tour

Up! Tour 2004!!!

-FULL GALLERIES FOR 03-04
-MORE REVIES FOR 04 SHOWS
-TOUR ARCHIVE FOR REVIEWS/PICS 03-04

ALL BEFORE END OF 2004!!

Tour Schedule--June 2004

Thurs.     June 3      Green Bay, WI
Fri.          June 4      Saint Paul, MN
Sat.          June 5      Fargo, ND
Tues.       June 8      Winnipeg, MB Canada
Wed.       June 9       Saskatoon, SK Canada
Sat.         June 12     Edmonton, AB Canada
Mon.       June 14     Calgery, AB Canada
Thurs.     June 17     Vancouver, BC Canada
Fri.         June 18      Seattle, WA
Sat.         June 19     Spokane, WA
Tues.       June 22     Fresno, CA
Wed.       June 30      Birmingham, AL

June 3, 2004--Green Bay, WI

Shania gets her rah-rahs out at the Resch

By Kendra Meinert
kmeinert@greenbaypressgazette.com

It wasn�t so much a concert as it was a giant pep rally, and Shania Twain was the head cheerleader.

The 38-year-old pop superstar � yes, pop; Kid Rock is more country � had a sold-out crowd at the Resch Center pumped up from the moment she came bounding on stage in high-glam capris, an orange tank top over a blue one, high-top tennies (one with orange laces, the other with blue) and some serious bling.

�Are you ready, Green Bay?�� she shouted out before singing her first number. �I said, �Are you ready, Green Bay?���

The crowd of 10,019 � second only to Elton John as the arena�s largest � responded as it did all night: wildly enthusiastic for whatever the best-selling female artist of all time did, said or sang from a sprawling in-the-round stage.

She led them in cheers of �YEAH!�� She called in 12 drummers from Suamico�s Bay Port High School and Appleton�s Xavier High School marching bands for a super-sized take on �(If You�re Not in It for Love) I�m Outta Here!�� She rolled out pyro, confetti and, predictably, a Packers jersey.

When her band scooped her up for their pre-encore exit, you half expected them to form a pyramid and toss her in the air.

What�s a pep fest without peppy songs? They just so happen to be Twain�s specialty, thanks to husband, rock producer Robert John �Mutt�� Lange. The high-gloss pop anthems he helped her lay down in the studio came off equally so in a concert in which the hooks were as big as the production.

Twain and her eight-person band made sure they put the exclamation points in songs like �I�m Gonna Getcha Good!,�� �Up!�� and �Man! I Feel Like a Woman.��

It was a nice change of pace when she showed up in a seat in the mezzanine with an acoustic guitarist to do a pretty �The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You��). It was one of the few moments when the night felt like it was about the music, not the spectacle of the show.

To her credit, a warm and gracious Twain made it a fan-friendly evening. She called two 5- and 8-year-old girls up on stage � there were lots of little girls in pigtails in the audience � for a sweet sing-along segment and posed for a photo with a couple who won a pre-show charity raffle.

She routinely did laps around the outer edge of the stage, each time sparking a mad dash of fans clamoring for a high-five or an autograph. It was a nice gesture from an artist of Twain�s magnitude, but she overused it.

Twain had to put her voice on automatic pilot as she dealt with the fan frenzy. While she was off on one side of the stage with fans, it was up to her rock-ready band � three fiddle players, three guitarists, a keyboardist and drummer decked out in everything from P.O.D. T-shirts to Rolling Stones guitar straps � to carry the ball.

By night�s end, the circus of watching fans trying to get up to the stage felt a little like it became the show, detracting from a set that ran a rather skimpy 90 minutes for an $82 top ticket.

Fellow Canadians Emerson Drive opened by setting the night�s slick, pop-country crossover tone. The young sextet (think Rascal Flatts x 2) worked some warp-speed magic on �The Devil Went Down to Georgia,� but a bombastic version of �Fishin� in the Dark,�� followed by a cover of U2�s �Where the Streets Have No Name,�� made for an ugly pileup of musical boundaries.

As for Twain, if the Green Bay Packers ever decide to host a major concert at Lambeau Field, her undeniable and wide-spanning appeal Thursday night proved she just might be the woman for the job. She already has the Brett Favre jersey.

June 6, 2004--Fargo, ND

Fargo: Shania Pumps Dome; Country Singer Showcases Crowd Pleaser

When Shania Twain yelled "Are you ready Fargo?" it was initially unclear if she was asking the packed Fargodome crowd whether it was ready for a concert or a workout.

For much of Saturday night's show the Canadian country singer bounced around the oval stage in the center of the floor like an aerobics instructor dressed in neon Lycra and sparkly hi-tops.

The fans, some coming down from Canada for the only North Dakota stop on the tour, rose to the challenge.

The singer made a flashy entrance, running through the crowd launching into her anthem, "Man (I Feel Like a Woman)," then breaking into the title track from her last album, "Up."

Sometimes criticized by Nashville purists for being every bit as poppy as country, Twain answered cynics by issuing two discs with "Up" � one with country versions of the songs and the other with pop variations of the same tunes. She played to both sides of the dial Saturday, singing ballads and country crowd-pleasers.

Country singer Shania Twain glides across the stage during her performance in the round attended by 18,223 fans Saturday at the Fargodome. Colburn Hvidston III / The Forum

Showing she could be as much sugar as spice, Twain plugged a charity, Fargo's Second Harvest Food Bank, by drawing a fan's ticket for a photo op with the singer and later presenting the winner, a young local girl named Emily.

"Until then we're gonna kick your butt," Twain yelled, and launched into "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under," her first hit she wrote with husband, producer Mutt Lange.

Though she spent most of the show dancing around the stage, signing autographs and collecting flowers, the biggest applause came when she brought fans onstage. Some performances were more miss than hit. When she brought two women up to help sing "Still the One," one appeared to have been enjoying a girl's night out a little too much, prompting Twain to say, "No more beer." A young male fan also tried, but instead sang "I'm Gonna Getcha Good," getting laughs with the line, "I'm gonna get me some man." The best was a group of female fans, including a young girl who sang, "Honey I'm Home and I Had a Bad Day."

Not to be upstaged by a child, after an extended piano intro, Twain popped up in the middle of the darkened crowd with a guitarist singing "The Woman in Me," then raced back to the stage for "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "I'm Gonna Getcha Good."

Though the staging made the star accessible, the show suffered only from pacing. A round-the-stage introduction of her band made for a convenient wardrobe change � into another bright workout ensemble. Band members tried their best to joke, but dressed like a Nintendo street gang (a drummer wearing ski goggles?) or the new generation of the united colors of Benetton, the laughs were on them.

Openers Emerson Drive, another Nashville act by way of Canada, showcased crossover credibility, covering Charlie Daniels' "Devil Went Down to Georgia" by copping bits of Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" and the riff to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" while yelling "on your feet" repeatedly.

It was an order the Fargodome fans didn't need.

June 8, 2004--Winnepeg, MB Canada

Shania keeps fire burning

Fans hooked from get-go

By rob Williams

She's a little bit country, a little bit pop and a whole lot of woman who isn't afraid to let you know she feels like one. That would be country music superstar, Shania Twain, who brought her Up! tour to Winnipeg last night and charmed the sold-out crowd of 16,000 with a 90-minute parade of hits, her stunning looks and a flashy stage show.

The pint-sized Timmins, Ont. native's catchy crossover sound had the audience hooked from the get-go when she entered the Arena running through the crowd and launched into Man! I Feel Like a Woman!, her breakthrough hit off 1997's Come On Over.

The oval stage was set up in the middle of the arena floor with two lighted ramps leading to a central platform allowing Twain and her eight-piece band to play to the farthest corners of the building.

If you didn't bring binoculars, eight video screens provided up close views of every booty shake and hand gesture.

All the while Twain strutted, ran and bounced all over the stage while accepting flowers from audience members, slapping their hands and signing autographs. Dressed in a white top, glittery black pants and sparkling jewelry around her neck and wrists, Twain looked every bit as glamourous and fit as the image she has crafted for herself.

She may be one of the top selling artists of all time, but Twain is out to show she still remembers her roots, inviting raffle ticket winners on stage, getting a young woman from the crowd to help her sing You're Still the One and performing (If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here! with Winnipeg's Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Crusaders drum troupe.

Some of the antics had a way of slowing down the momentum of the show, especially when she stopped the music altogether to introduce her band while she changed costumes.

Some of the music doesn't even pretend to be country, such as the electric fiddle driven Up! or the synthesizer based I'm Gonna Getcha Good! (a lot of her songs seem to end with exclamation marks) but that formula is what has made Twain one of the most popular artists of all time with sales of over 50 million copies of her four albums.

Most of the set was comprised of big hits from her last two albums, with all her singles making an appearance including Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You), Whose Bed have Your Boots Been Under? and That Don't Impress Me Much!

For an artist known as much for her fashion as for her music, Twain was surprisingly subdued in her choice of outfits, although she looked striking in whatever she wore.

The show ended with Rock This Country! (see what I said about those exclamation marks?) and a fireworks and confetti display sending the crowd home happy, if disappointed the concert was only 90 minutes.

June 9, 2004--Saskatoon, SK Canada

She got 'em. She got 'em good. Country-pop superstar Shania Twain sent spirits Up! Up! Up! into the rafters of SaskPlace Wednesday night in a feel-good concert that broke down the walls between performer and audience.

It started when all eight members of her band entered down the aisles of the facility and climbed onto the stage. Twain herself, clad to start in a blue tank top and matching blue booties with black sequined pants, appeared at the far end of the main floor and jogged up to the centre. The show was held in-the-round, a creative way to make everything seem closer. The pride of Timmins, Ont., started with the anthemic Man! I Feel Like A Woman!, and by the end of the song we all did.

It was a bit of a surprise when she did such a huge number as Up! for the second song -- but not saving it for the end showed confidence in her repertoire. Large video screens circled the heights, and their closeups of the star proved she continues to be stunningly attractive. The cameras also focused on the band, bringing the commotion even closer. They were an energetic bunch, bounding from side to side, teasing each other in carefully choreographed moments and striking rock-god poses whether they were playing fiddle or guitar or keyboards. Their boss, meanwhile, was dodging pyrotechnic explosions, singing Honey, I'm Home and circling the stage giving everyone high fives, accepting those stupid stuffed animal presents and actually signing autographs while she sang. People, to their credit, weren't fainting from excitement. In fact, the second things seemed to be slowing up they started sitting down. But when Twain smiled and said, "I'm basically gonna ask you guys to get off your butts," they leapt to their feet.

Yes, she did know where she was. Twain said the word Saskatoon three times before singing the first note, and she expertly exploited the home-province appeal of Cory Cherko, one-third of her fiddling division, who hails from Moose Jaw.

The set list dodged easily from early to more recent hits.

Who's Bed Have Your Boots Been Under was given a rousing performance. No dust-bunnies on that one. A medley helped dispatch several others like You Win My Love and the commercial-jingle-like Come on Over ("come on over, come on in, take a stick, pull it out, the taste is gonna move you when you pop it in your mouth").

One of the most interesting elements of the show were the band introductions. Rather than Twain saying their names, each player introduced one other. They got to make jokes and have fun, and suddenly they were part of the show and not just working at it. The biggest ovations was saved for Cherko, of course, who really won the crowd over when he claimed that he said "Go Riders!" the previous night in Winnipeg.

While the band was talking, Twain was changing into a yellow T-shirt and purple pants. Her wardrobe is much more tasteful than it used to be, but let's face it: she's still going to be the hottest mom at pre-school. Near press time, Twain invited a cute 10-year-old named Mallory onto stage to sing with her. The girl, draped in a huge Twain hockey jersey that retails for $125 at the merchandise booth, charmed the crowd with a few lines from Up!

Twain's tunes are often all icing and no cake, but she really impressed in a slow, almost bluesy version of The Woman In Me, sung with her guitarist after she almost magically appeared in the lower tier, far from the stage. The moment would have been perfect if some idiot hadn't used the opportunity to kiss her on the cheek. Lucky for him she just laughed nervously and didn't summon her attack dog.

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