Concert review
Patinoire de Mériadeck, Bordeaux, France - 24 April 2001
by Emma

I discovered Texas in 1996 as I stayed in England for one year.
There, they made a come back on ''tops of the pops'' with their brand new album White on Blonde. But when I saw them during their last tour: whaoo!

Back to Bordeaux, it's 7pm, we arrive at Mériadeck!
As we wait for the group, Meriadeck is moving with the ''olas'' started in the arena. Then we call out the group for a long time. Sharleen must have not been very far since as the gig is on, she asked "hey what's this?'' as she mimes one ''ola''.

Around 8.30, a group called Irene Bo comes on stage . They have won a contest organized by the radio station NRJ. They try their best to warm up but I don't think we really need that. Something special is in the air. We know that tonight is THE last show of the tour. And we are longing to see them after waiting for so long. The gig had been delayed from the 2nd to the 24th of april. Finally, Irene BO stops and thanks us...

Later come the waiting again, the ''olas'', the ''texas, texas'' chants by the crowd, the techincians who get the stage and instruments ready, joke with us, take picture of one another : they are so great ! At 9.15 Zero Zero starts. The thin veil on which is screened an ocean falls at last...

Texas are right in front of us ... "In demand" follows, then "Black eyed boy" ... Sharleen is clearing her throat and says "my throat is a bit sore", oops, we fear for the rest of the show ‘‘ohhhh’’, but there won't be one moment disappointing...

She is simply the greatest!!! Even if she often returns to her bottle of water and that she looks derisively at us like "Hey, can't you get off me 2 minutes?'' to which we answer back ‘’oohhh’’as soon. She is as delighted as we are by this little game...

She often favours us with a ‘’thank you my friends’’ or she teases us with a sensual voice. She tries a few words in French, the famous moment when a taxi driver recognizes her and says ‘’I know who you are: you are Elvis!!!'' Her scottish accent is so delightful!!!

The song ‘’tired of being alone’’ has a special echo tonight, Sharleen is reminding us that it's the last gig, everybody shouts: disagreement? regret? : ‘’noooo’’... She confides that they are going back home later in the evening and tells how much it's difficult to be far from one's relatives but Bordeaux is so dear to her, her grandfather lived there. We all agree ‘‘yeahhhh’’...

Then comes the time when she picks up someone to join her on stage!!! He is a native of Toulouse who is at first booed by the Bordeaux crowd. ''Hey, no matter where you come from'', retorts Sharleen... After the incident in Birmingham , she probably thought she had come across a quiet guy , she indeed asks him if the girl he protects from the pressure of the crowd is his daughter. He answers she isn't . Sharleen seems miles away, she took him for a wise father , he won't disappoint her... So much that she passes him on her ‘’girls’’. She teases him. He has wandering hands all over her body so she can hardly going on singing and contain him at the same time... The chorists then play with him...
Still very comfortable the guy goes as far as lifting them up off the ground, each coiled in one arm ... Strong... Sharleen has a pout of surprise and bursts out laughing, so do the girls...

Then we listen to the accoustic version of ‘’So in love with you’’. When you know that her throat is sore, you can imagine the feat... ‘‘Sharleen we’re so in love with you’’ someone calls out "naaah" she anwers and everybody adds "yesssss". Her little game, still...

It's Ally's turn, she makes fun of the only sentence he knows after going out with a french girls for 2 years ‘’May I have a bear please?'' She fondles the X in Texas written on his ‘’ass’’ which she favours with a dearly slap and ‘’ you have a nice bum’’.

We feel the end of the show is close and she says that if we make much noise they may go on all night long . After that it's "Inner smile" in her ELVIS appearance ‘’yeah’’ ‘’yeah ‘’, ‘‘Say what you want’’ , we try our best singing but it's over...

Sharleen leaves the stage and waves a ''no next call'' as she leaves the stage... We can see their buses ready for the journey back and we're looking forward to the next tour... Sharleen is always close to us, she never plays the‘‘star’’ though they all ''worth it'' and that 's really moving... She has such a fascinating voice. She has the gift to sing any kind of tune... You seldom hear that...

In short, we want more... But even the best things have an end...
Thanks Sharleen...Thanks Texas...
For everything you give... For everything you are...
Emma


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