Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sunday night was treated to a great show from Shania Twain and opener Tenille Townes for her Queen of Me tour. The show had great fan engagement and fans were at times featured more than you would see at shows and everyone who was there seemed to leave happy after hearing the legendary Canadian perform past and current songs from her extensive catalogue
Grande Prairie’s Tenille Townes was the opener for this part of Shania’s Queen of Me tour, which would provide a full circle moment for the 5 time CCMA Female Artist of the Year. As is usually the case fans were still filing in during her performance but those who were in their seat were treated to an amazing performance of about 5 or 6 songs which were primarily her hit songs to radio mixed in with a cover of “Come Together” by The Beatles. Tenille would share inspiring words and told the story of how when she was 9 she went to see Shania in Edmonton. Her mom doing the near 5 hour drive from Grande Prairie in an outfit that resembled a Miami performance Shania did and with a sign asking to sing with the Canadian legend, and the Shania happily obliged. She talked about how that moment made her want to pursue music as a career. Tenille’s performance was great as every time I have been able to see her. I will be interested to see if down the line Tenille is able to sell out arenas like Roger Place.
Shania Twain would have an interesting entrance for her show, as she popped out of a box in the middle of the floor section. Shania would sing “Wake Up Dreaming” while being pushed slowly around the side in performing still in the box. Once out of the box the show would really jump start with UP!, “Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)” and the motorcycle came out for “Getcha Good.” As a fan it was hard to truly enjoy myself and sing along while taking photos from Front of House aka the soundboard. Once my gear was checked the rest of her near 20 song set that was filled with great moments for the fans. Shania would have the crowd singing Happy Birthday to a 10 year old fan who was in the first few rows, brought up one of her major fans (not for the first time) as they sang a quick mini version of one of her hits, and brought up a young 9 year old she spotted going nuts during her entrance. Shania would bring several groups of fans up for her performance taking photos with each group individually before the song performance. Shania and Tenille got to relive their moment of singing together in Edmonton with a performance of “Party For Two” with Tenille singing the Billy Currington or Mark McGrath part of the song (Billy or Mark based on country or pop version). It was great seeing the moment play out in Edmonton, though you can expect the duet on the rest of the tour. Shania would play “(If You’re Not in It for Love) I’m Outta Here!” before dropping off the stage and saved her arguably her most popular songs for the encore with “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and “Man! I Feel Like A Woman.”
This being the second time I have seen Shania perform I did notice some differences, keep in mind I saw her last in 2014 nearly a decade ago. I noticed she wasn’t as choreographed opting for simple moves letting her 2 very talented back up dancers carry that load, and she avoided higher notes, which given past vocal issues it isn’t as surprising but did sound a bit off when she didn’t go for it. Shania did go all out for the final song of the encore “Man! I Feel Like A Woman.” Shania also to the shock of many didn’t do a quick change to either the leopard outfit from “That Don’t Impress Me Much” or “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” for the encore something she discussed in between songs. The reason given was they were down crew members, citing a bus accident, also reminding the crowd the fact they had to restart “That Don’t impress Me Much” after she forgot her microphone when she came out and she couldn’t get one in time to get into the song properly. While this may not have been one of her best performances it was certainly entertaining and one where Shania came off very personable and reflective. It makes me wonder if this will be the last tour for the Canadian songstress or if she will do at least one more as an official farewell tour.
Shania gave the fans what they wanted and they left happy. Safe to say Edmonton would be down for 4th Shania Twain show this year had their been one.
Check out photos below:
– Everett
