THE FLC OF AN MLG BEGAN A VISUAL APCH TO THE WRONG ARPT AT NIGHT. WHEN THEY DID NOT INTERCEPT THE LOC WHILE ON FINAL; THEY REALIZED THAT IT WAS THE WRONG ARPT AND THEN OBTAINED THE APCH CTLR'S ASSISTANCE TO THE DEST.

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ZFW SWITCHED US TO SHREVEPORT APCH CTL PASSING THROUGH 17000 FT. WE RPTED IN WITH ATIS AND ALT CLRED TO; AND WE RECEIVED CLRNC AT SOME POINT TO DSND AT PLT'S DISCRETION TO 3000 FT. OUR FLT PLAN RTE FROM THIS POINT WAS EIC DIRECT SHV. I ADVISED THE FO I WOULD BE OFF RADIO TO CONTACT OUR OPS TO GIVE ETA AND RECEIVE GATE ASSIGNMENT. WHEN I JOINED THE FO BACK INTO THE 'LOOP' WE WERE CLOSE TO EIC VOR. HE ASKED ME WHAT WE WERE EXPECTED TO DO ONCE WE CROSSED THE VOR. (WE HAD NOT RECEIVED ANY HDG AFTER EIC FOR VECTORS TO RWY 14 APCH COURSE). I ASKED APCH FOR INSTRUCTIONS AND HE CAME BACK WITH 'MAINTAIN PRESENT HDG.' I WAS A LITTLE BEHIND IN REGAINING MY POS AWARENESS FROM BEING OFF FREQ. (THERE IS NO NAVAID WITH AZIMUTH OR DME CLOSE TO OR ON THE FIELD). WE HAD BRIEFED THE RWY 14 ILS APCH AND HAD ILS FREQ AND ADF TUNED AND IDENTED. FO HAD NOT BEEN TO SHV BEFORE AND HAD PICKED OUT A ROTATING BEACON HE BELIEVED TO BE SHV ARPT. WE BOTH PICKED UP THE ROTATING BEACON AND NOW SAW THE RWY LIGHTS. HE ASKED IF THAT WAS THE ARPT. THE ADF BEARING NEEDLE WAS POINTING TO THE RIGHT PLACE FOR WHAT I PERCEIVED TO BE THE OM FOR RWY 14; THE LINEUP AT THE RWY LOOKED APPROPRIATE; AND THE CDI WAS OFF-SCALE TO THE R WITH NO FLAGS. IT LOOKED RIGHT. I RPTED TO APCH THAT WE 'HAD THE ARPT' AND HE CLRED US FOR THE VISUAL. WE WERE AT 3000 FT MSL. THE FO CALLED FOR FLAPS AND GEAR TO GET DOWN ON A PROPER GS FOR THE RWY WE SAW; AND STARTED A L TURN TO LINE UP. AS WE LINED UP ON THE RWY THE CDI WAS STILL DISPLACED TO R. I REALIZED WE HAD MISIDENTED THE ARPT. WE WERE AT APPROX 1800 FT MSL. I TOLD SHV LCL OF OUR ERROR AND HE CLRED US TO CLB TO 2000 FT AND TURN TO 210 DEGS; WHICH WE DID. WE ENTERED A L BASE FOR RWY 14 AT SHV AND MADE AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG. THE APCH CTLR'S PROCS IN NOT STATING HDG FOR VECTORS AND RELEASING US FROM HIS CTL WHEN WE WERE APPROX 15 MI FROM ARPT; AT 3000 FT MSL; CONTRIBUTED. THERE WAS NO POSSIBLE WAY WE COULD HAVE SEEN THE PROPER ARPT. MY NON FAMILIARITY WITH THE ARPT (I HAD BEEN THERE ON TWO OTHER OCCASIONS; BOTH IN DAYLIGHT) ALSO WAS A FACTOR. WE DEBRIEFED AND CRITIQUED OUR ACTIONS. WE WILL BE MUCH MORE INSISTENT ABOUT GETTING PROPER ATC HANDLING IN THE FUTURE. ON AN EARLIER TRIP TO SHV I WAS CLRED FOR A VISUAL APCH WITHOUT MY TELLING ATC THAT WE 'HAD THE ARPT.' I ASKED FOR A POINT-OUT TO THE ARPT AND INSTEAD RECEIVED A LECTURE ABOUT HOW THE VISIBILITY WAS 7 MI AND I SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THE ARPT.