Texas roll back the years in style; 35 of them to be exact. Support comes from fellow Scot; the brilliant KT Tunstall.
KT TUNSTALL
KT Tunstall – personally chosen by Sharleen Spiteri to join Texas on tour – is delighted to be in Liverpool tonight supporting her fellow Scots.
She opens the show with I Am The Pilot, and Dear Shadow, before performing a duet, with her onstage musical partner Andy Burrows (the drummer from Razorlight), of Otherside of the World / America. Having realised that the two songs worked well together they decided to turn it into a duet and a minor music battle ensued – which Tunstall obviously wins. Burrows mostly plays guitar tonight, but he’s clearly a talented multi-instrumentalist and he does play drums on a couple of tracks. Tunstall also uses some clever looping to provide extra backing vocals and additional backing music.
THE QUEEN OF SCOTLAND
Tunstall pays tribute to Annie Lennox who she dubs “The Queen of Scotland” – by covering Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), and also to the Bangles with a cover of Walk Like An Egyptian.
She tells a story of her first experiences of performing in America… she was touring bookshops and found that her fans were quite often dressed in workout clothes. She asked a lady why, only to be told that her “Songs were a big hit with the Jazzercise ladies!”
Black Horse And The Cherry Tree, and Suddenly I See, are hits with the Merseyside audience who have already filled the arena. Tunstall thanks everyone for turning up early to watch her.
Credit: Kate Green via GETTY
TEXAS
In between sets a large curtain is hung in front of the stage. When Sharleen Spiteri walks out onto stage she is dramatically silhouetted. The curtain falls and the band tear through I Don’t Want A Lover. Massive hits such as this are highlighted by the fact that Spiteri is not only singing but playing her sparkling green Gretsch G6120THR guitar, which looks and sounds incredible.
“Fucking hell! Liverpool on a Saturday night! I’ve never been so happy in my life,” says Spiteri. And it feels like she means it. She’s on form tonight – I’m sure she is on form at every gig – but she says this feels special. “I’m so glad to be here in Liverpool because you get my sarcasm, thank God,” she says.
For anyone who doesn’t already know it, she tells the audience that Texas are celebrating 35 years of making music. The big chords of Halo and Everyday Now ring around the M&S Bank Arena – which sits on the banks of the mighty Mersey river next to the Royal Albert Docks. The audience goes wild with cheers and applause. “It’s actually closer to 40 years since we initially formed the band,” says Spiteri with a nod to her long time bandmate, collaborator, and lead guitarist Tony McGovern – who also happens to be her brother-in-law. Whistles and cheers come from the audience. “You’re gonna make me emotional. But I love it, you can do that all night.”
THE SOUND OF TEXAS
In Our Lifetime is another big hit before Spiteri takes a seat next to the keyboardist to play keys on a cover of Al Green’s Tired of Being Alone, which Spiteri tells us was “Part of the reason for the sound of Texas becoming more soulful.” It shows. To be honest, it very much feels like Tired Of Being Alone could have been written by Spiteri and McGovern.
The audience quickly get into the idea that they haven’t only come to listen to music. They’ve come to hear Spiteri ruminate on life – something for which she makes no apologies. In between songs she jokes about her age and her daughter having a birthday party this evening. She advises the audience “Not to have children.” Before roaring with laughter, anticipating that child services will be checking in with her. “It’s a fucking joke! – Get over it!”
Spiteri is a truly charismatic and enigmatic lead singer – undeniably the voice of Texas. She’s also the heart and soul of the band. It would be fair to say that she is probably the matriarchal, dictatorial – but lovable – boss of Texas. She is clearly in charge, but I don’t think the rest of the band mind too much. she’s obviously led them through 35 plus years of success. And she is a down-to-earth Glaswegian with limitless humour and talent.
ENDLESS ENERGY
In a sparkling black suit, Spiteri looks stunning (and later in the evening a tight leather jacket and trousers which she says she hasn’t worn for about 20 years – but says that she is pleased still fits her). Seemingly full of endless energy she screams and whoops in delight throughout the show.
The Same allows Spiteri to showcase her amazing voice. She tells a story about when she sang and lost her voice and was not allowed to speak for three months. Evidently Spiteri has always been somewhat loquacious – she quips that the rest of the band were initially relieved that she couldn’t speak. Until they remembered that she was the voice of the band and their careers were under threat!
In Demand, Black Eyed Boy, and Say What You Want close out the main set. Spiteri jokes about the inevitable encore. Which naturally is the crowd-pleaser Inner Smile. Having slipped effortlessly back into the aforementioned black leather Elvis suit (made for her by Gucci for the Inner Smile video) Spiteri ends the show with a fantastic cover of Suspicious Minds.
Take a listen to the Texas classic, I Don’t Want A Lover and reacquaint yourself with a genuine hit.
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