It may have been three years late but it was well worth the wait as Texas arrived in Bournemouth to celebrate 30 years since the release of their 1989 debut album Southside.
Tonight’s show was split into two halves, the first half sees the band playing Southside in its entirety with Sharlene introducing themselves as Texas, the support act with Texas coming in the second half.
This first half was a very much stripped back affair to generate a more intimate environment akin to recording and rehearsing.
It worked pretty well and did indeed seem to reduce the gap between the band and the audience.
The show started with arguably the most recognisable song I Don’t Want a Lover followed by Tell Me Why, Everyday Now and the rest of the ‘Southside’ album.
Texas are a band that thrive on crowd interaction which was evident as Sharleen Spiteri chatted with the audience right from the start.
Spotting two empty seats in the front row it was like the opening of a comedy gig.
To my joy she also spotted them arriving late and wandering round looking for their seats.
It’s hard to believe the songs originally came from an album released back in 1989 as they still sounded so fresh.
A great support slot where Sharlene also shared the bands experiences of making a record that took them from relative obscurity to where they are today.
The second half of the gig was a different affair with a full-on light show and a set list of greatest hits.
After encouraging the crowd to their feet, they launched straight into Halo and Summer Son which went down a storm.
From that moment on the hits just kept on coming with Inner Smile, In Demand, Once in a Lifetime and Say What You Want joined by a cover of the Orange Juice classic Rip It Up.
Sharlene kept the interaction with the crowd going throughout the second half with an impromptu photo opportunity and later dedicating Unbelievable to the NHS and key workers for their efforts throughout the covid pandemic.
The show ended with an encore that consisted of the second outing of I Don’t Want a Lover, Black Eyed Boy and an excellent cover of Elvis' Suspicious Minds.
An excellent night of songs delivered by a band that are still at the top of their game and as exciting today as they were over thirty years ago when they were first starting out.
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