Hamilton — Part magician, part quick-change artist, Shania Twain used every trick in her book to capture the hearts of the 17,600 fans who packed Copps Coliseum Thursday night in the first show of the superstar's worldwide UP! tour.
But even after all the costume changes, stage tricks and fireworks are forgotten, her fans will remember her for charm.
Twain leaped into the show with all pistons pumping. Wearing turquoise hi-top sneakers, she pranced across the central stage to the beat of Man! I Feel Like A Woman.
As the show progressed, Twain got closer to the crowd. Strutting around the outer rim of stage, Twain touched eagerly reaching hands, signed autographs and accepted bouquets.
At times she even jumped into the crowd, sharing the microphone with an adoring fan, and even called four women clad in pink boas and leopard-print cowboy hats to the stage to join her in a rendition of “Come On Over”.
While her nine-piece band introduced themselves, Shania slipped away unnoticed, only to rise from a smoky haze onto an elevated stage, dressed in a gathered black gaucho-style skirt and platform sandals for a spectacular version of “From This Moment”.
Later, she appeared 20 rows up in the stands to deliver an intimate rendition of “The Woman in Me”.
After more than two hours and multiple costume changes (she closed the show wearing a Hamilton Bulldogs jersey), the concert closed in a cloud of confetti fired from four canons positioned in each corner of the rink.
The tour touches down next in Ottawa.
