Texas Colston Hall Review
Posted on: 2017-10-07
Our rating:
This was an extremely upbeat night that was full of nostalgia, banter and laughter and we are all holding Texas to the fact that they promised to do another tour next year.
If there was an award for the most charismatic, engaging lead singer in a band going - Sharleen Spiteri from Scottish pop rock group Texas would be an obvious contender. She had the audience at the Bristol Colston Hall in hysterics last night as her strong personality came across with each interaction in-between all the hits they were churning out for the excited, packed crowd.
Texas have been around for over 30 years now and our city welcomed them with open arms as they took to the stage at 8.30pm and did a fast-paced set list (no interval) for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes.
They have sold over 35 million records, have had three number one albums, seven top ten albums and thirteen top ten singles but they continue to be one of the most humble musical acts around. Sharleen constantly told the gig goers that they were so grateful for the support from all of the fans over the years and it felt genuine when she said they love every time they get to perform on a stage: "Performing to you feels even sweeter after all this time."
It was genuinely heart-warming to see the mixed age range of people in the audience, all dancing and singing along at every opportunity - and the excitement was infectious in the room, especially when they performed their well known hits including 'Summer Son', 'In Demand', 'I Don't Want a Lover' and 'Black Eyed Boy.' My personal favourite though was their version of Al Green's 'Tired of being Alone' - it was spine-tingling special and music to my ears.
The comradery on stage between Sharleen and her keyboardist Michael has to get a well deserved mention because it had everyone in stitches; we found out about his love for performing 'Inner Smile' on karaoke, his smooth moves with the ladies and the fact that he made the mistake of calling Sharleen a feminist when actually she is a woman and that is that.
Sharleen said: "He pushes his luck on stage and then will always say sorry when we're off stage....he needs to know that he will forever be a boy and not a man." Their duo act just added to this fantastic night of entertainment.
But something that really set this gig apart from the many that grace the stages in Bristol is the fact that Sharleen spread her inspiration to the people of our city in a way that will be remembered. She picked up on the fact that there were some youngsters in the crowd and got two teenagers on stage when she heard they did gymnastics on a Saturday. She asked them to perform some moves and when they shyly said they didn't think they were as good as she was making them out to be, Sharleen told them to be more sure of themselves and aim to be the best that they can be.
When she saw a nine year old in the audience, she also quipped: "I don't know what your parents are teaching you, hopefully not to speak like I speak but hopefully they say that whatever you do in life, you should do it with passion. If you're going to do something, do it 100% or not at all."
I felt like we really learnt so much about Texas' leading star throughout this show - we found out she is nearly 50 and how she feels about that, her negative thoughts about Strictly Dancing and how she will never take part, the fact that her daughter sounds like Mary Poppins with her perfect English even though her mum is Scottish and her dad is Welsh and we learnt that Justin Bieber has a separate tour bus for his dog and its trainer. Yes you read that right...
You could feel the genuine disappointment when the night was coming to an end but the band offered the usual encore and the crowd went crazy when they ended on 'Inner Smile' and then their version of Elvis' 'Suspicious Minds'.
This was an extremely upbeat night that was full of nostalgia, banter and laughter and we are all holding Texas to the fact that they promised to do another tour next year. Even if you are not necessarily a big fan of their music, it is so worth catching them when they next come to Bristol because the comedy alone will make it worth while.
Their 9th studio album Jump on Board is out now.
Article by:
Kelly worked as a journalist for the BBC for 12 years before she changed careers and went into the field of marketing. Having worked at BBC 6 Music for several years, she is passionate about many different genres of sound. Her other interests include theatre, comedy, books, food and days out with the family (she has a young daughter who she describes as a "whirlwind of fun.") Kelly is married to Vik who is a true Bristolian to the core! She is also studying nutritional therapy.
