Out in front of the Pyramid Stage, the air is thick with dust, like a cattle trail in full swing. Pink and rainbow cowboy hats are everywhere, flags as jam packed as a herd being driven to market across a Texan plain. Just what Shania Twain will make of flags for Luton Town FC, TV meerkats and Bass bitter is anyone’s guess.
Floating in wearing a cloud of pink chiffon, Twain is here in the legend slot, pioneered by the likes of Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, cemented more recently in Pyramid lore by Dolly Parton, Barry Gibb and Kylie. Can the queen of country elect hold her own in such regal company?
More than perhaps any other similar artist, Twain’s country pop carries a genuine message of female empowerment. As she repeatedly tells the audience, before tunes such as (If You’re Not In It For Love) I’m Outta Here! and especially Any Man Of Mine, the songs are about them, she’s just the one singing them. Except she’s not: from start to finish choruses are belted out by a crowd strongly weighted in numbers towards the female, stretching to the horizon and kicking up even more dust as mass dosey doe-ing breaks out all over.
The arena-sized show may be slick - not as intergalactically turbo-charged as Coldplay the night before but still massively choreographed - Twain is genuinely emotional, repeatedly gushing about how overwhelmed she is.
“Most of my shows are at night, but I can see every one of you right to the back, and it’s beautiful!”
When she spots a couple in Shania masks near the front, she seems shocked that anybody would bother, the middle-aged couple delighted and touched to be singled out. When Twain confesses to having been wandering around the site the previous night, there’s a collective gasp from the audience, dismayed not to have spotted her.
Again, Twain is effusive about the festival.
“All the communities here, this really is a city. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I really do treasure it. It’s life changing.” Who’d figured Shania Twain would feel Glastonbury so deeply?
Hit after hit of slick rock and tender ballads, most with that underlying message (well, not so much syrupy wedding vow croon From This Moment On), she carries the crowd right along with her to the end.
Predictably that end is Man! I Feel Like A Woman!, the cattle drive turns into a stampede, and for a glorious moment the biggest festival in the world hosts the biggest hen party in the world. Legend!
Setlist
That Don’t Impress Me Much
Don’t Be Stupid
You Win My Love
Up!
I’m Gonna Getcha Good
You’re Still The One
Forever And For Always
Come On Over
Any Man Of Mine
Giddy Up!
Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under
Honey, I’m Home
From This Moment On
(If You’re Not In It For Love) I’m Outta Here!
Man! I Feel Like A Woman!
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Picture: Samir Hussain/Getty