Pop Culture Buzz

GRADE: B+

The Dixie Chicks 11/17/06 Oakland Coliseum

I went into this concert ready to see first hand how much of the current controversy surrounding the Dixie Chicks has affected their fan base. And I am sorry to say that the rumors and problems surrounding their “Accidents & Accusations” tour could be felt here in the bay area. Just by looking across the crowd, you could see pockets of empty seats and the energy level in the crowd was pretty low. I knew I was in for a treat anway, but was saddened by the lack of support and enthusiasm from her fans in the seats.

The concert started off with a brief clip of “Hail To The Chief” playing, I thought that was pretty clever. Not many people clapped or responded to the irony. It was followed by a song off of their latest c.d. “Lubbock Or Leave It”. It was a rowsing and energetic way to the start the show. The show continued with the up-beat, driving sound of their latest hits like “Taking The Long Way”. The crowd slowly came around and the reaction was mild, with just a few sections at their feet moving to the country jams. This was not lost on lead singer Natalie Maines who said, “Looks like we have a lot of empty seats here in the Bay Area”. She then went on a little tangent about what she could call us, “not Oakland or “Oaktown”, not San Francisco…how about the Bay Area”? To which the crowd applauded and screamed back with excitement.

“Goodbye Earl” and “Sin Wagon” drove the crowd crazy, it was the one time I saw the audience have fun as a whole. After a few songs Natalie read a banner that was being waved at her in the stands. Reading it she realized an old high school boyfriend’s current wife was in the audience, and she was pregnant as well. Much to the delight of the fan, she was invited to come back stage after the show. Not bad for an ex-girlfriend! It seemed Natalie was very happy to be reminded of her times in high school. She recalled the days when she would wear Birkenstock’s, with socks, and she considered herself the ultimate liberal hippie while growing up in Lubbock, Texas.

The hits continued to follow. “Long Time Gone” was a huge crowd pleaser. “Not Ready To Make Nice” got one of the biggest reactions from the crowd. Most of the coliseum was sitting through most of the show, but I never sat down once!! The crowd response started to get on my nerves. Thank god I chose to leave my assigned seating and go to an area where we were able to dance, sing and act like fools. The crowd just didn’t seem to get into the energy and dance along. Of course I was 4 beers in, and had a serious concert buzz going.

When “Landslide” & “Traveling Soldier” were played I could feel the wave of sentiment coming over me. Knowing every lyric, my friends and I swayed to the melodic and haunting ballads. These ladies didn’t skip a beat, their performance was flawless. “Ready To Run” was another crowd favorite, and was a fun tune to do my best fake country line dancing to.

At one point Natalie looked at the crowd and stated she would like to “dedicate a new song to Kevin Federline” then saying “nobody has dedicated a song to that boy yet, so Kevin this is for you!”. The following song was an up beat jam with the traditional “she left you” country lyric. This would make a nice B-side, but didn’t stand out among the hits that they continued to feature. All in all the set was up beat and enjoyable.

I enjoyed this concert, and didn’t mind paying the $100 for my ticket. The fact that they put this show on without corporate sponsoring and came back to the bay area even though the response was mild, impressed me. The loyalty of the group to their fans was obvious. And I was proud to support a group that is in many ways more revolutionary and current than most other “political” musicians out there today. I will continue to praise the masterful musicianship, and craft these ladies use to create these professional tight sounding albums. The Dixie Chicks live sound is so crisp and polished. I would recommend that any music fan try to catch them live if they can, they transcend labels and will surprise you!