“You’re getting a bit of a different show tonight” announced Texas’ Sharleen Spiteri to the bands St David’s Hall audience on Tuesday evening “ because it’s the 25th anniversary”.
To me, this was my first attendance at a Texas concert; I’d longed to see the band live for several years. This concert was therefore quite a treat, with Sharleen opening up with a solo acoustic rendition of the bands most recent hit Start a Family before been joined on stage for a bluegrass tinged rendition of Texas debut hit I Don’t Want a Lover.
Between tracks Sharleen shared stories behind some of the bands songs including working with Serge Gainsbourg and TLC producer Dallas Austin (where she broke into a stunning brief rendition of the hit Waterfalls). With frequent audience interaction and at one point making an 8 year old fans evening by posing with her for a selfie Sharleen clearly loved the audience as much as they loved her.
With such a fronts person as Sharleen Spiteri it could be easy to overlook the rest of the band, but they were just as prominent in driving forward the evening’s music and getting the audience out of their seats with electrifying accompaniment on classic hits Black Eyed Boy, In a Lifetime and Say What You Want aided by a fabulous brass section.
There was also a performance of two tracks from Sharleen’s much overlooked solo album Melody, a release which was personal to her but not out of place at a Texas concert, indeed the renditions of Stop! I Don't Love You Anymore and All The Times I Cried were both welcome and enjoyable.
25 years of Texas it may be, but the music still sounds as fresh as ever, here’s to the next 25 years!
- A version of this review by Andy Howells appeared in the South Wales Argus entertainment supplement The Guide on May 8, 2015.
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