Shania Twain 06/03/2004 - Resch Center - Green Bay, WI

If the sold out show at the Resch Center is any indication of Shania Twain's popularity, she will be around for a long time. The crowd of 10,019 was second only to when Elton John played here.

The opening band Emerson Drive did exactly what a good opening band should do: Keep things short but explosive, and pump the crowd up. Knowing they were unknowns to most in the crowd, they did a great job of playing several cover tunes to get the crowd singing along. They were definitely a country band, but they could really rock when needed.

"Are you ready, Green Bay?"

The crowd went wild with the sound of her voice and her silhouette on the stage. Shania Twain launched into one hit after another, only slowing down for a few ballads. Pulling from 3 albums worth of material, there was not one song that was a sleeper. She looked and sounded great, it was easy to see why she's as big as she is. Her band was tight and they gave off just as much energy as she did.

The round stage was set dead center in the Resch, giving any Def Leppard fan who saw them in the 80's major flashbacks. (Maybe influenced by Def Lep's legendary producer and Twain's husband Mutt Lange?) No matter where you were sitting, you had a great view. Shania surprised many when the house lights went out during the middle of the set, and then she was actually sitting in the crowd with an acoustic guitar! For the encore, Shania came out wearing a Packer jersey, which is the thing to do I guess whenever any band or performer comes to Green Bay. The use of pyro and confetti bombs at the end of the show was a perfect way to end an entertaining show.

I've heard several complaints that the show was not long enough. Although 90 minutes is not a long set by today's standard, they were the most entertaining 90 minutes I've had in some time.