The Dixie Chicks

Not often do you get the best of both worlds in one package, a live album and a greatest hits album also, basically that is what you get here, songs from all three of their hot selling CDs. The Chicks production team did an awesome job of capturing the Chicks at their best on the road on the Northeast USA swing of their long tour. Back in the Seventies being a Deadhead, we used to have a saying "There is Nothing like a Grateful Dead Concert", because they really were special live. After seeing two Dixie Chicks Shows, I would have to say the same thing about them, "There is Nothing Like A Dixie Chicks Concert". The last show I saw on the Fly tour, 95% of the people including myself stood up the whole show, the Chicks put out so much energy.

Every song out of the twenty two song two CD set is from their three most recent CDs except a dynamite new song called Mississippi. It's a great country-southern rocker with some great fiddle by Martie and great vocals by the gals.

The recording quality is awesome, real good production. I really like the way the songs from the sparse "Home" take on new life as they are done with more instrumentation and their vocals just plain shine and sparkle with lots of emotion. The crowd noise is tastefully left in, but the music is definitely way out in the front.

It looks like they left the songs basically in the order that they were done on the tour, because I know that they always started out with a rocking version of "Goodbye Earl" which they did here. As usual, they have a real hot band playing with them. I can't say enough about the pedal steel player, he could go from a real traditional swing sound to different styles, depending on the song. They carried a large variety of musicians with them on this tour, including cello, an awesome mandolin picker, plus the Chicks themselves sounded better than ever on their respective instruments. To me, the acoustic songs from "Home" really sound the best, just because I've never heard them done this way and this well. "Long Time Gone", "Tortured Tangled Hearts", "Travelin' Soldier( This version blows me away it really comes alive and the crowd really energize the Chicks), "White Trash Wedding (great bluegrass pickin'),"Lil Jack Slade (awesome bluegrass instrumental) are on Disc One.

On Disc Two you have "Home", "Truth #2", "Landslide", a show stopping rendition of Radney Foster's "Godspeed", which just tugs at your heart. Also, Patty Griffin's "Top of the World" which Natalie says is her favorite song on "Home", (They flat out nail this song which is the next to last song on disc two.)

"Wide Open Spaces" never sounded better, with some audience participation which is near the end of Disc Two. On Disc One, Natalie does a great job on "Am I The Only One-who ever felt this way", an obscure cut from "Wide Open Spaces". They finish off Disc Two with a rollicking "Sin Wagon", with some great jamming. A couple of other songs that are worth mentioning are "Hello, Mr. Heartache" which has a real Texas honky tonk sound to it. Also a great version of "There's Your Trouble" helps open Disc One.

In closing all I can really say is that this a great package which I have been listening to for the last couple of days and I really believe it will sell like hotcakes. What a great SHOW