TEXAS – BRIGHTON CENTRE 11.3.22
The haunting sound of a slide guitar from the title track of ‘Southside’, introduces the Brighton Centre audience to the start of the Texas concert.
The band came on stage, sat down and began with the first track from their debut 1989 No.3 UK hit album ‘Southside’, that being ’I Don’t Want A Lover’. Sharleen Spiteri, the band’s incredible singer, demanded some banter with the sell-out crowd and it was clear she was going to tell the audience exactly what she thought. Sometimes she was a potty-mouthed Glaswegian, but it was always in fun and filled with warmth for her loyal fans. If she had not had such an amazing voice she could have easily been a stand-up comedian.
Album anniversary tours seem to come and go and some bands maybe, should not have bothered. Texas though really hit the sweet spot! They sat down for the entire first section, performing the ‘Southside’ album virtually in its full running order – ‘Tell Me Why’, ‘Everyday Now’, ‘Prayer For You’ and so on. In between each song, Sharleen talked about making their first album and the issues they had with the record company. It took three attempts to make the album, two different producers failed until Tim Palmer came on the scene. At one point the record company had almost given up, and then ‘I Don’t Want A Lover’ hit No.8 in the UK singles charts.
All went to plan until the intro to ‘Fool For Love’ when Tony McGovern broke a string. The performance in this first half was tame compared with what fans had come to expect. Sharleen made it clear that the first set was the support band ‘Texas’ and that after the interval the main act ‘Texas’ would be on! ‘Future Is Promises’ finished off this part before the interval.
The Second half of the show started with Sharleen Spiteri, telling the crowd “Come on, Brighton, we need to party, get up off your arses”. It was time to see the Texas that the fans loved. The band were alive and Sharleen was all over the stage jumping and dancing as she sang. The band ran through their newer tunes, ‘Hi’, ‘Unbelievable’, ‘Mr Haze’, from their last album, ‘Hi‘, (their tenth) which surfaced via BMG on 28th May 2021.
She paused for a moment to praise all the key workers who had given so much during the pandemic to make our lives safer. She dedicated ‘Unbelievable’ to all of them.
It was time for the encore, three of the best, a reprise version of ‘I Don’t Want A Lover’, followed by ‘Black Eyed Boy’ finishing with ‘Suspicious Minds’. An amazing concert and with 24 songs performed a real ‘tour de force’ which will be remembered by the audience for some time to come.
Tour Band Members:
Sharleen Spiteri – Singer & Guitar
Johnny Mc Elhone – Bass Guitar
Eddie Campbell – Keyboard & vocals
Tony McGovern – Guitar & vocals
Cat Myers -Drums
Texas setlist 1: (from 1989 ‘Southside’ album)
(Intro) ‘Southside’
‘I Don’t Want A Lover’
‘Tell Me Why’
‘Everyday Now’
‘Prayer For You’
‘Faith’
‘Thrill Has Gone’
‘Fight The Feeling’
‘Fool For Love’
‘One Choice’
‘Future Is Promises’
Texas setlist 2: (Hits+)
‘Halo’
‘Summer Son’
‘Hi’
‘In Our Lifetime’
‘You Can Call Me’
‘Let’s Work It Out’
‘When We Are Together’
‘Unbelievable’
‘In Demand’
‘Mr Haze’
‘Inner Smile’
‘Say What You Want’
(encore)
‘I Don’t Want A Lover’
‘Black Eyed Boy’
‘Suspicious Minds’
For further information on Texas, visit www.texas.uk.com
