AUSTIN -- While it may have been about two decades since she rose to the top of the charts with hit after hit, you never would have guessed it if you saw her on the Shania NOW tour.
Everyone's favorite Canadian queen of county, Shania Twain, made a pit stop in Austin Thursday night at the Frank Erwin Center, and Austin welcomed her with open arms. There were cowboy hats and cheetah prints galore, an homage to her "That Don't Impress Me Much" days.
But the fans weren't the only ones who brought it out. At 52, you might expect Mrs. Twain to have simmered down in the performance department. That was not the case Thursday night.
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In between performances of hits like "Man! I Feel Like a Woman," "Any Man of Mine," and "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under," Twain brought choreography, stunts, dancers, multiple costume changes, a transforming stage, and even flew across the crowd on a floating guitar case.
Despite all the theatrics, she also took the time to get intimate with fans -- from opening the show by walking down the stairs through the crowd to choosing a handful of fans to meet and take selfies with her on stage.
One of those fans was Kyle Fuchsia, 27, who wasn't hard to spot in the crowd because of his cheetah-print shirt and shiny sombrero.
ME AND SHANIA R GETTING WASTED RN LOL #shanianow
A post shared by Kyle Fuchsia (@vaqueero) on
"I love your hat," Shania said as she plucked him from the crowd after singing "You're Still the One."
That was perfect timing according to Fuchsia, as that song means a lot to he and his partner of several years, Stevie Dees, who was there at the show with him.
"We both grew up in rural Texas, and I think she was such a good outlet for us as young gay men, giving us a prerogative to have a little fun," Fuchsia told KVUE after the show.
And that infamous hat that caught Shania's eye? He made it himself.
"I knew I had to wear cheetah print, of course, and I seize any opportunity to wear that hat out," said Fuchsia, adding that he's worn it to see the Dixie Chicks and Dolly Parton too. "Every stone was hand-placed. It's my inherent responsibility and privilege to turn it out for these amazing country women."
Another lucky -- and newer -- fan was 26-year-old Rene Zamora, who was called on stage along with his friend, Kayla Lopez. He said he first started listening to Shania Twain in 2014 after adding her to his county music playlist.
"I felt nostalgic and downloaded all of her albums," Zamora said. "I then did some research and her story of perseverance really inspired me. I saw her in 2015 at the Frank Erwin Center and got a selfie there ... I never thought I'd have the opportunity to go on stage three years later!"
While Twain last put out a hit record in 2002 ("Up!"), shes's been back in action recently. She released her latest album ("Now") in 2017, and has made recent TV appearances on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," Comedy Central's "Broad City" and VH1's "RuPaul's Drag Race."
The U.S. leg of her tour ends on August 4 in Las Vegas before she embarks on a global tour to close out the year.
