WINNIPEG -- Boy, those darn Chicks sure can fly.

The Dallas-based Dixie Chicks -- the raunchy role models for naughty cowgals everywhere -- pranced, danced and romanced some 12,923 happy souls last night at the Winnipeg Arena.

The much-anticipated event was the kickoff to the Chicks' 70-city North American tour and if the trio had any pre-show jitters -- knowing the entire continent would be judging last night's outcome -- there wasn't any evidence onstage.

Simply stated: the gals rocked, the backing sextet cooked and the staging was pretty and functional. For once, a brash new country recording act with strong major-label support has lived up to all of its own hype.

And the Chicks -- singer/guitarist Natalie Maines, banjo/dobro player Emily Robison and her fiddle-sawing sister Martie Seidel -- showed they have earned the right to pilot a headlining arena tour.

You see, while the ladies look real purdy and offer three-part twangs sharp enough to slice a diamond, they can also man-handle their instruments. This ain't just country-fried eye candy.

For the most part, the songs are structured along classic country lines (read: simple melodies, catchy harmonies) with such expected country and western instruments as dobro, banjo, lap steel, and g'tars aplenty.

All that, combined with bold, chick-power lyrics designed to inspire the dames and intimidate the dudes, this is a band that should continue to put the country music industry on its ear.

The expected 90-minute frame started at 8:55 p.m. with the spirited Ready To Run, from the band's second and latest album, Fly.

Clad in a metallic-blue dress, Maines set he tone for the evening with some of her trademark helicopter-whirl dancing and confident, strong vocals.

"This is the very first show of the tour, so we're just going to stand here and soak this in for a minute," the slimmed-down, pony-tailed Maines told the adoring crowd. "Holy crap! Yaah-hooo!"

The gals then offered There's Your Trouble, from their debut album, Wide Open Spaces.

And that, folks, was the pattern followed throughout the night as the Chicks plucked tunes from their two CDs along with a couple of choice covers.

The ballad You Were Mine showcased Seidel's passionate fiddle playing, while Bonnie Raitt's rave-up Give it Up or Let Me Go let Robison's hip dobro shine.

Thirty-five minutes into the show, the band delighted fans with a slide show depicting them as children and then dealing with some of the more awkward stages of adolescence.

That was followed by a few slower numbers, intimately sung from a big pink couch at centre stage.

At press time, one hour and some 14 songs into the concert, the crowd was still waiting for several hits, such as Goodbye Earl, their deliciously controversial current hit about offing one's abusive spouse.

The opening acts of the Dixie Chicks' Fly tour will rotate between Willie Nelson, Ricky Skaggs and Patty Griffin. Winnipeggers were treated to the latter last evening.

The cool-as-a-cucumber singer-songwriter (she penned the Chicks' tune Let Him Fly and sang it with them last night) offered an uneven set of moody country-rock plagued by some bad tunings and poor song selections.

Her stoic presentation served as a stark counterpoint to the bright and bouncy Chicks.

JAM! Rating: 4 out of 5