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Shania Twain
Kevin Johnson
Post-Dispatch Pop Music Critic
11/29/2003


Shania Twain
(AP)

Shania Twain's a little bit country, and a little bit rock 'n' roll, but the sum of her parts still don't impress me much.

OK, how can one resist such a quip when Twain has a popular song title like "That Don't Impress Me Much,'' one of the many hits the is-she-country, is-she-rock music sensation doled out to a house full of hungry fans at the Savvis Center on Friday night.

Twain always has been a curious superstar, as loved as she is scrutinized. She's a Nashville outsider with a rock producer husband who bested the tight-knit country community at its own game with her staggering success. Neither Britney Spears, Madonna, or Janet Jackson have a CD that has sold more than the 18 million in sales Twain saw of her "Come On Over.'' Twain's mixing of genres gives her as many fans as detractors; her singing skills always seemed only ordinary; and her wholesomeness resembles that of a beauty pageant queen.

But her loyal fans eat it up, showering her with support from her opening "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!'' fake-out to her hyped-up "Rock This Country!'' closer.

After her band, including Kirkwood native Brent Barcus on guitar, strolled down the aisles and made their way to the stage in the round, a silhouette revealed what looked like a costumed Twain. But it was only a decoy, while the real Twain appeared on the arena floor, also walking through the crowd, dwarfed by her bodyguard and the St. Louis Rams jersey she wore.

Twain's two-hour show felt restrained compared to the Twain we've seen before, the rock chick with the outlandish outfits. This time, she presented herself as a regular gal, and left the dominatrix gear at home. She kept her show simple and straightforward, if also monotonous, plowing through hit after hit while circling the stage. Her merry band, featuring an impressive fiddle trio, helped keep things moving in mostly upbeat fashion on songs like "Up!,'' "Honey I'm Home,'' and the strangely ABBA-sounding "C'est La Vie.''

The pleasing ditty "Forever and For Always'' was among the slower songs that calmed things down. She performed the song sitting on a rotating stool. "You're Still the One'' and "From This Moment On'' (with a showy solo from Barcus) were also momentary downbeat moments. But such occurrences were rare, as Twain preferred to keep the show "Up!,'' in name and in feel. About a third of the songs came from her year-old "Up!,'' a double disc CD in which she recorded pop and country versions of the same tune.

"Love Gets Me Everytime,'' "She's Not Just a Pretty Face,'' "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)'' and " Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under'' (with a quick nod to Nancy Sinatra) were among the many songs that kept the momentum going.

Teens introduced by Twain as "your local drummers'' noisily punched up "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!'' Barcus got a separate introduction early on by Twain, who kept stressing he was "from here, right here, your town, your hometown,'' without saying St. Louis.

What Twain may lack in sheer presence (it was too easy to look away), she makes up for in her strong connection to fans. She signed autographs and accepted gifts, sat in the crowd during acoustic guitar ballad "Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You),'' and took pictures with two girls on stage and letting them sing.

The band Emerson Drive opened the concert.