When the Glaswegian pop/rock band Texas came to Liverpool, there was a distinct air of excitement! This was a sold-out concert, with tickets being exchanged at extortionately ‘silly prices’ as many fans wanted to see the group that took Glastonbury 2024 by storm, earning them a whole new legion of followers.
Following an impressive 30-minute opening set by KT Tunstall, a spoken word moment (an excerpt from the film Paris, Texas, from which the band’s name derives) introduced The Very Best of Texas show in the music capital of the world. As a massive stage curtain dropped, the band stood in front of a Texas canyon range displayed across the enormous stage, and the familiar guitar pickings of the breakthrough 1989 hit, I Don’t Want a Lover, flooded the venue. Sharleen Spiteri emerged from the side of the stage in a glittery black suit, belting through one of the band’s most successful and distinctive career highlights.
Over 30 years into a career littered with hit records and sold-out tours, you would think Texas had little left to accomplish. However, this fervent new popularity signalled a tour to end all greatest hits tours.
Sharleen Spiteri was formidable, unapologetic, and charmingly foul-mouthed throughout the gig. She strutted and pouted her way through all the hits, punctuating each significant guitar riff with her trademark head toss and fringe blow. She is the real deal! The band were at ease on stage, chatting and joking with each other and sharing tour anecdotes that made these global phenomenons feel like part of our own families. It must be lovely to tour with immediate and extended close family and have so much fun while doing it. This camaraderie oozed through Spiteri’s performance, as her brother-in-law and lead guitarist, Tony McGovern, was constantly on the receiving end of her banter. She even cajoled him into attempting a trick taught to the band by The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins: kicking, flicking, and catching a guitar pick, which McGovern had only managed in the dressing room, never on stage. Spiteri gloated as she skilfully pulled it off on stage, much to the crowd’s delight.
During the gaps between tracks, Spiteri talked about her family, their escapades, and the joys of being a parent to her now grown-up children who still live at home. She announced to the 12,500-strong crowd that she was going to ‘surprise’ her children by insisting the tour bus take her directly back to London rather than to a nearby hotel, so she could party with her children’s friends. She joked that this would be much to their disgust, but it was her house, and that’s what she was going to do. How could you not want a mum as effortlessly cool as Spiteri? I suppose if you’ve grown up with it, you might have a different perspective.
Texas’ frontwoman effortlessly demonstrated her ability to entertain the enormous crowd, never fazed as she belted out hit after hit behind her glistening lime-green acoustic guitar.
As the night drew to an unfortunate end (no one in the arena was ready to leave), the encore came around. Spiteri re-emerged on stage, wearing the famous leather suit from the Inner Smile music video, and the band dove straight into the supercharged anthem as images of the band over the years were cast on the screen. The crowd was then treated to a closing cover of the appropriately chosen Mark James/Elvis hit, Suspicious Minds.
Setlist:
Encore:
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