Judging by the security barriers, cowboy boots, soggy stetsons and harried security outside this neighbourhood boozer, it’s not just another Saturday at The Shacklewell Arms. Last night the 200-capacity Dalston pub hosted Irish garage-punk band Sprints. A few days before that, up-and-coming DIY Australian folkies Any Young Mechanic.
This rainy evening’s turn, though, has sold 100 million albums and is the best-selling country-pop artist of all time. Her last London show was headlining BST Hyde Park in summer 2024. She’s warming up for her next London gig, six days hence: the start of a 12-date stand supporting Harry Styles at Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 fans nightly.
So, yeah and indeed yee-haw: it’s fair to say that Shania Twain is downsizing by playing this vibey but, well, grimy East London grassroots venue. But slumming it? Hells no: this is the kind of bar in which the 60-year-old Canadian superstar started her career at the ripe young age of eight – and chaotic gigs like this are the wellspring of the distant but cherished memories that have animated her back-to-basics, upcoming seventh album, Little Miss Twain.
