Concert review
Newcastle University, 4 October 2003
from The Journal

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" asked Sharleen Spiteri as she whipped up the crowd at Northumbria University on Saturday night.

Not that they needed it. Texas chose this intimate setting for their return to live performance and reminded the crowd - and an army of Radio 2 listeners - just how much we had missed them.

The pre-concert adrenaline rush was given extra kick by the "On Air" signs flanking the simple stage.

And when they lit up, what listener wouldn't have traded in their cocoa to hear Texas at their best with tracks from upcoming album, Careful What You Wish For, and a perfect list of classics.

Their last long-play came as a Greatest Hits compilation in 2000 which, with the birth of Sharleen's daughter, Misty Kid, left fans fearing they had seen the last of Texas. But those fears were laid well to rest in Newcastle.

It wasn't long before Sharleen was lending her faultless voice to Inner Smile.

Heart-thumping renditions of Black Eyed Boy, Once in a Lifetime and Summer Son followed, with smashes-to-be including I'll See It Through, written with Robbie Williams's old penning partner, Guy Chambers.

After 40-or-so minutes of none-stop honest-to-goodness talent, it was hard to believe that we hadn't already hit the high point of the show - but then Sharleen said she had a surprise for us.

As the intro for their new reggae-tinged single, Carnival Girl (released today) kicked in, the song's collaborator, Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, arrived to take the atmosphere up a notch.

And that wasn't the last we saw of him. Say What You Want was always going to be the song to close the hour-long broadcast, but it was given a hip hop reworking which went down a storm.

The On Air lights went dark and all was quiet again - for those at home.

We in the audience were rewarded with a never-before-seen, piano-accompanied version of In Demand and another chance to hear the new single.


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