Twain sweet as sugar with a whole lot of spunk
Larry Pynn
Vancouver Sun
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Shania Twain sings to sold- out crowd at Pacific Coliseum.
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There aren't many places where grown men can stand in front of a crowd and scream in confident unison: "Man! I feel like a woman!"
Such is the universal power of a Shania Twain concert.
The cross-over queen from Timmins, Ont., is not the most technically gifted voice in pop or country music, and her sugary-sweet albums, no matter how many tens of millions she sells, are unlikely to ever be taken seriously by historians of either genre.
But there is something undeniably positive and uplifting about her songs that sets the toes a tappin' and the hips a swayin'.
[u]A record crowd of 17,000 -- diverse by both gender and age[u] -- at Pacific Coliseum Sunday night were on their feet from the first distinctive staccato blasts of Man! I feel like a woman! and kept the positive vibes flowing throughout a high-energy concert, which lasted almost two hours.
As the music and swirling lights intensified, Twain appeared on an oval centrestage that featured walkways, steps and a raised centre platform rimmed with lights. She wore a Vancouver Canucks jersey, blue jeans, red running shoes and lots of sparkly jewelry around her neck and wrists.
(During the second half of the show, Twain did her male fans a favour, tossing the baggy jersey for a yellow tank top with a peek-a-boo view of a black lace bra.)
"It's so beautiful here," announced Twain, whose chatty, bubbly personality rarely results in any comments of substance. "It really is gorgeous here. Even in the rain, it's beautiful."
Fortunately, Twain's confidence as a performer has shown marked improvement since her first tour, in 1998. Whereas she once stiffly looked through her concert crowds, now she effortlessly plays to them, to the point her wranglers have to worry about her personal safety.
At one point, she launched herself into the audience, (which included her brother, Mark) only to get lost when she couldn't find an aisle. "Oh, I can't get there," she said. Back on the safety of the stage, someone suggested she walk over the crowd next time. "Crowd surfing? I've never done that before. Some of you guys might grab my butt, and I wouldn't like that."
Twain gave dozens of high-fives and autographs to the crowds pressed close up front. She accepted flowers and teddy-bears. And she seemed to be forever inviting fans on to the stage, including two cowboys who were so tall next to the diminutive Twain that they both dropped to their knees.
Also invited up was a Twain wannabe -- a girl of, oh, seven years -- who, like my neighbour's cat, seemed to be 50-per-cent hair. A duet wasn't going to happen, but the thought was there.
Twain's backup band of eight men and one woman were young, buffed, energetic and hip -- presumably, everything that her reclusive, mega-producer husband, Mutt Lange, is not. They wore muscle shirts, tattoos, cool shades, silver chains and military attire, and they relentlessly roamed the stage, sometimes with choreographed moves, but mostly as free spirits.
The nature of the backup band -- although some new faces have emerged
[no new faces-check the facts..crtics!]-- was little changed from past Twain concerts. Other familiar schticks included Twain starting the concert hidden backstage with the coy question -- "Are you ready, Vancouver?" -- and later bringing 15 local drummers on stage to help out with the tune (If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here!
The
major change is that Twain now has simply too much music, too many hits, based on the strength of three multi-platinum albums: The Woman in Me (1995), Come On Over (1997), and Up! (2002). She had to resort to a medley to fit in songs such as When, You Win My Love, and Come On Over into the playlist.
With the major exception of her recent hit, Up!, fans seemed to respond most enthusiastically to the older material: Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?, a song that makes having an affair a sort of good-natured romp; That Don't Impress Me Much, during which she gave a big "I'm-pooped" sigh; and the ballad The Woman In Me.
Fans lapped up the latter song, even though it began with a flub. Twain surprised everyone by appearing about 20 rows up with an acoustic guitar player, while four band members positioned themselves on stools on centre stage to sing vocal backup. An electrical glitch cut power to the guitar, causing the song to be delayed.
Twain saved Rock This Country! for her encore, an infectious tune complete with fireworks, confetti and streamers -- a final, dramatic punctuation to an entertaining evening.
The Canadian leg of Twain's Up! world tour ended Monday, during a second show in Vancouver. She now heads for the U.S. West Coast, before continuing in Europe in January.
Almost forgotten by concert's end was the opening act, Emerson Drive, a six-piece boy band, originating from Grande Prairie, Alta., which put on a spirited, if short, performance lasting barely 20 minutes. With their second album due out early next year, and recognition as best new duo/group from the Academy of Country Music Awards, they seem destined for a strong future in the mainstream, new-country market.
lpynn@png.canwest.com