Concert review
Q-music showcase, VMM studios, Vilvoorde, Belgium, 30 October 2003
by Dirk

Don't always be too Careful what you wish for because your dreams do come trough, .... sometimes

About two weeks before the showcase, Q-music, a Belgian (Flemish) radio station, started to give away tickets for their Texas showcase which would be held in their studios in Vilvoorde, nearby Brussels.
During those two weeks they gave away 100 pair of tickets to people who needed to send a text message and when they were called they had to pick up the phone and say "Q is good for you, ik wil naar Texas" (so Q is good for you, I wanna go to Texas). I'm sure they didn't realize which impact their little "action" would have because LOTS of people wanted to go to see Texas but I'm sure the phone company was very happy with it. They received 50.000 text messages from fans trying to win tickets (yes fifthythousand).

As you may know, I'm a Texas fan also so I decided to torture my mobile phone (and my wife's) and send messages also. At a certain point at work everyone was sending messages for me so there were four mobile phones lying next to me, it does was a problem when I picked up a colleague's mobile and said "Q is good for you, ik wil naar Texas", the person on the other side (which I didn't know) probably thought I was a lunatic (no comments please).
BUT then my guardian angel stroke and Mieke, another Belgian fan, emailed me that she had won tickets and asked me along, YIPEEEEEEEEEEE :^) You can't believe how happy I was, happy, grateful, flattered, .... anyway, very sweet of her.
My kids also would have loved to go so they asked me to try and win tickets which I did but I didn't send so many text messages anymore as before.
The day before the concert, 29 October, Texas was on Jim TV, a Belgian TV music station who work together with Q-music, and you could also send them a text message because they also gave away some tickets. So I thought, let's try that, but didn't hear anything from them that evening.

30 October, 7.30am, after opening my email I found out that my message board pal Mailla would also come to Vilvoorde from Paris so we tried to arrange some things (which didn't really work out as planned). 10am then, I received a phone call from Jim TV to tell me that I had won two tickets, YIPEEEEE again :^) now my two girls, Sofie and Eline, could also go to their first ever Texas concert. We met Mieke at 15.00 (well we both were a little early), so it was 14.45 and we arrived in Vilvoorde at 15.15. Ok, a "little bit" early when the concert starts at 20.30 but hey, you can't be too sure. And besides, Bea and Kathy were already there so there ARE even crazier persons (good to know).

We walked, stood, hung around for about two hours while listening to the radio and when around 17.00 some of the radio guys and security came out we knew that the band was about to arrive. Which they did a few moments later. Things are always a bit hectic then but Sharleen always stays very friendly and calm then, takes her time to give autographs, say a word to the fans, which I personally think is very great.

I texted and called Mailla a couple of times to hear if they were doing ok, besides some slight panic because they couldn't find their way out of Brussels everything was going fine, so Mailla and Leo arrived around 18.30 I think it was, plenty of time. It is always strange to meet someone who you have talked to dozens of times over the internet but never met in person, BUT it was really great, we got along as well as we do over the internet :^)

While waiting in the cold we could hear Shar give an interview to Alexandra (Belgium's most beautiful radio voice) and I must say it was a pretty good interview, or am I being to chauvinistic then?
After a radio interview some of the fans had to give, I don't even remember what they asked me, and a TV appearance from us famous fans, we could enter the building around 19.30. We had to wait in front of the studio doors until 20.00 because some of the so called VIP's (or people who like to call themselves that) had to take in the best places in front of the stage. You know, I don't even mind that because lots of them work in those TV studios, but if you intend to not move one square inch during a concert then please go and stand in the back, jezes.
There were a lot more people then expected, about 700, so not just ticket winners but also a lot of invitations.


The concert started at 20.40 with Telephone X of course, have I ever told you I love that song? I guess I have but ok, just want to force my opinion onto everyone :^) New songs like "And I Dream", "Where Did You Sleep", "Broken", Careful What You Wish For" are great live songs, "I'll See It Through" is fantastic, touches me personally very deeply. But I hope the band don't mind if I say that for me they highlight of the concert was the acoustic piano version from "In Demand". If I ever win the lottery then I will ask Texas to do a completely acoustic concert for us, wouldn't that be great.
Of course also the all-time hits like "Halo", "Black Eyed Boy", "Inner Smile", "Say What You Want" and "Summer Son" had to be there, the last one certainly was the crowd's favorite.
Mark One wasn't there so some songs sounded a bit different but therefore not less great.


SETLIST: Telephone X / Inner smile / Broken / Halo / In our lifetime / And I dream / Summer son / I'll see it through / Where did you sleep? / Black eyed boy / Carnival girl
ENCORE: In Demand (piano acoustic version) / Careful What You Wish For / Say What You Want
The concert lasted for about an hour and fifteen minutes which was pretty long for a showcase I think but for me they could have kept going of course. My two girls loved it also, they already liked Texas before but now .... it was even a Texas party at our house today while I wasn't home today which says enough.


After the concert we were offered some free drinks at the bar. It can be a great feeling if you didn't have anything to drink for a few hours. Took some photos and then went outside where we hung around for a little while. And we were "hanging" at the right location because Shar and Johnny were just leaving in their car and they were so kind to step out of the car and speak a word with the fans. Oh and Shar signed Sofie's and Eline's homemade Texas T-shirts which are now hanging on their walls in the bedrooms. Some new Texas fans are born, if they weren't already.

A little while after that we said goodbye to all our Texas friends. It isn't just going to the concert itself which is soo great, it's also meeting other people, the other fans which is fantastic. It was great seeing Bea and Kathy again and it was fantastic to see Mieke and of course Mailla, I was very happy that she and her friend Leo were there, I hope our photo worked out :^) Of course also the other fans but I don't know everyone's name so I just wanna say, great to meet you.

Dirk



Photos by Q-music and Dominique


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