Shania Twain says playing a tiny London show was “relieving her youth” – when she sang country songs on stage as a child.
The global star, 60, played to a crowd of just 200 lucky fans a The Shacklewell Arms on Saturday night, with songs from the set including smash hits like ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ and ‘You’re Still The One’. The return to a bar stage for the first time in decades was a full-circle moment for Shania and an emotional return to her roots.
Reminiscing on her early days of playing in bars as a child on stage Shania said “They would say ‘Welcome to the stage, little miss Twain’ and that was me! And I would sing my little country songs and little did I know I would be all the way over here.” She later added: ”I’m so happy to be here and be reliving some of my youth”
View 5 ImagesShania has been singing on stage since she was just a kid.
Posting on Facebook before the show, Shania showed snaps of her as a child performing and had said: “I actually swore to never play covers again once I signed my record deal but tonight I’m putting together a ‘trip down memory lane’ set for some fans who are coming to join me at The Shacklewell Arms. Hopefully I’ll have less stage fright tonight but please sing as loud as you can with me just incase.”
There was no stage fright for Shania and she included incredible covers of ‘The Gambler’ and ‘Cotton Eye Joe’. The set also contained the first live rendition of her latest single Dirty Rosie taken from her forthcoming new album Little Miss Twain.
5View 5 ImagesShania seemed to love playing at The Shacklewell Arms (Image: Meg McCaw)
5View 5 ImagesShania played guitar at the small venue(Image: Meg McCaw)
She told the audience: “This next album of mine is called Little Miss Twain and it’s all based on my life before I got my record contract. And I only got signed in Nashville, Tennessee, when I was in my late 20s so this was a long build up. I promise you I was playing these very same kind of bars all those years from the age of 8 years old to my late 20s and little miss twain was trying to become a recording artist. The rest of the story is on the album, you’ll have to listen to the album.”
Marking what she describes as her most personal work, in a hallowed career of acclaimed albums, classic hits, and over 100 million albums sold worldwide, Little Miss Twain is a return to Shania’s roots.
Next week, Shania will take to the stage for her biggest shows yet, in support of Harry Styles ’ sold out 12-night run at Wembley Stadium, followed by a special headline performance at Limerick City’s Thomond Park Stadium in Ireland.
With six acclaimed studio albums and more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, Twain remains the top-selling female country-pop artist of all time.
View 5 ImagesA crowd of just 200 people managed to see Shania at her most intimate show in years(Image: Meg McCaw)
After decade-long break from releasing new music, Twain made a triumphant return with Now in September 2017, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making it the first female country release in more than three years to top the all-genre chart. The album’s success was followed by her year-long, sold-out Now World Tour. In 2021, Twain launched her second Las Vegas residency, “Let’s Go!”, which sold out completely and ran through September 2022.
Shania released her sixth full-length album, Queen of Me, on February 3, 2023 which received glowing reviews.
In April 2023, she kicked off her sold-out global Queen of Me Tour, which ran through November 2023 and ranked among the Top 10 highest-grossing country tours of the year. In 2024, Twain returned to Las Vegas for her third sold-out residency, “Come On Over!”, which concluded with a grand finale in February 2025.
FULL SET LIST from The Shacklewell Arms: Dirty Rosie, Any Man Of Mine, Come On Over, No One Needs To Know, The Gambler (Cover), Still The One, That Don’t Impress Me Much, I’m Gonna Getcha Good, Cotton Eye Joe (Cover) .
* Shania’s new album Little Miss Twain is released on July 24.
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