So far this year, I've posted about a gig from 1981 (my first ever, with City), one from 1991 (Pet Shop Boys - Performance), so now I'm going to post about a gig from 2001 when I went to see Texas at Wembley Arena in London. The first Texas single I had bought was their very first, "I Don't Want A Lover" back in 1989. They didn't have much luck with their next two albums, but they were back in the charts with their fourth one. This time was different, however because they had just issued their Greatest Hits album and they had embarked on a Greatest Hits tour? What better chance to see them, then, eh?|
I arrived at Wembley (the arena, not the stadium) just in time to see the support act Semisonic which were actually very good. They had already had a hit with "Secret Smile", but their new - at that time - single, "Chemistry" was even better!
Texas came up next, with, as expected a Greatest Hits setlist. This included all three new songs from the compilation album, because, yes, even though it was a Greatest Hits album, it contained three new songs: "In Demand" which had been released as a single before the album, "Inner Smile" which was being released just as their UK tour was taking place, and "Guitar Song" which featured a sample of "Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus)" and was never released as a single, the record company preferring to release a remix of "I Don't Want A Lover" instead. "Inner Smile" in particular featured Sharleen dressed as Elvis in the video, and that's how she appeared on stage for the first encore to perform it. And she kept her Elvis gear on for the next song which was a cover of "Suspicious Minds".
Finally, although the year was 2001, it featured a very 2010's moment. Sharleen invited one fan from the first rows on stage with the band and what was the first thing he did? He took a camera out and took a selfie with her! It wasn't even a digital camera, so he'd probably have to wait until the following day to see if the photo had come out alright.
Meanwhile, while doing my research for this gig, I only managed to find a single tiny photo from Wembley, and even that is from the previous day's gig. However one day while going through things in a drawer I discovered my ticket! And although there aren't any videos from that gig, a few months later they filmed their gig in Paris and along with their music videos they released it as a DVD calling it "Texas Paris" (as in the movie "Paris Texas", get it?). They even released a new album this year, 2021, so it seems that there is actually a future for them. Let's hope so...
I arrived at Wembley (the arena, not the stadium) just in time to see the support act Semisonic which were actually very good. They had already had a hit with "Secret Smile", but their new - at that time - single, "Chemistry" was even better!
Texas came up next, with, as expected a Greatest Hits setlist. This included all three new songs from the compilation album, because, yes, even though it was a Greatest Hits album, it contained three new songs: "In Demand" which had been released as a single before the album, "Inner Smile" which was being released just as their UK tour was taking place, and "Guitar Song" which featured a sample of "Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus)" and was never released as a single, the record company preferring to release a remix of "I Don't Want A Lover" instead. "Inner Smile" in particular featured Sharleen dressed as Elvis in the video, and that's how she appeared on stage for the first encore to perform it. And she kept her Elvis gear on for the next song which was a cover of "Suspicious Minds".
Finally, although the year was 2001, it featured a very 2010's moment. Sharleen invited one fan from the first rows on stage with the band and what was the first thing he did? He took a camera out and took a selfie with her! It wasn't even a digital camera, so he'd probably have to wait until the following day to see if the photo had come out alright.
Meanwhile, while doing my research for this gig, I only managed to find a single tiny photo from Wembley, and even that is from the previous day's gig. However one day while going through things in a drawer I discovered my ticket! And although there aren't any videos from that gig, a few months later they filmed their gig in Paris and along with their music videos they released it as a DVD calling it "Texas Paris" (as in the movie "Paris Texas", get it?). They even released a new album this year, 2021, so it seems that there is actually a future for them. Let's hope so...
SETLIST:
01. In Demand
02. Black Eyed Boy
03. Halo
04. In Our Lifetime
05. Guitar Song
06. Insane
07. Tired Of Being Alone
08. Pull Up To The Bumper
09. Put Your Arms Around Me
10. Prayer For You
11. I Don't Want A Lover
12. When We Are Together
13. Summer Son
Encore 1:
14. Inner Smile
15. Suspicious Mind (Elvis Presley cover, lyrics)
Encore 2:
16. Say What You Want
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