King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow - 14 July 2005
from The Evening Post

TEXAS only needed to show up last night to send their hometown crowd away happy.

In the event, they did much more - giving the King Tuts' audience an exclusive airing of tracks from their forthcoming album, Red Book.

Before this gig Sharleen Spiteri promised it would be "a special night" for the 300 or so fans, who won their tickets in a draw, but it is a very special song that sends an entire audience into shivers on hearing it for the first time.

That's just what we got with the opening track, Dallas (What About Us).
The wise money says it'll be a fixture on the radio in the coming months.
Fresh-faced, Sharleen looked more than ever like one of Peter Pan's lost children.

Taking to the stage with a cup of tea and a yawn, she indulged in banter with the crowd - "Who cut my hair? I used to be a hairdresser I'll have you know" - but her performance was anything but casual. The new album is being touted as a sort of White On Blonde Part II and, with 2006 marking the band's 20th year, the cynical view might be they are priming us for a greatest hits package.

Last night's evidence would suggest the new material stands up well enough on its own.
Get Away, due for release as a single in August, is typically radio-friendly.
The piano-driven riff and sassy refrain should see it storm the charts.

The biggest cheers came for all-time favourites Halo and Black-eyed Boy, while Inner Smile and Say What You Want reminded everyone that Texas have written some of the downright nicest songs in pop. Sharleen was effectively the face of Live8 in Scotland. With a theatre tour planned this autumn and an arena tour in 2006, we will be seeing much more of it.



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