Dixie Chicks @ Acer Arena,Sydney (10/10/06)

Thu 12th Oct, 2006 in Gig Reviews

The women the right wing population of America love to hate sure do have some fantastic fans here in Sydney. Prior to the Dixie Chicks coming on stage, the crowd got involved in a Mexican Wave that covered all of the Acer Arena for a good 15 minutes. They were truly pumped, and with a late start to the Chicks arriving on stage with their large band, by the first notes of Lubbock or Leave It, the faithful were on their feet.

The Dixie Chicks were in the mood to rock out more then boot scooting tonight though. This was definitely a change from their visit here in 2003. With a collection of  8 musicians behind them(drums,pedal steel, strings, percussion, keyboards,and guitars), the sound was full and clear. Natalie Maines has a  huge set of lungs on her and she can sing the proverbial phone book and make it sound good. Fortunately, the Chicks have some beautiful songs of their own, so we were able to miss the Yellow Pages. Goodbye Earl, Landslide and the song about the celebrity world, Everybody Knows, from their latest release, Taking The Long Way were covered with skill and heart.

You got the feeling the women and the band were truly enjoying their first night in Sydney and the feedback from the crowd singing and dancing along was remarkable. Natalie made sure the crowd knew they could do what they wanted while the Chicks were on stage. She said she would invite the people who made as much noise or movement during the evening backstage at the end of the show. What a cunning way to get an audience even more involved! And to prove the point, she immediately picked 3 or 4 people who had attracted her attention!

‘White Trash Wedding’ displayed the picking and playing of Emily Robinson on banjo and Martie Maguire on fiddle. My love of the Chicks is their incorporation of rock and country into what can at times be a bluegrass influenced band. It works so well, and they can go from an Appalachian groove to rocking leather clad women in a matter of songs. Always gorgeous to look at these American woman, but where did Natalie get those black heels? She had a hard time looking like she could dance to the music while she looked so good!

Of course most of the hits like Top Of  The World, Wide Open Spaces and Long Time Gone were run out tonight, but the crowd really wanted to hear Not Ready To Make Nice. This tune is their retort to the uproar in America over the bands previous negative remarks about George Bush, America’s national nightmarish President. Natalie had a lot to say, but truly the music spoke for itself tonight. Ending with an encore of Dylan’s Mississippi and then their own Ready To Run you felt they were not making nice with anyone, but were there to thrill their fans. Mission accomplished!

Although I still think the Dixie Chicks are a big time rock/country music industry band, they do possess tremendous soul. Now, if they truly want to get it right and piss America off completely, they should get the most outspoken protest singer today, Steve Earle, to produce their next kick at America’s stance in the world. The Dixie Chicks are definitely ‘right on’ as they discover a new fan base outside the normal country band’s demographics.