel held their own on banjo and fiddle.

Backed by a solid, five-piece band, the Texas threesome kept the crossover hits coming, trotting out an array of crowd-pleasers, including "There's Your Trouble" and "I Can Love You Better."

Moving easily from the old fashioned honky-tonk of "Hello, Mr. Heartache" to the big production pop-country of "If I Fall" to the compelling heartache of "You Were Mine," the Chicks showed off both their versatility and musicality.

Robison, who handled dobro and guitar in addition to banjo, lent raunchy slide licks to Bonnie Raitt's blues-y "Give It Up Or Let It Go," while Seidel added sublime, lilting fiddle touches to slow-dance number "Without You."

Adding to the rock 'n' roll element of the evening was the Chicks' tasteful choice for an opening act: Austin songstress Patty Griffin. Griffin, whose jagged, hearfelt pop came through loud and clear during her all-too-brief opening set, joined the Chicks during their set for a stripped-down, acoustic rendition of her own "Let Him Fly."

As if the Chicks' sound, with its melding of rock, country, pop and bluegrass, doesn't appeal to the masses enough, the gals showed further evidence of their every woman-ness with a "Before They Were Stars"-style slide show that included many embarrassing pictures of the three of them growing up.

The trio alternately made fun of each others' braces, pigtails and "mall bangs."

Just a couple of numbers into the highly entertaining show, Maines paused to　announce she and the others were, in fact, the Dixie Chicks - "just so you're　sure you're at the right show."

While some hardcore country fans might have been a little confused, the rest of the crowd seemed to have no problem recognizing, and thoroughly enjoying,　the Chicks, rock 'n' roll and all.