The Dixie Chicks put the Mission Concert firmly back on the Hawke's Bay calendar tonight with a powerful performance that wowed a near-capacity crowd.
Led by pint-sized dynamo lead singer Natalie Maines, the trio from Texas, which also features sisters Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Burns Strayer, gave the crowd at Mission Estate Winery more than their money's worth with a two-hour show of the highest quality.
Backed by a five piece male band and with a slick set, the band barely took a breath as they powered through song after song.
One of the early songs the band played was the 1960's Thunderclap Newman hit Something in the Air, which Natalie Maines indicated was the band's response to Donald Trump being the new President of the United States.
A crowd favourite was the Stevie Nicks Hit Landslide which the Dixie Chicks have made their own over the years. Wide Open Spaces was also well received, but the song of the night was the band's biggest hit "Not ready to make nice". The song, a protest about the way the band was treated after criticising the then US President George W. Bush in 2003, has not lost any of its power and meaning after all these years.