Twain is currently on a world tour supporting her latest album
It seems to be that Shania Twain can’t avoid being close to her people. Both this tour and 2018’s Now Tour started off with the singer among the crowd. On Tuesday night (June 27th), Twain sang “Waking Up Dreaming,” as she greeted fans at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, MD.
Twain’s amphitheater stage show is a sight to behold. She maximizes every ounce of space with giant video walls and and a video platform on the stage from which she spent most of the night. The platform made the graphics feel three dimensional as they extended from the back wall forward.
On the Queen of Me Tour, the stage show is fully immersive. Twain has created a neon noir western world full of pinks, purples and blues. Taverns, old west towns, and even rocket ships fly by with spacey-futuristic glow.
Of course, the music featured mostly the hits, with Twain performing only a few songs from her latest release, Queen of Me. “Up” and “Still the One” were early-set favorites, while back-to-back “Honey, I’m Home” and “Rock This Country!” had the crowd stomping.
Shania was vibing with the crowd. As she gave a backstory before leading into “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under,” she said she was having, “The time of my life up here!” And then playfully warned the crowd not to sit down as they tried to take moment off reprieve during story time. Twain said that “Boots” started as a ballad but morphed into a “Shit-kicker.”
Twain’s voice has matured beautifully as she has recovered from vocal dysphonia over the last decade and a half. With a deeper register comes a smokier tone that still harbors her signature Canadian twang.
This vocal quality was highlighted especially display during “From This Moment On,” during which she brought fans up on stage. It speaks to her uniquely personal relationship with fans. Never before have I seen an artist take a few minutes to take pictures with everyone on stage. “I wish I could meet everyone of you.”
Another bit of fan service was a medley of oft-requested deep cuts. Twain could have easily placed another new song in that spot. But the decision to embrace rarities proved she always keeps fans top-of-mind. She also called a few fans to the stage as she noticed them throughout the night.
Twain’s band deserves praise for their versatility. The phrase “pop band with a fiddle” comes to mind. They moved deftly between pop, rock, and of course country during the diverse 19-song setlist. They were as tight on the funky pop number “Number One,” as they were on the down-home “Come on Over.”
Of course, a Shania Twain show is not complete without some sparkle. After all, the glam is an extension of Twain’s empowering music: it screams individuality and self-confidence.
As she took the stage, Twain wore a glitzy mid-cut blazer and a frayed dress. Gone was the playful pink wig that went viral at the start of the tour. Twain kept it simple, not featuring multiple consume changes on this go-round. I mention this because it added to the intimate feeling of the evening.
Twain ended the night with two of those aforementioned empowering anthems, “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” She left the DC area with the roar of ”Let’s Go Girls” ringing in their ears all the way home.
