Texas

Carlisle Racecourse
Carlisle
2nd July 2011

Texas Go To The Races...

by wendavey on 6th March 2013 14:33

The Carlisle set was largely a greatest hits jukebox – and Texas have plenty of hit songs to make this tactic work. Opening with “I Don’t Want A Lover” it was clear that the Carlisle crowd – having soaked up several hours worth of both sun and alcohol – were in a mood to party and Texas were happy to provide the perfect soundtrack for the evening. Spiteri is an excellent front person able to chat with the crowd, joke with band members and was easily able to keep the crowd on side when some early technical problems threatened the smooth running of the performance. She combines a great sense of humour with a flirtiness that both sexes find attractive, and can swear like a navvy when the mood takes her.

“Halo”, “Everyday Now”, “In Our Lifetime” all followed before a surprise inclusion of “Sleep” – before which Spiteri remembered the video shoot with Peter Kay for the song and in which she “got some uniform action”. A new song “The Conversation” bodes well for the planned recording of a new album later this year and when Spiteri and McErlaine pulled up a couple of chairs to sit and perform Al Green’s “So Tired of Being Alone” a collective hush descended. The opening bars of “Summer Son” quickly got the crowd jumping again though and “Black Eyed Boy” and “Say What You Want” completed a triple whammy of non-stop singing and dancing for the crowd.

A terrific encore of “Inner Smile” had the crowd literally bouncing in ecstasy, and the evening’s final song, a cover of “Suspicious Minds” was a rousing way to round off a perfect summer’s evening. It’s been too long since Texas graced UK stages and the promise of a new album will hopefully lead to a new tour to promote it. Both can’t come soon enough on this evidence.