Houston, we have a problem . . ." Texas have always been a band that have traded heavily on the charm and appeal of their lead singer, Sharleen Spiteri. And rightly so. You could search up and down the Highlands and not find a more engaging and genuinely charming stage presence than our Shar.
Certainly last Friday at the Point, Sharleen tickled the crowd with a constant stream of good-natured banter and gave "Martin from Dublin" his 15 seconds of fame and a good spanking to boot. But at the end of the night, all the charm in the world didn't compensate for a bland set and ultimately flat performance.
As expected, the band showcased the compilation of tunes contained on their recent Greatest Hits release spanning a 12year career. And, as expected, the performance of each song was faithful enough to its studio counterpart, with the addition of the occasional interlude from a backing DJ (although it didn't seem as if Mr DJ, nor the band, knew exactly what he was doing up there).
But therein lies the problem. The show provided little by way of experimentation or reinterpretation of the studio tracks. What was left was a tight show by a band going through the motions and providing what was overall a stale performance.
Black-Eyed Boy demonstrated Sharleen's impressive vocal range and the old favourite, I Don't Want A Lover, was a hit with the crowd, but the Al Greenpenned Tired Of Being Alone grooved along and was undoubtedly the highlight of the night.
As an encore, Sharleen vamped things up, reappearing leather-clad and hip-swivelling as Elvis in Las Vegas mode to croon Inner Smile. And as if to drive the point home, the band then followed with a fun, cheesy tribute rendition of Suspicious Minds. Texas then left the building.
