It may have been a coincidence, but there seemed to be a theme of sorts running through the tunes that came pumping through the FleetCenter PA a week ago Thursday while roadies readied an elaborate stage-in-the-round for the Dixie Chicks. Elvis Costello’s recording of Nick Lowe’s pop protest number "(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" was followed by Tears for Fears’ "Everybody Wants To Rule the World," the Go-Gos’ defiant "Our Lips Are Sealed," Wings’ "Band on the Run," R.E.M.’s apocalyptic "It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," and, finally, Bruce Springsteen’s oft-misinterpreted anti-anthem "Born in the U.S.A."

This was no attempt to prepare the capacity crowd for bluegrass country jams and arena-sized Nashville power pop. If the Chicks had a message in mind (and it’s hard to believe they didn’t), it had nothing to do with music and everything to do with the political storm that erupted back in March over singer Natalie Maines’s candid admission that she was "embarrassed" to be from the same state as George W. Bush. Reactions ran the gamut from vicious to vacuous, with right-wing pundits calling for CD burnings and hysterically tossing around terms like "unpatriotic" and "treasonous." The Chicks took their cue from the Go-Go’s and kept their lips sealed.

But the gloves came off at the FleetCenter, as Maines and her fellow Chicks — Martie Maguire, who plays a mean fiddle, and banjo pick ’n’ strummer Emily Robinson — adopted a good-natured yet uncompromising stance in front of 17,000-plus supporters (one held a sign that read, "Hey Chicks, this Gulf War vet thinks you rock"). Any doubts about their take on the controversy were erased when Maguire, referring to a "brawl" that was reported to have broken out between a small group of protesters and Dixie Chick fans outside the FleetCenter, reflected, "If there’s one thing I’ve learned since March 10, it’s that nobody tells you guys what to do." Beyond that, the Chicks continued to let their music do the talking.

Dressed in a well-coordinated, punkish-looking assortment of Western wear — let’s just say it put the "West" back in Vivienne Westwood — and doing their best to spread their love around all 360 degrees of the multi-level stage, the trio dipped into all three of their platinum albums and threw in a curveball in the form of a Dylan cover ("Mississippi"). They were backed by a seasoned eight-piece band plus a small string section. But it was their own easygoing harmonies, as well as their instrumental abilities, from Maines’s impassioned acoustic-guitar strumming to Maguire’s fleet-fingered fiddling to the twangy riffs Robinson coaxed from both banjo and dobro, that radiated a level of self-confidence that offered no apologies. The idealistic "Truth No. 2" was accompanied by images of civil-rights marches and Sinéad O’Connor protests, but for the most part the Chicks seemed happy to let Elvis Costello, the Go-Go’s, and Bruce Springsteen answer their critics.