SHANIA TWAIN @ Kohl Center – Madison, WI
May 16, 2023
Review by Mackenzie Dvorachek
Photos by David Urmanski
On Tuesday night, the queen of country music, five-time Grammy award-winner and best-selling female artist in country music history, Shania Twain, brought her star-studded “Queen of Me” Tour to the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Prized by attendees as the first show back in the states since her brief trek to eight venues across Southern Canada in the last two weeks, the tour has been one of the most highly-anticipated performances of 2023 and Twain did not disappoint.
Reigning Academy of Country Music Awards New Female Vocalist of the Year, Hailey Whitters, opened the show for Twain dressed in a denim-inspired two-piece outfit and using the entire stage to her advantage, lights and all, ending her thirty-minute set with hit song “Everything She Ain’t,” which got everyone up on their feet. Whitters proved to be a ball of sunshine and perfect choice as supporting act to the country music legend.
Shania Twain was set to take the stage at 9:00pm, a full hour after Whitters sang her last note. To many fans, that hour was the longest hour of their lives, but when the lights went down the place got electric. With the intro chords of “Waking Up Dreaming” ringing out across the arena, the crowd went wild. While everyone admired the purple, blue and pink light show, Twain surprised the audience by making a grand entrance from a box positioned on the floor in the middle of venue before making her way across the edge of the floor sections, singing to fans and holding their hands along the way.
As she ventured to the stage, the band got the crowd ready for takeoff. When Shania finally appeared again, the screens behind her produced a colorful rocket ship with the initials “ST” and a picture of Twain’s face. The rocket served as the centerpiece for her song “Up!” but that wasn’t the only thing serving that night. Twain’s outfit was a black, sparkly two-piece with a flowy cardigan, pairing perfectly with some sparkly heels and a chunky necklace. Along with the alluring attire, her setlist proved to be more than impressive as she sang crowd favorites “Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)” and “I’m Gonna Getcha Good” while a bright, neon saloon party taking place in Twain’s Town displayed on the video boards stimulating the crowd’s visual cortex. Along with the striking scenery, Shania used a motorcycle as a prop during “I’m Gonna Getcha Good,” which proved to be one of the most photogenic moments of the night.
The show continued with Shania performing some of her most iconic hits including “Roll Me on the River” and “You’re Still The One,” with the crowd echoing the chorus back to her throughout the songs while Twain saw the perfect opportunity to change the lyrics mid-song to “Madison, look how far we’ve made it,” so she did, and the crowd went crazy. “Giddy Up!” brought every person, still sitting down, up on their feet. With a cast of background dancers in the mix, attendees saw no reason to curtail sharing their dance moves for the remainder of the set.
Twain masterly belted out many more of her iconic hits including “Any Man of Mine,” “Who’s Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” and “Honey I’m Home.” With great conviction, she also added a bit of patriotic flair to the show when performing “Rock This Country!” backed by an American flag for the entire song. However, what really brought the house down, was when Twain included a throwback medley of five songs that haven’t been performed in decades: “Nah!,” “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face,” “Waiter! Bring Me Water,” “When,” and “Thank You Baby!” Now THAT is a medley!
The most memorable moment of the night happened right after the medley when Twain noticed two little girls on their father’s backs the entire night and decided it was a good time to call them on stage. One of the girls was toting a sign that read “My 1st Concert. Here to see Shania & my uncle Andre’s lights.” Although Twain appeared to be a bit confused about the second statement on the sign, she was noticeably touched and proceeded to sing with the two girls while adding an autograph to the bright pink poster as a final everlasting memory that would not soon be forgotten.
In addition to this special moment, Twain took a moment to read a tweet from a special fan, who ended up being in attendance Wednesday night. When reading the tweet, screams were heard coming from the 200’s section in the stands with a girl jumping up and down in awe of what may happen next. The girl, Jenny, made her way to the stage to talk and sing with Twain before ending the experience with a selfie with the Queen herself. What a moment for these three girls.
To close the show, Twain dedicated a new song, “Number One,” to her fans while saying, “Thank you guys so much for having me and I hope you all are having the time of your lives because I’m having the time of my life.” Following up that song, Shania sang a few more of hits including “Forever and For Always” as well as the title track of her most recent album, “Queen of Me.”
Everyone should know to never leave a concert early because there is always an encore and boy did Twain save the best two songs for last! Her first encore song was “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” and the crowd was starstruck when they noticed that she was wearing the iconic cheetah outfit worn during the “That Don’t Impress Me Much” music video. “I brought her out of the museum to join me on tour. This is the original outfit. And I’m just so happy that she is still around.” Don’t worry Shania, we’re VERY HAPPY she’s still around too!
There was still one song missing from the setlist, but based on the excitement and stir of the crowd, they all knew what was coming. Shania ended the concert with a bang, singing “Man, I Feel Like a Woman!” and everyone danced away. Even the husbands and boyfriends were singing and dancing, but given the uninterrupted energy and enthusiasm in the room, that was not surprising at all! Twain shined ever so bright from beginning until end, proving why she is the best-selling female country artist of all time and why her fans are so devoted to her.
The “Queen of Me” Tour is one of Twain’s largest tours to date with 80-plus shows booked across the globe from Nashville to New Orleans and London to Glasgow over a six-month period. This is also Twain’s first headlining tour in almost five years, following a very successful 2022 Las Vegas Residency. Following her European dates at the end of the summer, Twain will travel back to the United States for a handful of additional performances. Since Twain is full of surprises, fans never know what will be coming next. How many costume changes will she make? Will she add any pyrotechnics to her set in the future? Will she have any special guests join her? Shania is making sure that her show will live rent-free in concert-goer’s minds for quite some time. If you were unable to catch her in Madison, what are ya’ll waiting for? Giddy up and get your tickets today!
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REMAINING QUEEN OF ME TOUR DATES:
5/19 Lincoln, NE Pinnacle Bank Arena #
5/21 Denver, CO Ball Arena #
5/24 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre #
5/26 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre #
5/28 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl #
5/30 Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion #
5/31 Thousand Palms, CA Acrisure Arena #
6/03 Tulsa, OK BOK Center +
6/04 St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre STL +
6/07 Nashville, TN GEODIS Park +>
6/09 Camden, NJ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion +
6/12 Halifax, NS Scotiabank Centre ~
6/14 Moncton, NB Avenir Centre ~
6/15 Moncton, NB Avenir Centre ~
6/17 Quebec City, QC Videotron Centre ~
6/18 Montreal, QC Bell Centre ~
6/20 Hamilton, ON FirstOntario Centre ^
6/21 London, ON Budweiser Gardens ^
6/23 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage ^
6/24 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage ^
6/27 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion &
6/28 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion &
6/30 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center &
7/01 Tinley Park, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre &
7/03 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center for the Arts &
7/06 Ottawa, ON Ottawa Bluesfest *
7/08 Syracuse, NY St Joseph's Health Amphitheater at Lakeview +
7/09 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center +
7/11 New York, NY Madison Square Garden +
7/13 Burgettstown, PA The Pavilion at Star Lake +
7/15 Noblesville, IN Ruoff Music Center +
7/19 Kansas City, MO T-Mobile Center =
7/21 Dallas, TX Dos Equis Pavilion =
7/22 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion =
7/24 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center =
9/14 Glasgow, UK OVO Hydro
9/16 London, UK The O2
9/17 London, UK The O2
9/19 Dublin, IRE 3Arena
9/20 Dublin, IRE 3Arena
9/22 Glasgow, UK OVO Hydro Arena
9/23 Glasgow, UK OVO Hydro Arena
9/25 Manchester, UK AO Arena
9/26 Birmingham, UK Utilita Arena Birmingham
9/28 Leeds, UK First Direct Arena
10/12 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
10/13 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena
10/16 Knoxville, TN Thompson Boling Arena
10/18 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena
10/20 Buffalo, NY KeyBank Center
10/22 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
10/24 Quebec City, QC Videotron Centre
10/25 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
10/27 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
10/28 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
10/31 Milwaukee, WI Fiserv Forum
11/02 Omaha, NE CHI Health Center
11/03 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena
11/05 Fargo, ND FARGODOME
11/07 Winnipeg, MB Canada Life Centre
11/09 Saskatoon, SK Sasktel Centre
11/11 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
11/12 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
11/14 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
* Non-Live Nation Date
