Texas parties at Belladrum
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By Margaret Chrystall
TEXAS turned their headlining set at Belladrum Festival into a party last night.
Singer Sharleen Spiteri got the spotlight turned on the crowd, as 15,000 topped a day of sunshine rocking out to some of the hits from the band’s extensive back catalogue.
Sharleen joked with the crowd: “I’m ready to stay all night – are you?.”
The band launched the set with their first-ever single I Don’t Want A Lover which started their career back in 1989.
But they also included a taster for their next album, single The Conversations, planned after the recovery from a brain haemorrhage of guitarist Ally McErlaine.
Earlier, Sharleen remembered the first time Texas had played the Highlands at a venue in Dingwall.
“It was great to be a young band on the road and it felt amazing to play in front of an audience. There was also a kind of innocence about being on the road with your band.”
But Sharleen revealed she’s lost none of the passion for performing.
“I absolutely love it. I wouldn’t still be doing it if I didn’t love it,” Sharon told Highland News Group.
Asked if she wanted to reveal anything about new song The Conversations, Sharleen joked: “Yes, it’s great!”
And her playful mood continued into the set, when she divided the crowd boys and girls and had a sing off.
It had worked earlier for singer Ed Sheeran, who packed the Hothouse tent with fans standing 10-deep outside to get a glimpse of him.
After explaining the story of the young street girl behind his number three single The A Team, he rounded off his set dividing the crowd in two to help him sing upcoming single You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.
Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize nominee Anna Calvi was also one of the day’s highlights.
And proving a hit with the younger crowd was the new Caio Bella fashion stage, with cutting-edge designs from the Scottish Academy of Fashion.
Today will see Scottish rock veterans Deacon Blue headlining the main stage – and their feirst-ever Scottish festival – with other highlights set to include quirky Scottish band the Guillemots and guitar hero Newton Faulkner.
