Shania Twain w/ Lindsey Ell
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA
04.29.23

It has been five years since Shania Twain graced the PNW with her presence, and the packed Climate Pledge Area proves her fans have been eagerly awaiting the return of the Queen of Country Pop. The Queen Of Me Tour was well worth the wait.

The show kicked off with Lindsey Ell’s high energy and edgy country rock performance. She shared how her love of Jimmi Hendrix (which led to naming her dog in his honor) has forever forged a deep connection with Seattle. Rocking lime green nail polish to match her guitar strings, Ell is not only an effortlessly cool girl, but also talented beyond measure. She had the crowd bellowing along to ‘good on you’, a song written post breakup, and the energy and excitement ramped up. If that wasn’t enough, her badass guitar skills even further wowed the arena – It’s not everyday you see someone expertly shredding upside down. Ell set the tone for an evening of iconic performances.

The crowd, a beautiful bouquet of leopard print, cowboy boots, and glitter fringe, excitedly waited for Twain to take the stage. In true Twain fashion, the concert started with an unexpected twist as she surprised the guests by popping up in the middle of the floor seats to ‘Waking Up Dreaming’.

Twain performed a mix of classic favorites across her previous five albums, and new songs from her latest Queen Of Me album. She explained how she wrote her latest songs to encourage laughter, celebrate joyful moments, and simply enjoy life. She particularly wrote ‘Giddy Up’ to cheer herself up when she needs a little extra pep in her step. Pair that with a lasso dance move from her charismatic supporting performers,  and it was impossible not to be swept up.

Twain followed up each one of her hits with another. Between songs she connected with the crowd and sprinkled in anecdotes. Warning the crowd, “Hope y’all are ready to do some shit kicking right now” before leading into a memorable rendition of ‘Whose bed have your boots been under?’

She previously received numerous requests for the following songs as she hadn’t performed them live on tour before, so she decided to make a medley compilation of some absolute crowd favorites – ‘Nah!’, ‘She’s not just a pretty face’, ‘Waiter! Bring me water!’, ‘When’, and ‘Thank you baby!’,  all in a perfectly curated composition.

For the encore Twain returned to the stage in the original outfit from the ‘Man I feel Like A Woman’ music video. The long black coat, iconic top hat, and mini dress were on loan from a museum exhibit. She shared how this costume has meant so much to her. Expressing gratitude to her fans as well, “Thank you so much for being with me after all these years, just like this”, gesturing to her outfit, “I feel like we are all, very old friends”. And with one final cue, she wrapped up the already impressive show with one final showstopper – Let’s go girls!

Review by Allie Leaf
Photos by Logan Westom

Shania Twain

Lindsey Ell