Shania Twain.
The iconic Shania Twain visited Nashville on Friday, July 31 on her Rock This Country Tour, which not only lives up to its name but supersedes that superstar reputation she left behind in 2004.
Re-emerging in Las Vegas in 2012, the Canadian megastar had been hard at work for a full-scale residency at Caesars Palace. Sin City’s 21st century entertainment production clearly rubbed off on her, because an impressive firework, flame and fashion menagerie more than rocked Bridgestone Arena.
The audience stood for nearly the whole set, welcoming the now-platinum blonde who could practically crowd-surf on the thunderous applause when she took the stage.
She is a time capsule, preserved for over a decade. The hits are still as potent–reminiscent of a time when women were on the top of the charts. The lyrics were lying dormant from years past, sounding much better on the arena PA systems than the 90s boom boxes many fans listened to while reading liner notes. Of the titles were “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under,” “I’m Gonna Gettcha Good!” “Come On Over,” “No One Needs To Know,” “Still The One,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” and “(If You’re Not in it For Love) I’m Outta Here!”
Surprisingly, other than opener Gavin DeGraw who joined Twain for “Party For Two,” there were no guest appearances. Perhaps most disappointing was Bryan White’s absences from the 1998 single, “From This Moment.” Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert were however pictured supporting their Canadian idol at the Nashville outing in the party backstage.
Miranda Lambert joins Shania Twain at the backstage party for the Canadian superstar’s Nashville tour stop. Photo: Shania Twain.
The seven person multi-talented band juggled instruments throughout the night, at one point featuring a triple fiddle solo. And of course saving the best for last, the encore was the essential “Man! I Feel Like A Woman.”
Twain did it right. Listen up, if you’re a superstar artist from the 90s, this is what your millennials and Generation Y concertgoers want. Production value and entertainment that throws hit songs into the stratosphere.
Although the outing is named for a single recorded almost two decades ago, the tour is proving demand for Twain is strong. She however is calling the shots, limited by her now second, self-imposed state of retirement.
If you’ve missed her shows so far, she’ll play nearly non-stop through the U.S. and Canada before this farewell tour wraps in October.
Shania Twain mounted a custom saddle during the outing, made by Lisa and Loren of Skyhorse Saddles. The saddle features 1,500 silver studs, 200 silver stars and Twain’s initials outlined in silver studs on the tapadero stirrups. Loren Skyhorse’s iconic silver braiding bands the saddle. Concert photo: Miranda Lambert.
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