Review: 5 Things You Need to Know About Shania Twain’s Concert at Rogers Arena

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For someone who hasn’t released a new album in six years, it seems like Shania Twain never took any time off.

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After undergoing open throat surgery and vocal therapy to regain her voice after nearly losing it due to complications from hoarseness and Lyme disease, the singer hit No. 1 with 2017’s “comeback” album Now. The tour in support of that record sold out shows around the world. And Let’s Go!, her second Las Vegas residency, cemented the crossover country artist’s enduring appeal.

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Fast forward nearly a decade, and the album Queen of Me propelled her back into the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart with its February 2023 release. Twain’s sixth album to reach that level makes her the only female artist other than Madonna. on the charts in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. Madonna did so in the 1980s, but Shania also has seven top-five debuts on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Get over it, Material Girl.

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All of which adds up to continuing to give his fan base what they want. He sings singles like the new Giddy Up! and Waking Up Dreaming and another massive tour, including three shows in Vancouver at the beginning and end. Here are five things to know about how the number one night of the Queen of Me Tour took place at Rogers Arena last night.

Tickets for Wednesday night and November 14 at Rogers Arena are on sale at ticketmaster.com.

1. Electric Cowboy Hats: Sure, there are cool t-shirts, cute dolls, and tote bags. But those flashes of electric lights across the arena were utterly eye-catching and framed Twain’s arrival in the middle of the floor for the first act, Waking Up Dreaming, nicely. Wearing a set of rhinestone cat-eye sunglasses that had a divine vintage ’60s design and a sleek black cherry rinse through her abundant curls, the star was ready for takeoff.

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2. I’ll do you good: Everyone wanted to see that custom bike do a wheelie, but Shania got off and ran around the stage before the dry ice cleared. Preferring to parade around the multi-tiered stage in a pair of black platform boots that could give the KISS members a run for her money, she was in control of the entire scene. Her backing band ranged from two backup singers, who added a lot of sound support, to guitar, bass, drums, and a Moosejaw fiddler and multi-instrumentalist who was more like Nine Inch Nails than Nashville.

3. Any Man Of Mine / Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?: With the set’s marquee declaring the Twain Town Saloon open, the song reached deafening heights as these two massive hits landed one after the other. Talk about pacing a set to perfection. But that’s what you can do when you have a catalog of hits as deep as Twain’s to dig into. What did the flying saucer mean, the alien and the galloping horse. Who cares? It was so high energy fun.

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4. Shania’s Party Playlist: Can we all agree that potpourris need to end? Playing a few bars of songs that never hit the mark throughout your career is a bad idea. And Twain releasing songs like she Nah / she She she ‘s Not Just A Pretty Face / Waiter! bring me water / when / thanks baby! (For Makin’ Someday Come So Soon) didn’t accomplish much beyond providing a potty opportunity. She was much more on the mark delivering Pretty Liar, her first naughty word song. From there, Twain kept pace until closing with Man! I feel like a woman!

5. Lindsay Ell: If there was a musical multiverse for country singers, Calgary Ell’s singer might be Twain. Not only does she look like the self-proclaimed hero of hers, but she showed similar skills in engaging fans on her set. Ell’s set was scattered all over the place with missed opportunities when she would do something funky and interesting on the guitar for a few bars and then she would stop and unleash a power ballad that killed the energy every time it came up. Nice guitar heroics and I loved the lime green strings and matching nail polish.

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