The University of Dundee to the OVO Hydro in Glasgow is quite a trip geographically and musically but Charlene Spiteri and her band worked their little socks off and a world tour ended with two nights at the cavernous arena.
Of course, between the 1988 gig in Dundee and two nights in September at the Hydro there was world success….Shed loads of big hits and albums and tours and parent hood and…. You get the picture…
Tonight was the first of the two nights finale and spare tickets were like hen’s teeth so let’s have look at how it went…
SPOILER ALERT!!
It was bloody superb!
Kicking off the night was the mega talented KT Tunstall and tonight she has a very special guest helping out. Andy Burrows of Razorlight is stamping out some beats to give the set some added oomph! He also turned his hand(s) to a bit of guitar and a wee bit of singing; indeed the duo treated us to a KT Razorlight mashup!
Some would say that a singer stuck behind a microphone stand and the other band member sitting behind a drum kit wasn’t the most exciting spectacle and, on some occasions, they would be correct. However this did work and they were a cracking partnership!
The verdict from the the huge crowd inside the auditorium?
The huge ovation during and after each song told it’s own story. Texas were going out to face a truly warmed up crowd in the not too distant future.
There wasn’t a spare seat to be had when main event began… the house lights lowered and the stage became bathed in a single huge spotlight shining on a massive piece of white cloth draped over the front of the stage… the drama was created by placing Tony McGovern in front of the light to create a Massive silhouette on the aforementioned white cloth.
The noisy welcome from the crowd grew in volume as the curtain dropped to reveal the band – minus Ms Spiteri obviously. Like most lead singers she was given her own fanfare as she strode onto her home town stage in front of her own people.
There could only be one opening song for tonight and their first big hit, ’I Don’t Want a Lover’, set the tone for the rest of the night. Resplendent in a glittery black suit with her trademark mop of black hair swinging as she owned that stage Sharleen was on it already.
So how did night one unfold?
Well, Texas brought us a little bit of rock; a little bit of roll and a little bit of Northern Soul and what was a truly epic homecoming.
Sharleen sang (obviously), played some guitar, played some piano and played some organ… not all at the same time!
She gave us some anecdotes regarding her “wee shite” of a daughter and how she has been ‘cancelled’ by the internet woke brigade for calling her daughter “a wee shite”… apparently the said internet warriors can “go f**k themselves”… seems fair!
Sharleen does need to mix up her expletives a wee bit though; she favours “fck” but there are loads of alternatives out there… report card says “must do better”!
The hits just came and came then came again; it was almost non stop bangers!
There was a short acoustic section to showcase her talent even more than the full band stuff. Tony and Cat Myers (on drums) joined Sharleen at parts during the acoustic slot but the highlight of the go to the bar or talk to your mates section was when Sharleen told the crowd to shut up. Well, what she actually said was “Sssshhhh; Can you no see there’s a wummin on stage trying to sing a f**kin acoustic song?”
An acoustic breakdown mid show can sometimes kill a set but this was class and consisted of
“Put Your Arms Around Me”
“Sleep” and
“In Demand”
There were singalongs which brought about possibly the loudest crowd participation the Hydro has ever heard; it was very impressive!
“Say What You Want” brought about the encore break before “Inner Smile” and the Mark James cover “Suspicious Minds” brought the curtain down on the penultimate night.
This was a damned good show by a band on the final straight of their tour and one can only assume that night two was at least as good.
As the Glasgow might say to Sharleen… “well done hen; yer a wee smasher so ye are” and I don’t think anyone could disagree.
Review and Photographs by John Brown Photography
