Shania Twain, Talk, Dillon James & Carolina East
August 17, 2024
Churchill Park, St. John’s, NL
Photo Credit: Tara Thompson
The Churchill Park Music Festival kicked off its second weekend with a fantastic lineup, with headliner Shania Twain featured for all three shows. Saturday, August 17th, the second show of the three-night extravaganza featured Carolina East, Dillion James, and Talk, before Shania Twain hit the stage.
First up for the night was Carolina East, a multi-award-winning country singer hailing from Newfoundland and Labrador. Her musical influences, from soul to country to pop, shine throughout her performances.
East released her full-length debut album, Soaked in Whisky, in 2021. According to her website, this album boasts “a collection of songs about love, happiness, heartbreak, and loss. Songs that are as honest, vulnerable, and relatable as the singer herself”.
East did a mixture of original tunes, along with some well-known cover songs. Her powerful vocals shone during her rendition of ‘Simply The Best’ and ‘Strawberry Wine’. I have yet to meet anyone who does not like ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ and will belt out the lyrics along with a recorded or live version of this song.
East’s songs seem to have a meaning behind them. One track she said was a song for anyone going through something. Another, a cover of ‘Go Rest High On That Mountain’, was a special song to her as it was one dedicated to her Grandmother. She mentioned that this is a song she always includes.
Each time I see Carolina East I am always blown away by her vocals, stage presence, and her original tracks. If you get the chance, seeing her perform live is a must.
Next up was Dillon James, a singer-songwriter hailing from Bakersfield, California. Living in an area with a unique blend of music, James began playing guitar at the age of 10. This aided in him developing his own unique sound; a combination of country and rock tied together with powerful lyrical storytelling. This led to him working in both the music and film industry as both a singer-songwriter and actor.
Many know James from his stint on American Idol, where he told the story of his downward spiral into substance abuse and homelessness. Rising from this turbulent point in his life, James rose to achieve his lifelong dream of solidifying his title as a singer-songwriter.
James’ set started with ‘Walking Man’, his major label debut song. This song details the trials and tribulations that he faced on his rise from homelessness to now as confirmed by the lyrics “From a dead man walking to a walking man livin’”. Sung with such emotion, you can almost feel what he went through during these times.
James also played two unreleased tracks for the audience. ‘Broken Soul’ and ‘Rare Breed’, both with catchy, memorable tunes. The meaningful lyrics could definitely speak to the masses, as their relatable messages shone through. ‘Why Whiskey Why’ was a more upbeat tune, one that left you wanting to tap and sing along. James also sang a cover of ‘Simple Man’, originally by Lynyrd Skynyrd, asking the audience to help him sing along. The audience did not disappoint, as James’ powerful vocals rang out with such emotion.
Dillion James finished off his set with ‘River Black’, the title track from his debut EP which was released in July. He explained that this song came after a vivid dream about being baptized. This left him awake in the middle of the night and from this ‘River Black’ was born. This emotion-felt tune left the audience wanting more. The track is one that is meant to be sung along to. With a powerful voice, emotional lyrics, and contagious stage energy I am sure this will not be the last time we will hear from Dillon James.
Talk, a singer-songwriter and musician from Ottawa, Canada entered the stage dressed as a replica of the Newfoundland Flag. With the shapes and colours sewn into his overalls, complete with a Newfoundland flag tied as a cape. This caused an uproar from the audience, as Newfoundlanders tend to have a certain pride about where they are from. We later learned that his girlfriend created this outfit for him. What a creative way to captivate the audience. Even before the first note hit, Talk made sure that this would be a set to remember.
Talk started his set with ‘Fall for You’, a track from his first album, Lord of the Flies & Birds & Bees, released in October 2023. This catchy song caused the audience to cheer and dance along. Talk also sang other singles released from this album including ‘A Little Bit Happy’, a song that he explained he wrote for his girlfriend, triggering all the feels. This track was nominated Single of the Year at the 2024 Juno Awards. He did win Breakthrough Artist of the Year, an award definitely deserved.
Talk’s gimmick during his set is a Croc kick, during which he kicks one of his Crocs into the audience. According to Talk, this has become known worldwide. I mean, we’ve always seen t-shirts, drumsticks, and guitar picks, but Crocs is a new one to me. Definitely memorable!
‘How Long’, is an emotion-felt song that speaks to anyone who may be hiding things they are going through in their lives, evident through the lyrics “How long, how long, how long am I gonna have to wait to tell the truth”. Other songs performed included ‘Train’, ‘Hollywood’, and ‘Afraid of the Dark’, all songs with catchy melodies that you could listen to time and time again.
Talk treated the audience to a medley of Wolfmother’s ‘Joker and the Thief’, Foo Fighters ‘Everlong’, and Jimmy Eat World’s ‘The Middle’. These three tracks flowed together smoothly and helped to capture the attention of those who may not have known who Talk was before the night.
Talk also covered Radiohead’s ‘Creep’. This was a surprise to me as it is not the type of music I expected to hear during his show. However, his rendition of ‘Creep’ was absolutely amazing. Along with his powerful vocals, he held the audience in the palm of his hand as they sang along to the chorus.
One of his last songs of the night has been played on the radio airways for some time now. It is said that Talk wrote ‘Run Away to Mars’ overnight after watching the film Interstellar. This song was released in June 2021 as his debut single and was followed up with his debut EP Talk to Me in November of the same year. This hit, one of the songs that introduced me to Talk, later reached number one on Billboard’s Adult Alternative chart. He finished off his set with what he dubbed as one of the hardest songs on Guitar Hero, ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ by DragonForce. As he sang this track, he held what looked like a Guitar Hero guitar and rocked out. I can honestly say this set did not disappoint and I am looking forward to seeing Talk again sometime in the future.
Finally, it was time for Shania Twain, the one who brought the masses to Churchill Park. She entered the stage, sparkling, as she began with ‘Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)’. The audience erupted into cheers, as this is what many of them had been waiting for the entire night. Even those in the chair section rose to their feet to dance along to the opening number.
The audience was treated to a mixture of new and old tracks. From her earlier days, and one of the first albums I remember, Twain sang ‘Any Man of Mine’ from her second studio album The Woman in Me (1995). She also broke out into a little acoustic version of a part of the title track from this album, ‘The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You)’, stating it had been a while since she performed this. ‘Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?’, the first single from this album, was also played along with ‘You Win My Love’.
Twain’s third album, Come on Over (1997), is actually recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest-selling studio album by a female solo artist. What an amazing accomplishment. Hits from this album included ‘Come On Over’, ‘Honey, I’m Home’, ‘You’re Still The One’, ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’, ‘From This Moment On’, and ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!’.
Other earlier hits included ‘Up’, ‘I’m Gonna Getcha Good!’ and ‘Forever and for Always’. Another hit, ‘Party for Two’, was played with Lindsey Ell completing the duet. Ell, who plays as a part of the backing band, had her own set during the Friday night show and I have heard nothing but amazing things about it.
Twain entertained us with various stories and antics. One of the ones that stood out the most was about a friendship she made in Newfoundland all those years ago as she invited her friend of over 40 years on stage for a mini-reunion. This was such a heart-warming experience that I am so glad she shared it with the audience.
Keeping with the trend of inviting people on stage, Twain invited two men on stage who claimed they knew the lyrics to ‘From This Moment On’. The two excitedly entered the stage and tried their best to belt out the lyrics of the song with Twain. I am sure this is not a moment they will soon forget. Twain continued with the song once the men had their moment to shine.
Twain also performed some of her recent tracks from her sixth studio album, Queen of Me, released in 2023. These included ‘Waking Up Dreaming’ and ‘Giddy Up!’. It is such an amazing experience to see how far she has come from her early days and after a hiatus for a number of years.
Twain finished up her set with two fan-favourite hits. First up was (If You’re Not in It For Love) I’m Outta Here!’, followed up by ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!’ This song earned Twain her second Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. As the fans cheered and sang along, this was the perfect duo to end the night.
Shania Twain has created a pretty impressive career for herself. This Canadian singer-songwriter has been performing in some capacity since the early 1990s. She has sold over 100 million records, solidifying the title of one of the best-selling music artists of all time and the best-selling female artist in country music history. We were very lucky to have her performing here on one of her only Canadian dates this year. For those interested, she can be found in her third Las Vegas residency, Shania Twain: Come On Over – The Las Vegas Residency – All The Hits! At Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino running from May to December 2024.
