When Texas played a sold-out Point Depot on Friday night, they effortlessly churned out one bland soulless hit after another: In Demand, Black-Eyed Boy, Halo - the list goes on. Their anaemic mix of pop/country/soul hybrids were played with machine-like efficiency and blended together so well that at times it was difficult to tell where one song ended and the next began.
The fans were clearly not disappointed, however, and in fact it was their evident fondness for the group which saved the concert from becoming a pedestrian retread of the band's recent Greatest Hits CD. A spirited attempt at audience participation, in which an enthusiastic fan was picked from the audience to indulge in a spot of impromptu dancing with Sharleen Spiteri also went down well.
It was a shame, therefore, that none of this enthusiasm seemed to make an impact on the band themselves. The cynical marketing campaign which surrounded Texas's comeback hit, Say What You Want, in 1997 has continued unabated since then, with all attention focusing on the newly style-mag-friendly Sharleen.
Given that carefully constructed makeover, it was not surprising that the set relied heavily on tracks from the band's two post-transformation albums, White On Blonde and The Hush. However, Texas did not neglect to play earlier pop successes, with predictable favourites such as Tired Of Being Alone, Prayer For You and, inevitably, I Don't Want a Lover fitting seamlessly into the mix.
For the encore, the singer adopted the Elvis persona seen in the video for the latest single, Inner Smile. A cover of the King's Suspicious Minds showed off the singer's impressive voice to good effect.
Texas have certainly discovered a marketable formula, as evidenced by the fact that their Greatest Hits album recently knocked the Beatles off the top spot in the UK charts. For better or worse, Texas clearly have their plectrums on the pulse of the pop mainstream.
