Shania Twain: Live (1998)

For erstwhile "new country" outsider Shania Twain, the commercial impact of her first live video doubtless carries the sweet smell of revenge. Twain's mid-'90s breakthrough, fueled by formidable production polish and carefully groomed videos, conspicuously delayed live shows until long after the expatriate Canadian's success crossed into platinum territory--an omission that prompted some skeptics to theorize that the would-be megastar's talent was accomplished through studio legerdemain. Shania Twain Live may benefit from plenty of polish and more than a little calculation in its staging, but the singer-songwriter's long apprenticeship in lounge bands and resort revues north of the border is apparent. Whether one loves or loathes her songs, Twain herself comes across as a seasoned performer who knows how to work the audience.

Equally apparent, and equally unlikely to resolve the division between fans and foes, is Twain's crossover agenda. Scaled for the arenas that Twain and her handlers targeted early on, the concert is closer in pace and power-chords to a mainstream rock show than most country acts, an orientation that aligns the star with Garth Brooks's swaggering attack rather than most country songstresses. Her band may boast three fiddlers, but their slashing attack emulates the kilowatt buzz of the rock guitarists that share the scrim, who pull off familiar string-bending flourishes. As for the front woman, in her electric-green leopard-print top, hip-hugging pants, and meticulously permed, waist-length hair, she resembles some improbably aerobicized white Rastafarian.

The set list is a generous one, reproducing most of Twain's back-to-back platinum albums, and illustrates her skill at mixing melting ballads, flirtatious rockers that enable her to strut her physical beauty, and songs testifying to her self-reliance. Still, for all Twain's assertions that she won't suffer fools gladly, the songs ultimately reveal a traditional romanticism with a moderate, post-feminist spark. One need only check out the power equation behind such songs as "Honey, I'm Home" and "Any Man of Mine" to recognize Twain's themes are ultimately much older than their crossover wrappers. --Sam Sutherland Amazon.com

Shania Twain Live

Absolutley wonderful. Shania Twain has a fantastic country type way of song and it is enthralling. The beat is fantastic, her back up bands are amazing and I reccommend her to everyone.
I never heard of her till my daughter played me a dvd and now I am hooked. April 6, 2008

WOW!!! I love Shania Twain LIVE!

This concert is just amazing! Shania Twain really knows how to run a live show! Lots of audience interactions, music is amazing, good Sound Quality unlike some reviewers stated here earlier, and it is one of the best live performance in American history...

WATCH IT, IT'S AMAZING! SHANIA ATTITUDE FOR 2 HOURS!!! January 27, 2007

Good music, lousy video

Don't know about anyone else, but the DVD I purchased had lousy video. The only good shots were of closeups and sometimes it took the cameraman a few seconds to focus on a number of the shots. All of the long distance shots were grainy and not clear and the medium range shots were not good either. I know the concert was indoors, but I've seen other indoor videos that did not have this problem. Did I get a bad DVD or did anyone else have this problem? October 16, 2006

Heaven is Shania Twain Performing her Songs!!

Yes, I'm another shaniamaniac fan, so please forgive my passions and emotions. My family are already saying nasty things to me. Especially, since I watch this DVD several times a week. I LOVE watching Shania in concert--she has few if any equals in this department. Rather than just put on a cd or play my ipod, I just put in this DVD to hear the songs--and of ocurse its distracting while I'm working on my computer because everytime a favourite song comes on, I have to watch the TV screen--and just about every song is a favourite. Shania, you are just so distracting. I don't know why she gets so much criticism but I strongly suspect its mostly jealousy and sour grapes. I see an immensely talented, hard working, disciplined, professional, true to her roots singer/musician/performer, who understands what showbiz is all about and knows how to Entertain. Listen, I've been to hundreds of concerts and sad to say but many talented people really don't know how to entertain let alone perform. Shania has the Best Band on the planet and they are all showmen and multi-talented. They move as a unit and who cares if some of the moves were choreographed in advance. They look slim, healthy, clean, enthusiastic, and play brilliantly. Shania uses the best because she is the best. Unfortunately, now when I go to other concerts, my expectations are always higher and I am more critical simply because people like Shania set the standards. I can no longer stand seeing out of shape, straggly haired, unshaven, half dead looking musicians on stage.

Shania understands that when people pay a hundred bucks for a concert--they want to get uplifted or something like that. They want to feel a connection--even if its in a huge stadium with twenty thousand others. She is totally relaxed in concert and there is no fakeness whatsoever. She involves the audience and does all kinds of unusual things, like bring kids or even an old guy up on stage. Some people think that it detracts from her shows (because Celine or Whitney wouldn't be caught dead doing something like this), but I think that it enhances the shows and its always good for a laugh--like when Fred got up on stage to dance and makes her more human and fun.

She is a Fantastic singer and seems to slip into one song after another without effort. This is no "robot" or "studio creation" or "staged" anything, but a Professional who has already several decades of onstage performing under her belt. She practically grew up on stage but many people don't know that. The reason why she sounds so perfect is because of hard work and practice--they spend hours rehearsing--and not some magic protools or computers. This DVD is just so enjoyable and I really regret missing that tour before I knew of her and became a fan.

And I also want to say that she is drop dead beautiful. I love her little mannerisms, facial expressions etc--its all part of her performance. The sound quality on my DVD is superb so I don't know about the other complaints. Somebody was actually complaining about her braids--I think they are beautiful. This same person was complaining about no costume changes--I guess he didn't watch the full concert because she has several changes. Anyways, what has her outfit got to do with the Music. I guess, even Shania cannot please every single person on this planet!

Buy this DVD and put it on and turn the volume way up and then Party. You will always feel uplifted. Shania Makes My Day! August 8, 2006

Shania Is The Greatest!

I have all of Shania albums and DVD's. imho, she is the greatest female performer of all time, especially in the live concert arena. She gets her audience emotionally and physically involved in the show(i.e. having children come up on stage to sing or dance with her as in her UP! DVD).

If you watch DVD's of her concerts you will see that her fans range in age from pre-teen to really old folk's! I'm 61 years old, so I make up the latter category.

Songs like "From This Moment On" and "Forever And For Always" will "live" forever as classic's of great music by a world class artist. She's a knockout babe, writes her own music with her husband, and can sing/strut her stuff.

Her critics, especially in Nashville, are just jealous of her talent and success worldwide. No matter that she junp-started interest in country music when country was losing audience share(sales of albums) before her entrance in the mid-90's. She has been repeatedly denied top awards because of this bias against her (cause she's from Canada??) by the Nashville good olde boys. They promoted and awarded Gretchen Wilson after her first album, no matter that Shania's album sales are moocho higher than both men and women country singers. Only Garth could compete with her in live concerts.

When she didn't go on tour after her first album(Woman In Me), her critics said she couldn't sing live cause her music was too studio enhanced...WRONG, DEAD WRONG!! Millions of fans ain't wrong cause they opened their wallets to buy her records. Her "Come On Over" album is in the top ten of best selling albums of ALL TIME! So dear critic's - take a valium, get a life or just find someone else to find fault with cause the rest of the world has tuned you out. January 26, 2006

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