Texas at the 100 Club

Judging by the queue outside the 100 Club, Texas’s comeback after 8 years of silence has been a long awaited one. Last Monday, the band performed a short showcase in front of some lucky fans (only 75 tickets were made available for the London gig) to promote their new album The Conversation, which will be released on 20^th May.

It took a while to really take off but, as soon as it did, the concert got better and better. They started with Detroit City, a song from the upcoming record, which was perhaps not the best choice, as it resulted in a luke-warm reception from the audience. Probably sensing this, the next track Halo was a safer haven: the crowd were thrilled and the feel-good atmosphere began to gain ground. However, it was immediately followed by another new song If This Isn’t Real, which had difficulty in stirring much excitement.

Credit for uplifting spirits must be given to lead vocalist Sharleen Spiteri who was able to entertain and joke with the crowd. Texas’ frontwoman has aged numerically over the course of their records, but not in spirit. Spiteri did her best to encourage the audience to show their enthusiasm, which they eventually did, especially during the performance of classic hits such as Summer Son or Black Eyed Boy.

Closing on the notes of big favourites such as Say What You Want and Inner Smile couldn’t be any more predictable and obviously led the gig to a climax. This was only surpassed by a canny encore of another famous song I Don’t Want a Lover and a brilliant rendition of Ike and Tina Turner’s River Deep, Mountain High.

To sum up, the concert was merely a short preview of what to expect from Texas’ upcoming live shows. While it, of course, featured their big hits, there was also space for the band’s new songs. Texas are good musicians, able to play many different genres such as blues, funk or pop rock and they always please the crowd. In addition, Spiteri’s voice can range from raucous to screams without problem. Hats off and welcome back to Texas!

Rita Vicinanza

For further information and future events visit Texas’s website here.

Watch the video for The Conversation here: