Las Vegas, NV
Zappos Theater
So that's how I wound up in Las Vegas on Friday where the temperature hit 110° (Leaving from SFO with fog still clinging to the hills and a high of 78° in Belmont.) I met up with Eileen, her sister-in-law Megan, and niece Jackie by mid-afternoon at our hotel a block or so off the strip. Some chatting and sparkling wine in the hotel bar before heading up to our rooms to get ready for dinner and the show.
Zappos Theater is in the Planet Hollywood Hotel which wasn't too far of a walk from where we were staying, but in the heat we cabbed it over. More chatting over dinner before we walked over to the show. Eileen managed to get us some excellent seats. Dead center, first row of the second section above the pit. Perfect! Sit, stand, it didn't matter, our view was completely unobstructed.
Now, I'm gonna be honest here, I can't say I'm a huge Shania Twain fan. I know her big hits and enjoy them, but I just never got into that early 90s pop-country scene. Still, I love live music and figured it would be a good show. I was right.
I'll say right now, I only knew 5 of the 19 songs she performed, so I'm relying on setlist.fm for the set list when I reference any song beyond those 5 (all big hits, so you can probably guess.) The opening song "Rock This Country" included a mid-song costume change when a couple of her back up dancers helped remove the long trained skirt of the dress to reveal a much easier to perform in white mini-skirt. Everything sounded fantastic and I happened to notice her drummer sitting off to the side of the stage a bit -- she has a woman drummer. I love that!
The opening song ended with Shania disappearing back stage for another costume change which meant her band carried the show for a few minutes. Must say it was the first time I've ever seen a fiddle solo during a concert! (It was great!)
Early in the set she played a song that really caught me called "Life's About to Get Good." The chorus has a great hook and it's just an upbeat tune about the ups and downs of life. Very relatable.
About a third of the way through the set, we finally got to a song I actually knew -- "You're Still the One" -- which I really do like and she sounded fantastic. I think it was at this point in the show she thanked everyone in the audience for buying her first albums. I leaned over to my cousin and said "well almost everyone!"
Throughout the show, there were multiple costume changes, which left her band filling time. They were awesome. Her background vocalist in particular was amazing and definitely helped carry the tunes all night long. Shania also had a set of about 6 dancers who at times would carry her around the stage. It was a nice change of pace to see some hunky guys dancing around in the background rather than skimpily clad women!
A couple of times during the show, she invited fans up on stage for a bit. The first group came up about two-thirds of the way through the show with a "Twain Town Saloon" set. Everyone was masked when they came on stage and met with Shania at the "bar" (one of the lighted risers) and she chatted with them a bit then told them they could take off their masks for a photo. After the photo, they were shown to tables at the side of the stage while she sang a couple of tunes.
The final time she had fans on stage was towards the very end of the show. The curtain had come down, the band had gone off stage, and a couple of the dancers brought out a small table and a couple of chairs and put a candelabra (battery operated) and some flowers (probably plastic) on the table and escorted a couple on to the stage and showed them to their table. As before, Shania came over and chatted a bit and asked what they were celebrating. Turned out the couple was there for their 50th wedding anniversary. Another quick pose for pictures, and on to the highlight closing of the show with "From This Moment On." Hey! Another song I know and absolutely love! Granted, I usually listen to the instrumental version Neal Schon did on his album Voice, but I loved the song before that amazing version was released. She sounded fantastic.
The show closed out with the upbeat "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" which had everyone on their feet singing along (even me! I knew the words!)
After the show, we walked over to the Sugar Factory for some dessert and cocktails. All were very yummy, but the place was super bright and the music super loud (and it kept getting louder the longer we stayed.) It didn't help that only the 26 year old knew any of the super loud tunes. We stayed long enough to finish our after-show treats then headed back to our hotel. By this time it was relatively cool, so the 15 or so minute walk back to the hotel wasn't too bad (and it's always interesting to walk along the Vegas strip on a Friday night. Surprisingly, we didn't encounter too many crazies and most everyone seemed to have kept their clothes on!)
Off to bed for a decent night's sleep, before show day 2. Stay tuned!
Set List (courtesy setlist.fm)
"Set" = costume change!
Set 1:
Rock This Country!
Set 2:
Love Gets Me Every Time
Life's About to Get Good
Up!
Set 3:
Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)
Come on Over
You're Still the One
You Win My Love
Set 4:
That Don't Impress Me Much
Any Man of Mine
Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?
Honey, I'm Home
Set 5:
I'm Gonna Getcha Good!
Party for Two
Not Just a Girl
Swingin' With My Eyes Closed
(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!
Acoustic
From This Moment On
Encore:
Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
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