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by Heidi Filled with anticipation and excitement, my girlfriend and I left Copenhagen monday Oct. 10 to go to Manchester to see TEXAS live in concert!! During the day we raided every HMV shop in Manchester, for anything TEXAN….that we did´nt have……which was not much, but hey a girl has a right to shop, don`t you agree?! Anyway, finally it was time to go to the Apollo, we came around 17.30 (had to pick up our tickets at the boxoffice first)…..as we drove up, people were already standing in line, and we sort of ended up at the side of the building, at the curve. After waiting for about half and hour, a dark blue/black Mercedes turns the corner and honks its horn madly……guess who? YES our beloved Ms. Spiteri herself (and driver)!! She waved and smiled and people started running down the street to catch a glimpse of her. My girlfriend threw her camera at me and shouted: Off you go, which I did. There were quite a lot of people there (mainly girls/women), especially I remember this one women, she was sort of a modern punk-rock-chick kinda gal. She kept throwing herself at Sharleen, hugging and kissing her and that sort, finally I it was my turn…….I told her that I had come all the way from Copenhagen, Denmark……and she said something that pretty much sent me into a total shocker….she goes: I remember you from the airport !!! (Shar had been in Copenhagen from September 21 to 22, and I happened to find out when she was leaving and just happend to be there, and happend to have Getaway in my pocket, so I got it signed, but I was so "star-struck" that I couldn`t really say anything…….this would properly be a good time to tell you, that I just turned 35……but bare with me, cause when I had the age I was to shy…..but now…..35 is a wonderful age for being a "groupie" (or something like it), yeah? Back to Manchester, I got a great picture taken with Sharleen (and the reason why I´m not smiling) = in absolut shock! The concert: I ran in bought loads and loads of Texas merchandise, totally maxed my credit card out, but it was so worth it !!! We stood in the middel, around row 7 - 8, until Texas went on, then we were pushed up to row 5 (lucky for us, that they pushed the right way)! Robert Post, who was warm-up for Texas did a great job, actually really good music (I always feel sorry for the warm-up band, cause the audience often tend to want them over and done with, myself included), but Robert Post was good. FINALLY, this is what we came for, this is why I`m not on speeking terms with my bank-advisor, this is why I´m ignoring my knee-injury: TEXAS I saw Ally slip on stage and a mans voice (recorded), started talking as the guitar started on I Don`t want a lover. The rest of the band came out and the audience went mad!!! What an atmosphere, it was unbelieveable! I´m not quite sure about the setlist or rather in what order they came, but I think it was something like this: IDWAL, Halo, Can`t resist, In our lifetime, Getaway, Sleep (with Tony and very nice indeed), Nervermind (brilliant), When we are together, Black eyed boy and Summer Son and Inner Smile. Encore: In Demand (by this time, I swear, the roof of the Apollo had already lifted itself up a few times, I think the Apollo tilted after Black eyed boy), Shar, her voice was amazing and she is really, really good at getting the crowd to partipate, not that we needed much incouragement, like I mentioned, the audience went mad, jumping, singing (no wait, make that screaming at the top of their lungs). Then they did this absolutely "wicked" cover of Scissor Sisters: Take your mama! God, I love it when Sharleen just lets her voice out! What a treat!! Finally, yes all good comes to an end, but what an end: Say what you want! …..and we did: Again she had everyone in her palm. At one point, she sqauts down and askes everyone to sing quitely, very intense moment, beautiful, amazing, what more can I say?! After the "quiet version" of SWYW, the song took of and Sharleen had the Apollo waveing, while she was standing on the speakers or something, a great way to end a fantastic and amazing evening!!!! Again, please bare with me, about the setlist, it`s all kinda blurry, I`m still on cloud 9……After the concert, as a true "groupie"…..or just fan (like the sound of that better), I ran outside (right after meeting Dirk for the first time - a pleasure), I got a chance to talk briefly to Tony, who said that they would be in Denmark/Europe in Feb. 2006, so saddel up people and get ready, it´s only just begun!!!! As mentioned, it was an amazing concert, great venue. Texas seemed really taken by the audiences reaction towards them (hope they could tell that they had been missed). Ms. Spiteri was her good old self, very chatterbox-ish (she`s actually quite funny), pulled a guy from the audience up (he threw his knickers up on stage, the knickers ended up with Michael, but that`s a whole different story). Sharleens voice is amazing and one can only admire her energy, I`m sure that even the backrow felt that vibe and at the end of the concert, she looked exhausted, even if she wanted to, I doubt that you could have squeesed another "pip" out of her - she gave it 110 % or more. Thank you TEXAS, ohh what a night!!! Souvenir from Texas concert: As I mentioned earlier, I had a knee injury…I now have 2: After bounceing up and down and of the wall, trying to keep up with Ms. Spiteri…my other knee (the good one) went out…sad but true, anyway something good must come out of it, it makes for a great war-story, I already picture myself sitting with a lot of Vietnam vets sharing scars/injurys and such. Some old vet says: This steal plate in my head, Vietnam….and little me, points at my left knee and say: This knee, Texas - Manchester 2005. That will shut him right up….. Seriously: I would also like to take this opportunity to THANK Dirk for a wonderful and great website (I`m bowing in admiration to your dedication)…..and thank you to Dirks wife for being so understanding on how free time is to be spent. Also, thank you to TEXAS, for your unbelievable talent for songwriting and Sharleens amazing voice, thank you for shareing that with the rest of us!!! Best wishes, Heidi Stage Hansen Copenhagen, Denmark |