As a child growing up, my family would go on a lot of camping trips. My Dad and I would put on old Shania CDs in the car and sing-along to songs like ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’, ‘(If You’re Not In It For Love) I’m Outta Here’ and ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman’.
And last Sunday (2 December), on my Dad’s 50th birthday, we got to sing along to all our old favourites together with around 20,000 of our closest friends at Adelaide's Botanic Park.
The five-time Grammy Award-winner and reigning Queen of Country Pop opened the show with ‘Life’s About To Get Good’ and ‘Come On Over’ before addressing the audience, thanking us for coming along to see her.
“As I was walking through the crowd I noticed that you all have coats and gloves on, but I’m from Canada [and] this is like a warm summer night in Canada. I definitely wouldn’t be wearing coats or gloves or hats and things. But as we start to warm up you’ll be peeling off all those layers.
Shania Twain - image © Sue Hedley
“It’s only going ‘Up!’ from here!” she screamed and everyone knew 2002’s ARIA #1 ‘Up!’ was heading our way.
The first of our favourites was ‘That Don't Impress Me Much’ complemented with a black and white leopard print backdrop, taking us right back to 1997.
Click here for more photos from the show.
‘Any Man of Mine’, ‘Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?’ and ‘(If You're Not in It For Love) I'm Outta Here!’ from 1995 are the same as age as me, and have all aged especially well. Everyone sang word for word showing their age and their love for this country-pop goddess; who by the way also does not appear to have aged a day.
After her sixth costume change for the evening she reappeared on a platform in the middle of the crowd with her acoustic guitar for ‘You're Still the One’; a song that could bring tears to a grown man’s eyes, and definitely had my dad singing along next to me.
‘Home Now and ‘More Fun’ were awesome additions to the set from her 2017 album and tour inspiration, ‘Now’. But it was definitely her late '90s and early 2000s work that the thousands of people in the park had paid to see. Of course, accompanied by her iconic country ‘yee-haws’ and cackles between songs.
Shania Twain - image © Sue Hedley
During the set, she often remarked how grateful she was to be here and how lovely the cool summer night was adding: “the best way to keep warm is to rock on!”
She pulled opening performer, Bastian Baker back out onto the stage for a bit of banter before asking him to join her for, ‘Party For Two’ and ‘Swingin' With My Eyes Closed’.
Her last song for the night and unofficial encore after her eighth and final costume change was, of course, her most famous song, ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman’. Everyone was on their feet, some even standing on their chairs for this final massive song.
A great finale that brought everyone together at the end of what was a mammoth night of country music.
