Shania Twain and Wes Mack at the Air Canada Centre

Photographs by Sean Chin.

Before there was Carrie, Miranda, and yes, even Taylor, there was Shania. After eleven years off the road Timmins, Ontario’s own Shania Twain is back in the spotlight as a reigning queen of country music. Her massive “Rock This Country” tour made it’s first of three stops in Toronto on Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre. Rising from below the stage in a sequined red dress with thigh-high boots, fringed leather jacket, and red-tinted glasses, Shania was in fit form for a 100-minute set kicking off the night aptly with “Rock This Country” high above the crowd. Backed by a full band including some rocking fiddlers, she wasted no time working the crowd with her hit songs from over two decades in the business. 

It’s obvious that a two-year residency in Vegas has significantly upped Shania’s performance game. Sparing no expense, the stage production was flashy and orchestrated with multiple uses of pyrotechnics, impressive visuals including some provocative stills of Shania on moving screens, and an door on the floor of the stage for three costume changes throughout the night. The stage itself was equipped with a catwalk down the middle and two lighted platforms on stage left and right; typical design elements for an arena-size show. However, Team Shania has taken it one step further, designing what can only be described as the “Shaniamobile” – a wheeled trolley that propelled the singer around the entire perimeter of the Air Canada Centre while she sang “Any Man of Mine” into her bejewelled microphone with one hand, and filmed the happenings with a GoPro in the other. 

The tour hasn’t been publicly touted as a greatest hits show, but without a doubt it certainly is one. The set list is packed with too many songs to list spanning all points of Shania’s career including 1997’s “Honey I’m Home”, 2002’s “Up!” which was performed on a rotating arm/fake mechanical bull hybrid high above the crowd. Opener Wes Mack even joined Shania on stage for the duet “Party for Two” to sing Billy Currington’s part. While each song elicited cheers and sing-a-longs, none more so than the encore song that brought Shania back to the stage in her sexiest costume of the night – a black and metallic body suit and another pair of sky high heels – to perform “Man! I Feel Like a Woman.” 

Not that it was ever in question, but Shania’s music is timeless and she still remains Canada’s top country music export. Though the audience skewed slightly more female, the age range was remarkable, which is another testament to her legacy. Her love for the fans was evident throughout the evening as she mused on returning to her home province of Ontario for this tour, and she recounted some of her earliest shows including a showcase at Deerhurst which lead to her first record deal in Nashville, Tennessee. In an unscripted moment, Shania caught sight of a older gentleman’s shirt that read, “Kiss Me I’m 83!” which she kindly obliged kneeling on side of the catwalk and granting the man’s wish with a quick smooch. If anything that’s what the evening was to everyone else – a quick smooch from a beloved performer who’s music has captured generations.