HICKS CLICK A
BIT, BUT TRIO LACKS BRIO
By DAN AQUILANTE
Dixie Chick Natalie Maines was just a tad stiff at the Garden show. Photo: N.Y. Post: Jim Alcorn Dixie Chick Natalie Maines was just a tad stiff at the Garden show.
Photo: N.Y. Post: Jim Alcorn
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August 3, 2006 --
COUNTRY REVIEW:
THE DIXIE CHICKS
THE Dixie Chicks don't like George Bush - they didn't back in 2003, when they told a London audience they were ashamed the president was from Texas, and they don't now.
At Madison Square Garden Monday, the trio's criticism hadn't ceased - it just went underground, into the music.
While that may irritate concertgoers in the South - where the trio had to cancel their big home-state show in Houston for lack of fan interest - here in New York City, the sarcastic "Hail to the Chief" with which they took the stage ignited wild cheers.
The Chicks concert was OK, not great - yet this one-night stand was anointed by the dominantly female audience with cheers and applause at every turn. The concert staging was subpar, the sound only passable and the band was stiffer than Al Gore.
Pint-size frontwoman Natalie Maines is a gifted vocalist, but she seemed to be trying way too hard. She forced her voice through many songs, which resulted in some very harsh tones and a look of constipation.
Fiddler Martie Maguire also appeared tense.
The only Chick who seemed to be having a good time was banjo-plucking Emily Robison (Maguire's sister). While it was probably just coincidence, in her tailored jacket and black slacks, Robison was the only Chick who displayed any fashion sense.
Politics and fashion aside, they made their best moves when their guitar-heavy seven-piece band turned down the amps and let the Chicks break out.
That happened during a cover of the Fleetwood Mac classic "Landslide," and in a few of their quieter originals, including their inspired rendition of "Lullaby" - easily the best love song of 2006.
They disappointed on the rollicking country/rock tunes - such as "Earl Must Die," about rubbing out an abusive spouse, and "White Trash Wedding," which they dedicated to Mel Gibson - where they were overpowered by the band.
As Maines put it, "You know how it is when you're drunk. Not that this song has anything to do with Mel, I just wanted to give him a shout-out." She added with amused, catty reflection, "The [Dixie Chicks] controversy would have been over if I said I was drunk and went into rehab."
But she wasn't drunk. Instead, she wrote a very good song called "I'm Not Ready to Make Nice." At this show, it proved to be an unrepentant, artful composition that voiced her and the band's feelings with so much more power and grace than the words she blurted out to garner cheap applause and please a foreign audience three years ago.
dan.aquilante@nypost.com
