On The Road

The first date on Shania Twain's 'Come On Over' Tour was the Sudbury Community Arena on Friday May 29, 1998. The day before, when everyone else was worrying themselves into a frenzy Shania drove out to Hanmer. She stopped by Proulx Court, took a stroll along the trail she once walked to go skating on Onwatin Lake and on a whim dropped in on her old school Redwood Acres. It was lunchtime and she happily chatted to the stunned kids and had her photograph taken.

In the minds of the media and the Nashville music industry Shania's refusal to go on the road had taken on a ridiculous significance. She had always known that she could deliver live but being Shania she had left nothing to chance. Failure was not an option. To Shania record sales were just numbers, not personal like the Fan Appreciation Days. "I haven't had the opportunity to feel the audience's response," she said. "There's a void for me and I want to see people respond to my music, live. Just to get out there and just, I don't know, vent. Just get out there and physically put myself into my music... I can't wait for it."

Once she had made the decision not to go out until she could headline Shania started formulating the plans for her stage show. She drew on everything she had learnt. The big Pink Floyd and Rush shows she had loved as a teenager, the pure showbiz Vegas glitz that Deerhurst had hinted at, the touches of intimacy that were so important to a country audience. Aware that if she used too many hydraulic sets and special effects the critics would once again accuse her of hiding behind technology she resolved to focus on "lights, sound and performance."

Just as she does with her videos Shania came up with the basic concepts for the show and then found the best men to sculpt them in reality. Her manager Jon Landau, who loves to get involved in conceptual planning was an essential sounding board. Along with Jon came another Springsteen veteran Tour Director George Travis . Travis' last three projects had been world tours for Bruce, Madonna and Mariah Carey, representing a wide cross section of diva demands, complex staging and sheer stamina. Shania spared no expense and gave him carte blanche to hire the best, most experienced people. The show used the very latest technology, revolving treadmills, the video screen was a prototype built in China, all state of the art equipment. She and the band might have been big stage virgins but the guys behind the scene knew how to make the Pope rock.