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So, as the tour comes down to an end, I would like to take this time to write on the experience I have gone through waiting for Shania to finally Come On Over to my side of town and share with us, her greatest work… The anticipation. The anticipation for the day you have been dying to arrive is the worst. It kills you inside as you desperately await its arrival. Its remarkable how one little thing that has been done for about one hundred seventy five times before just seems like, to you, the biggest thing and most important thing in the world. And when the day finally arrives, all you can do is think about it, and only about that and nothing else. Everything else just becomes a blur; it no longer exists. Well, that’s how I felt for a very long time, until last night: Sunday, December 5, 1999. You see, last night I went to, what I believe is, the greatest show that I have ever seen. For the first time, I saw my all time favorite artist; one that has gone through so much in her life that she deserves every bit of our respect. No, I’m talking about Madonna or Whitney Huston or Mariah Carey, but the one person that has gone through hell and back, "crawled over broken glass to get to where she is today." If you haven’t guess already, it’s the incredible, the one and only, Shania Twain. Ok, so it sounds over dramatic, but that’s how it is and that’s how I feel (don’t think I’m obsessed, because I know some other people who feel the same way). For the past two years or so, I’ve "fallen in love" with this incredible person (not in the sense of love as in marriage type, but as in an adoring, die hard fan type). I’ve learned as much as I possibly could about her, watching her on TV interviews, reading about her, searching the internet for more information, anything: you name it, I’ve probably done it. So I bought my tickets during mid October. And ever since then, it’s been non-stop Shania: following up on concert reviews, watching TV interviews, everything. The day finally came to her concert, and what was I doing? I was nervous and excited at the same time. What to take, what kind of film to buy, is the camera I’m taking too big to sneak in? Well, after figuring all that out, I finally got everything I needed. I packed a backpack with all my stuff and told my sister to get in the car. The concert was scheduled to begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. and I wanted to leave early from my house, like five or so because I lived an hour and a half away (driving from Miami to W. Palm Beach is no easy task). We arrived pretty early, making good time. I parked the car and got through the gates at around 6:45 p.m. The first thing my sister and I did was go to the restroom, when you gotta go, you gotta go (after all, the trip was pretty long). After, we stopped at the gift shop, where I was lucky enough to get one of the remaining t-shirts, extra large though. We found our seats and got ready. The music started right on the dot, 7:30 p.m. with Shane Minor as the opening act. He performed great songs, even though I never before have heard of him. He sang for about thirty minutes, and when he was through, stage crew cleared the stage. Another thirty minutes (now making it around 8:30 p.m.) passed and with no warning, the lights went out! Of course, we all knew what this meant. Everyone was up on his or her feet: screaming and clapping. With the adrenaline pumping, there was nothing that could stop the crowd at this moment. And with that, here came Shania, exciting and exquisite as always. She began with what everyone is now familiar with, Honey I’m Home: it suits her entrance just perfectly. Everyone was up and singing every lyric to her songs. It was like this for the entire length of the show, having two short breaks in between, allowing Shania and her band members to rest and to have a change of clothing. During her first break, she came out like the queen of the Nile, being carried on a platform held up by crewmembers around through the crowds, giving high-fives and touching hands en route. She returned to the stage to sing yet another handful of songs. Her last break was the longer of the two, about five minutes. This time, her band members also got a chance to change. During the break, the lights were still out, not allowing the audience to see the stage itself. And I’ve got say, the audience loves her, they did not sit down during the break, all were standing and cheering for Shania to return. She returned, of course, with another dose of songs to sing. During the first part of the show, her management team surprised her. Before the show even began, there was an audience member who seemed to stand out. We finally got a chance to see who it was, it was someone dressed in a rabbit costume! After Shania’s first song, a whole gang of animals came out: the rabbit, and I think four bears. So Shania brought them up on stage so that she could find out who these "guest stars" were. When they finally took of their masks, Shania went ballistic! She went running across the catwalk screaming: "I can’t believe it!!!" She finally calmed down and introduced to the audience who they were. They were her original opening act, Leahy, who had performed with her during her major part of the tour and hasn’t seen in the last couple of months. (The funniest part of the whole concert was a little later. While Shania was singing: Man I Feel Like A Woman, a group of people came out, four guys and one girl I think, I believe it was Shane Minor and his band just having fun. It doesn’t sound unusual, but wait, there’s more. Not only did they come out to dance, but they danced in women’s clothing, with wigs, and short skirts!) Everyone had a laugh at that, even Shania laughed during one of her verses, causing her to stop and catch up to where she was supposed to be. Not a bad show, entertainment was all around. A touching moment, I might add, occurred during a break in-between songs. She made a bet with one of her crew members that has been there for the entire two years of the tour. He let his hair grow for the entire time, not cutting it at all. The bet was, that if he let Shania cut six inches of his hair, she would donate one thousand dollars an inch to her favorite charity, Second Harvest Food Bank. So during the Tampa show, I believe, she cut off an entire six inches. This again happened during the show, cutting another six inches off of his hair, coming out to a total of twelve thousand dollars to her charity! That was great. The show, of course, had to end, with the song: (If You’re Not In It For Love) I’m outta here. It was a sad time for a lot of people, knowing that she might not tour again until 2001 (I have my doubts, but I’m hoping that she keeps her schedule and returns to us in Miami January 16, 2000 for one last show). She said her goodbyes and thanked everyone: the band, the crew, the management, and especially us, the fans. She said that without us, she wouldn’t be here, or something like that. She said her final goodbyes one more time with her band members along side of her and she walked off the stage for the last time this year. Its good to know that I was able to participate in this event, and come to think of it, it was her last concert of the millennium as well! Her concert is something I will cherish and never forget. I didn’t get a chance to meet her, but I know that the chance for that may be sometime in the future, so I’m not upset that I didn’t get to meet her in person. I just hope that my pictures come out so that I can actually see them! Kenny – The ChickenWing – Ching Member of the Shania Twain U.S. Online Fan Club Email: kennyc99@mediaone.net AOL IM: CHlKENWING
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