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Shania show reshapes equestrian park
Lynn Saxberg, Ottawa Citizen More from Lynn Saxberg, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: June 11, 2015
Last Updated: June 11, 2015 4:45 PM EDT
Shania Twain performed her first Canadian date at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Shania Twain performed her first Canadian date at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Mark van Manen / PNG
Shania Twain will play to more people in Ottawa on June 27 than any other single night on her Rock This Country tour, organizers said Thursday as they presented a plan to deal with the volume of traffic that will stream to the newly redeveloped Wesley Clover Parks site.
Up to 25,000 people are expected at the concert, the only outdoor performance of Twain’s summer’s tour. According to concert promoter Andre Hudon, president and CEO of Donald K. Donald, it’s also the only show on the Canadian leg of the tour that’s not sold out.
Sharing the bill are classic-rock stalwarts the Doobie Brothers, American country duo Dan + Shay and Alberta’s Wes Mack. Tickets range from $89.50 to $179.50, on sale through capitaltickets.ca. Selling especially quickly, promoters said, are the higher-priced VIP tickets, which give access to reserved seats in two temporary grandstands flanking the stage. Gates open at 2 p.m.; the music runs from 4-11 p.m.
Although it’s the first major concert to be held at the former Nepean National Equestrian Centre, located north of Bells Corners in west-end Ottawa, organizers are working hard to avoid traffic chaos. Corkstown Road will be closed to regular traffic, and on-site parking will be limited to VIPs, media and the disabled. Everyone else will be directed to off-site parking at two nearby locations. Canadian Tire Centre has room for 6,500 cars ($20 at the gate) while Nortel’s former Carling campus can accommodate another 2,000 vehicles ($15 pre-paid, on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, June 12 at capitaltickets.ca). Shuttle buses will ferry concertgoers from the parking lots to the concert site. If you don’t want to drive, there is on-site parking for bicycles, or OC Transpo is available.
The 500-acre property, owned by the National Capital Commission, is leased to the Wesley Clover Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by high-tech mogul Terry Matthews. His daughter, Karen Sparks, is the park’s executive director.
About $3.5 million has been spent to upgrade the equestrian facility and groom it as a concert site, said Sparks. The amount includes renovations to the barns and access roads, as well as environmental and archaeological assessments of the area where the stage pad is being constructed.
The concert itself requires more than $1 million in production costs, excluding Twain’s fee, said Ottawa concert promoter Ken Craig, who’s on the facility’s board of directors and is producing the concert for AEG Live. He added that 90 per cent of the money spent will be injected into the local economy by hiring area contractors.
Twain, who’s sold more than 75 million albums and is considered the biggest-selling country female artist in history, kicked off the tour, her first in more than a decade, in Seattle on June 5, sporting thigh-high boots and a newly blonde shade of hair. Backed by a seven-piece band, the 49-year-old queen of country-pop commanded a production that boasted fireworks, lasers, dry ice and a dazzling lighting display. The setlist was packed with hits, including Man! I Feel Like a Woman, That Don’t Impress Me Much and Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?, to name a few.
The Canadian leg of the tour began in Vancouver June 7 is making its way across the Prairies and into Southern Ontario before arriving in Ottawa. The June 27 concert will be Twain’s first in the nation’s capital since 2003, the same year she hosted the Juno Awards.
Twain is calling it her farewell tour, although she has also indicated that she will be releasing new music this year. Her last studio effort was 2002’s Up!.
Because of the size of the show there are some rules being imposed by organizers.
• There will be no readmission/no in and out of the concert grounds once admitted
The following items WILL NOT be permitted on site:
⦁ Alcoholic beverages (brought from outside)
⦁ Glass bottles and cans
⦁ Illegal Drugs and drug paraphernalia
⦁ Chairs of any kind
⦁ Food and beverages from outside of the site (unless with medical note)
⦁ Umbrellas
⦁ Video and audio recording equipment
⦁ Professional photo equipment (SLR cameras, i.e. removable lens cameras)
⦁ Rigid thermos, coolers or other hard plastic containers
⦁ Large backpacks (camping style)
⦁ Tents, megaphones, weapons or fireworks
⦁ Inflatables such as beach balls and balloons.
⦁ Skateboards and bicycles
⦁ Animals (except Seeing Eye dogs)
⦁ Items intended for sale/promotion. Illegal merchandise of any description
⦁ Banners, flags (no poles) or anything bigger than letter size
⦁ Laser pointers, flashlights, glow (fluorescent) sticks, etc.
The following items will be admitted on site:
⦁ Raincoat / poncho
⦁ Small beach towels, small back packs and bags/purses (Note: all bags will be searched)
⦁ Lighters/cigarettes
⦁ Bottled water (1 litre maximum). It must be sealed
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