Warwick Castle hosted a celebration of music over several nights last month, headline performances from Canadian rocker Bryan Adams and Scottish icons Texas thrilling the crowd who took delight in hearing many old favourites and more recent tunes. The venue makes for the perfect backdrop to host concerts, offering excellent facilities and a friendly atmosphere that ensures a good-natured vibe.
Kicking off with driving rocker ‘Kick Ass’, Bryan Adams and his three piece band wasted no time in hitting their stride. And with the classic pairing of ‘Run to You’ and ‘Somebody’ following on, this was a powerful opening statement of intent. New album Roll With the Punches, the sixteenth of Adams’ long career, got a decent airing with four songs included in the set, and continues the run of combining mid-tempo rockers with sentimental ballads that have been his stock in trade since the 90’s. Although Adams isn’t much for between song chat, the show made clever use of video backdrops and musically everything was as slick and on point as you would expect, long time lead guitarist Keith Scott given plenty of opportunity to shine.
Open air gigs can be hit and miss when it comes to the sound quality, but tonight everything was spot on with all of the instruments well balanced and the vocals ringing out with remarkable clarity. Support act Mel C was welcomed back on stage for an unlikely cover of the Spice Girls ‘Say You’ll Be There’ and an acoustic run through of crowd favourite ‘When You’re Gone’. With a strict 10 o clock curfew closing in, there was still time for the song that changed Adams career forever, ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’, and of course the evergreen ‘Summer of ’69’ that never fails to be the cue for a huge sing-a-long. Closing out the show with another ballad, ‘All For Love’, Adams sent all of the crowd home happy and content.
Setlist:-
Kick Ass
Run to You
Somebody
Roll With the Punches
18 til I Die
It’s Only Love
Heaven
Make Up Your Mind
You Belong to Me / Blue Suede Shoes
Twist and Shout
A Little More Understanding
Say You’ll Be There
When You’re Gone
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
Never Ever Let You Go
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
Back To You
Summer of ’69
All for Love
In contrast to the previous night, when Bryan Adams said little between songs, Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri doesn’t hold back with her colourful observations on the crowd, the music and life in general. Moody and atmospheric opening number ‘I Don’t Want a Lover’ is something of an outlier in the set, much if what follows being smooth and sophisticated hook laden pop such as ‘Halo’ and ‘In Our Lifetime’. What sets Texas apart from their peers is, of course, Spiteri herself who was effortlessly in control of the audience from beginning to end, delighting in winding them up for not dancing enough and consistently engaging in banter with anyone that was brave enough to call her out.
With so many hits at their disposal this was a show of one gem after another, ‘Summer Son’, ‘Let’s Work It Out’ and ‘When We Are Together’ all providing mid-set highlights that ensured the momentum of the set was never lost. Dragging up a member of the audience to dance with her on ‘Mr Haze’ was yet another touch of class from Spiteri, and old favourites ‘Black Eyed Boy’ and ‘Say Want You Want’ sounded as good as ever. The show ended in style with Texas bringing a touch of Vegas to Warwick with a dazzling rendition of ‘Suspicious Minds’. 35 years and counting, Texas are still in spectacular form.
Setlist:-
I Don’t Want a Lover
Halo
Hi
In Our Lifetime
Keep On Talking
The Conversation
Summer Son
Let’s Work It Out
When We Are Together
In Demand
Mr Haze
Black Eyed Boy
Say What You Want
Inner Smile
Suspicious Minds
