Marktrock, Leuven, Belgium, 13 August 2005
by Mailla

Brussels in the summer night
I was expecting this date for a few months now. Texas was playing the Marktrock Festival and so the appointment was given with many others fans from the board. I’m chatting on the TID board for several years now and i used to talk with fans on this special place on the internet. We could feel the excitement coming from days to days on the board while the D-day was approaching.

So I arrived in Brussels on friday night. I took advantage of the festival to visit a friend of mine who lives there. Obviously i was a tourist and so I had to try the traditional beverage and i had to honored as much breweries as i could !

At Leuven
Saturday morning was a bit hard... even more since i woke up at 6 because of the daylight ! Anyway, I was at the train station on time to meet Carmen from the board. The first Texan of the day !! We arrived in Leuven at 11 o’clock. My friend Léo arrived later, then we looked for a frite koet (i don’t know how you write, but it was my word of the day !!). We went to the appointment for the lunch and while we were eating the others Texans were arriving one by one (or two by two, we’re eclectic). So it was fun talking in real life with everybody. At 1.30 we all walked toward the stage. We met Dirkie and his wife, Alison and others fans. We decided to go the market place directly which was pretty a good idea since it allows us not to pay the entrance. We all took a drink on a terrace, then we moved to the stage. At this moment we had to wait 8 complete hours before Texas performed but it didn’t stop us. And actually it was a pretty cool afternoon. I had the opportunity to talk with every Texans. And it was really cool to know each others for real.

So by 6 o’clock, the first act started. Wim Something was the opening concert. He had a bunch of Ladies fans who found a place between us. I guess there is no age to be a freaking fan. Then it was Estelle, she was cool. It really sounded like Lauryn Hill’ second album (can we call this plagiarism ??!!! lol) but she made a cool version of Come Together from The Beatles, and had the crowd singing. After her, came Human League. I guess i’m just too young or not enough into New Wave music to enjoy them. I was astonished how boring it was !! Hey hey, hopefully they played Don’t You Want Me, which was fun. Vaya Con Dios followed them. I though they were good, i especially liked the songs “Don’t cry for Louie”, “Puerto Rico”, “Johnny” and the very famous one that i don’t remember the name. And then....

Texas on stage
... Then it was Texas !!! We all were ready to welcome them. I remember i couldn't realize I was about to see Texas on stage in a while. Sometimes connections just do not work lol. I only could make my mind when I saw Sharleen in front of me. Well, with Alison we were expecting they would start with I Don’t Want A Lover and we were pleased to hear Ally starting the wild wild texan solo guitar. The whole market got into the mood instantly ! We also instantly started to jump, which is probably the funniest thing at Texas concerts with Sharleens’ jokes ! It was a great feeling to be with many Texas fans at a Texas concert; knowing that everybody next to me enjoy the music as much as I do... It takes us even more fastly on an another planet.

The second song was Halo. Actually the set list was the same than at the previous festivals. In disorder: Black Eyed Boy, In Our Lifetime, When We Are Together, Inner Smile, Getaway, Sleep, Nevermind, Can’t resist, Summer Son, Dallas (yeah i keep calling it like that !), Say What You Want. But i want to noticed some special things. First, it seems Sharleen improvised the very end of Getaway; and I must say i really enjoyed it. It sounded great and it more spontaneous... And it seems she enjoyed it as much as we did. Then Ally, oh Ally the Rock’n Roll Supper Star ! He was WILD especially on Say What You Want. It drove me crazy !!! You rock man !! Actually the whole band totally rocked. They all were in a very very good mood. Maybe it’s because, as Sharleen confessed it, they had too much wine for the dinner ! Anyway I loved that. Johnny looked very much into the concert, always smiling. The smiling man ! And Tony had his moment of glory also when Shar asked the audience who between him and Michael should be doing the duet with her. There was no doubt it’s Tony who must do it. We’re waiting that for years !!! We all shouted "Tony Tony...!!!" His time has come and he did great. It’s amazing to hear him singing with Shar on Sleep. But no worry for Michael since he’s already famous beyond Texas fans. He has a reputation of a sexy man, so Shar tried to convince us that he may have the reputation but not the body ! lol Michael instantly answered back and showed us concretely that (he believes) he has a great torso. He took off his shirt and came to Sharleen to offer her a rose. It was so funny,unfortunately she wasn’t convinced of his physical potential. Just a shame couldn't see Eddie and Neal at all

In a few words, Belgium gave a warm welcome to Texas and I had a blast spending the day with my dear Texans. You all were very cool and funny and i’m truly happy for having meeting you. I hope we’ll be doing more Texas concerts together !

PS: It would be great if Texas could also give us a review on how we were!!


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