Chicks show their many musical sides

The only controversy surrounding the Dixie Chicks' ``Accidents and Accusations" tour stop at Boston's TD Banknorth Garden Saturday night will be over the sound mix for the multiplatinum country trio's exuberant hour - and - 45-minute set.

Considering the level of nuance in their exceptional catalog of country-folk-pop-rock -- the layers of pristine harmony, the finely tuned blend of banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, organ, and drums -- the sound quality bordered on tragic.

But even when it was hard to pick Emily Robison's banjo picking -- which looked impressively nimble on the large overhead video screen -- out of the din, the Chicks and their well-oiled nine-person band managed to convey the greater sense of joy and pathos of the songs with the sheer force of their good will.

The not quite sold-out crowd of 12,568 was behind the Texas trio from the get-go , cheering as Robison, her fiddling sister Martie Maguire , and powerhouse vocalist Natalie Maines took to the stage to a patriotic triumphal that sounded like a close cousin to ``Hail to the Chief."

That wasn't the only nod to what the Chicks refer to as the ``incident" -- when Maines dissed George W. Bush from a London stage in 2003. Indeed, the night's longest and loudest ovation -- easily more than a minute long -- came at the close of a powerful reading of the defiant yet catchy new single ``Not Ready to Make Nice."

It was one of many tracks drawn from the superb new ``Taking the Long Way" disc, which held up nicely alongside earlier favorites such as the soaring ``Cowboy Take Me Away," ``Wide Open Spaces , " and the bouncy revenge anthem ``Goodbye Earl. "

Especially poignant was the delicate ``Easy Silence , " with Maines dialing back her golden wail to croon sweetly of the small kindnesses of a partner and Maguire transitioning from back porch fiddle to first - chair violin as she joined another violinist and a cellist for a fluid string interlude.

Of course, the Chicks showed off their cheeky, upbeat side as well with the zesty bluegrass instrumental ``Lil ' Jack Slade," the swinging ``Long Time Gone" and careering set closer ``Sin Wagon."

The ladies closed out strong with a stripped-down rendition of ``Travelin' Soldier , " featuring just the three of them singing their warmest, closest harmonies , and spirited runs through Bob Dylan's stomping ``Mississippi" and their own ``Ready to Run."

Whatever the fallout may be from their refusal to behave in the polite ways expected of country musicians, it has translated into some of the freshest music to be infused with the spirit of rock 'n' roll. As an audience member , seeing those Nashville chains fall by the wayside looked as liberating as it must feel.