Sunday, December 16, 2018

Concert review: Shania Twain 14th and 15th December 2018 - Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

I've been a fan of country singer Shania Twain since I was a kid so when her Now Tour was announced earlier in the year I knew I had to get a ticket and that's exactly what I did. I immediately got an A Reserve ticket within an hour of the presale for the show on the 14th of December at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena. I wanted to be as close to the stage as possible. Say what you will, but where you are in an arena affects the enjoyment you have at a show.

The day of the concert eventually came around and Shania did not disappoint at all. Her opening act was Bastian Baker who had little charisma and it was easy to see why he was only a supporting act rather than the headliner.

Shania entered through the audience at the back of the arena before starting with Life's about to get good, the first single from her latest album, Now. The crowd was incredibly excited.








She introduced one of her newer hits, Poor Me, a song that had started out very angrily but changed as she went through the writing process and was now her drinking song.

Luckily the sombre mood did not last too long and it was back to the upbeat songs of the late 90s including That Don't Impress Me Much which saw her change into a leopard print gown and the graphics on the stage cubes change.

There was a Kiss Cam right after the song and at the end of it Shania kissed one member of the audience before singing a spectacular track, Any Man of Mine from her 1995 album, The Woman in Me.

The crowd joined in for the next two songs, Whose bed have your boots been under and Honey I'm home.

Again, the mood turned sombre and there was another outfit change for the track, I'm alright, which was about her divorce from Robert "Mutt" Lange.

After a brief interlude, Shania took to the second stage in the middle of the arena and was perched with just her guitar. She said it had been 21 years since the next song had been released and that everyone had been on a journey and grown up with that song. It was of course, the song that made her a superstar, "You're still the one". That was the highlight of the night for me and a very special moment. There's nothing I love more than seeing an artist up on stage with just their guitar talking about the song before they launch into the performance. I find it makes the performance much more personal than someone who just sings a song.

More Fun was a nice song but the inspiration for it was a bit cheesy and Shania talked about how Magic Mike had inspired the dance moves.

Next up was a video interlude of a few of her old songs before the 90s ballad From this moment on from Come on over.

The mood picked up again for I'm gonna getcha good and the stage cubes were lit up with neon writing.

She brought Bastian Baker back on stage for Party for Two and he stayed for the next song, Swinging with my eyes closed which she asked the audience to participate in.

The final song was If you're not in it for love I'm outta here which the audience sung along to.

Red Storm was played after a brief gap and then Shania came back on stage for the encore which was Man! I feel like a woman.

It was a great show.

It was so great in fact that after seeing an ad on Facebook for tickets to Saturday night's show at a heavily discounted price ($76.80 including booking fee) I had to go along.

I was delayed by public transport but my seat was even better. It was a side view which would normally put me off but I was actually right by the stage so I could see what was going on backstage. I could see the back up singers, the drummer, the dancers and the guitarists talking, taking selfies, taking photos and just taking in the surroundings. It was great to see. I could also see what was going on more clearly.









As I'd been to the show previously I could focus more on the performance rather than taking photos and videos.

I enjoyed both nights of the show and the standout moment for me both nights was when Shania sung You're still the one on the second stage and the epic costume changes and dance moves.

Shania's still got it and I give both shows 4.5/5.

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