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Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium has finished its biggest concert year to date with a ''brilliant'' performance by country pop star Shania Twain.

The Canadian singer pulled a crowd of 18,000 to the stadium for a collection of her best-known hits and newer songs on Saturday night.

Dunedin Venues chief executive Terry Davies was full of praise for her performance and the behaviour of the crowd.

''It was a terrific atmosphere.''

A police spokeswoman reported the crowd was ''a very civilised bunch'' and well behaved.

Just one arrest was made - a fan who was first evicted for disorderly behaviour inside the stadium, then arrested after they ''kept trying to get back in''.

 Shania Twain performs on Saturday night. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
Shania Twain performs on Saturday night. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery

The concert also marked the end of a stellar year for Forsyth Barr Stadium, which has hosted eight major concerts and pulled in more than 200,000 fans - many of them from outside the city - since the start of January.

The biggest were three mammoth shows by pop superstar Ed Sheeran, but there were also performances by Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders, Roger Waters, Robbie Williams and Pink.

The economic return looked set to be worth $60 million for the city's economy, which was a ''phenomenal'' result, he said.

''It's been a huge effort from the team.''

Fans were also full of praise for Saturday night's show, as many took to Facebook to express their joy afterwards.

''It's been a dream for 20 [years] to see Shania and she didn't disappoint. Fantastic,'' one fan said.

''Fantastic show, enjoyed every minute of it. The sound was amazing. Shania is still the one!'' said another.

Information published on the Pollstar website last week ranked Dunedin's stadium 42nd in the world for ticket sales in 2018.

That put it just two spots below Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium and ahead of the likes of the Tokyo Dome in Japan and Old Trafford Cricket Ground in England, which was ''not a bad effort'' for a city of Dunedin's size, Mr Davies said.

chris.morris@odt.co.nz

Comments

Before we get too excited on its best year yet- did the stadium earn enough net margin to pay for the interest on the loans and cash used to build the stadium? Answer: No. And that is before depreciation and maintenance costs.

 

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