Review: Texas, Ipswich Regent, November 24

Unsurprisingly a full house turned out to see Texas at the Regent. This series of gigs were timed to coincide with the release of their new album, The Conversation.

The band got together in 1986 and had their first hit in 1989. They’ve been touring ever since but I was amazed by just how many of their songs I knew.

Opening track Detroit City set the up tempo pace for the evening, accompanied by great graphics on the massive video screen.

A good portion of the crowd were up and dancing from the word go. Second track, Halo, had the rest on their feet.

Sharleen Spiteri is a great front for the seven-piece band, making sure everyone was going to have a good time, telling the audience she was happy if they wanted to take photos which was refreshing. Her personality really came across in the little chats between the songs.

After Once In A Lifetime we got into the new songs and they are very strong; melodic and sing-a-long which is typically the Texas way. Sharlene never stops moving, she has fantastic energy, using every bit of the stage.

The band are really tight and the songs perfectly complemented by the light show.

Hit followed hit and the end of the show seemed to come too soon, but of course they had left some cracking tunes for the encore. I’ll definitely be putting The Conversation on my Christmas list.

MARK WESTALL