Concert review
Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 25 March 2001
By Ethan Fung

Last sunday, 4000 people attended texas concert in the Heineken Music Hall, near the Amsterdam Arena. The building, officially opened 3 weeks ago, has silver coloured platings on the outside and has a very rectangular architecture. Inside the building, you'll find multiple mirrors lining up the walls. Soft, simple colours were applied to the walls as well.

The concert hall was painted totally standard black. Two level of seats were available in the back and two bars (situated sideways) were opened at that time. Two widescreens were placed on the sideways. Although the concert hall was relatively new, many dutch national artists (eg Marco Borsato) have already praised it for its excellent acoustics. (I wonder what Texas thought of it?)

THE NIGHT OF GLORY
7.00 PM : Arrived at Heineken Music Hall Concert wasn't going to start til 8.00 PM wandered around, people selling the Greatest Hits tourbook. Texas Merchandise, wow, it's pretty expensive... does the band get a share of it? (Funny thought: Sharleen counting stacks of coins with a big smile on her face. :)) Anyway, purchased (brightly red coloured) beanie hat..

8.00 PM : Hall is filling up with people now, I got a place somewhere near middle-left... gives me a good view of the stage. (provided no super tall man/woman is going to stand in front of me.) People smoking.. consuming alcohol.. (cough) Good question: should people be disallowed to smoke during (or before) a performance? I'm pretty sure I'm the only one wearing this weird brighty red-coloured beanie hat.

8.05 PM : REEF, our support-act of the evening, comes on stage. Poor guys, I give them credit for giving it a try.. but pooh.. the crowd hardly becomes enthusiastic. applauds are rare.. :( (except the moment they were leaving the stage.. :P)

8.50 PM : REEF left the stage... everything needs to be cleaned up, a break of 15 minutes. (The floor is turning into a cup/cigarettes filled ocean.) People starting to drink and smoke (again) Since I got here all by my own, I got into a chat with the girl next to me.

9.15 PM : Lights get turned out... TEXAS COMES ON! (singing: In demand) Sharleen wears a light-blue blouse and black trousers.. she doesn't look tired at all. Some people are jumping up & down, the crowd still needs to get warmed up.. Shar begins to speak: "Hello Amsterdam..."

HIGHLIGHTS
- Texas performed live on stage:
In demand, Black eyed boy, Put your arms around me, Insane, Inner smile, I don't want a lover, compilation of songs (eg TLC), Halo, In our lifetime, Say What you Want (TADAA!!!!), Prayer for you, Guitar song and many many more...
- Shar indicates that Ally really needs his hair cut.
- Someone of the audience throws a CD on the platform, yelling "Shar, Suck my c##k!!" Sharleen gets back to him later..
- Shar tells something about her touring-anecdotes, being recognised by the bus-driver as Elvis! (plus the assumption that anyone wearing pyjamas in the early mornings outside must be a member of a popgroup or something like that.)
- The victim who yelled at Shar gets on stage.
Shar:"Did you yell at me "suck my c##k"??" (holding mike under the guys face)
Victim: No answer
Shar:"Tell me, have you ever had a girl doing that for you?"
Victim: No answer (again!)
(later...) "Can I go now??"
Shar says "you can tell if a man's good in bed, by the way he dances.."
Shar dances with the guy, shows some daring moves, backing vocals joins in.. wow, that guy is having a great time. :P
Shar: (later) I'm getting too old for this...
- Ally shows his buttocks to the audience.. the letters texas were put on his pants. Shar makes fun of Ally.. saying: "maybe you can have your share of c##k later too.."
- Sharleen yells: "Does anyone remember the year 1989?"
Of course, we do... because that year, we all didn't "want a lover". Smile! :)
- The audience explodes when texas (Sharleen wearing her Elvis suit) performes Inner Smile.
- Shar lets the people sing "Say What You Want" (gosh, we sounded so ugly sometimes.. hehe! :))
- I'm sure I missed a lot of funny stuff, everything happened really fast.. I'm just glad I retained some of those moments.
Overall, it was a superb experience. I couldn't get enough of Texas, I jumped, freaked out, gave everything (200%). (I was completely dehydrated at the end.) Shar was very warm, talkative and she's been nice to us. (she's got a funny scottish accent!) Too bad I couldn't get an autograph from the group, maybe I'll have more luck next time. That's right.. I can't wait for their next concert in the Netherlands. Texas Forever.

Ethan Fung
echan79@hotmail.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I've only been a texas fan for 2 months and to be honest, I disliked Sharleen (a little) in the past. When their smash- single "Say What you Want" was released in the year 1997, I was only 16 yrs old and at that time, I thought the single was a little bit monotoneous.. a bit bland. Plus the fact that whenever I saw Texas on tele, they were always (bad luck?) performing that song again.. "oh man, not =that= song again?? :P"

Two months ago, everything changed. For some unexplicable reason, I went to my local record store and purchased their "old" (my first) album White On Blonde, I must have been in a zombie-esque state of mind. :) It was magic.. I never realized Shar could manipulate her voice in so many different ways. (Be it blues, rock or pop.)

It wasn't long before I bought some other albums as well and it's quite evident that each album has its own style and flair. (One of my favourite album is Mothers Heaven.) I seem to enjoy listening to it more and more everyday. I knew I had to attend their concert someday... and that day finally came! :)


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