In the Shacklewell Arms in east London, the usual crowd of hipsters and indie music fans had been replaced by a throng dressed in leopard print, double denim and cowboy hats. The night’s headliner: Shania Twain. “We thought we might have been scammed when we saw the ticket announcement,” said Jack, 28, who came with his sister Amy. “Why would she do a pub this small?”
There was a collective sense of disbelief among the lucky 200 ticketholders that they were about to see the bestselling country artist singing in a dingy back room. Best friends Emma, 26, and Ava, 28, thought it was “so rogue” to see Twain in the pub that used to be their local. The Shacklewell Arms had been turned into an old-school saloon for the night, complete with a wall of complimentary cowboy hats and bandanas. Fans travelled from across the UK for the once-in-a-lifetime gig. Nathan, 35, from Scotland, covered in old merch, was there to see her for the eighth time. “Why is she doing this? I don’t care. I only usually get to see her in large concerts. So it’s special to see her up close and personal.”
“Shania Twain played an intimate 200-capacity pub gig in east London ahead of supporting Harry Styles at Wembley.”
Just minutes later, Twain bounded on stage and announced: “Shacklewell Arms! Here we go. Are you ready?” Then she launched into her new single, Dirty Rosie. Dressed in a black skin-tight bodysuit with matching boots, the 60-year-old Canadian superstar welcomed the audience “to [her] very first time in a small bar since [she] was a child”. “When I was a kid, I started on stages just like this,” said Twain. “They would say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage Little Miss Twain.’ And I would get up there and sing my country songs.”
For one hour, Twain was back to being a bar singer in a sweaty, cramped room, her four-fifths female band letting rip. Every song was punctuated by a quick anecdote. No One Needs to Know was written in the room at a golf resort where she worked. Come On Over was a “very weak album title”, but it represented the “inclusive, welcoming” feel she wanted. Pat Benatar’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot influenced Twain to write That Don’t Impress Me Much. The cosy atmosphere led Twain to ask about UK fan favourite songs. The crowd unanimously responded with When, a top 20 hit from Come On Over. So Twain dutifully treated the fans to a snippet.
Pulling up a stool and strapping on an acoustic guitar, she recalled her teenage self’s nights in front of tough crowds 52 years ago before playing Come on Over, the title track of 1997’s 40 million-selling third album. By way of introducing her version of The Gambler, she told the crowd about the heartthrob on her teenage bedroom wall, “one of my gods”, beardy Kenny Rogers. Then came You’re Still the One, sprouting a forest of phones, and a lusty singalong to That Don’t Impress Me Much.
The gig was a warm-up for her next London show, six days hence: the start of a 12-date stand supporting Harry Styles at Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 fans nightly. Her last London show was headlining BST Hyde Park in summer 2024. But here she was, reliving her youth in a grimy backroom, celebrating the gritty country rock and blues that formed her, as encapsulated in her gnarly new single Dirty Rosie. As one fan put it: “Man, I feel like a lottery-winner.”