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Soundwaves

Venue: Bents Park
Town: South Shields
Date: 23/8/14
Website: http://www.visitsouthtyneside.co.uk/article/21704/soundwaves-2014

For several years, South Tyneside council have run live music events in Bents Park, as part of the annual Catherine Cookson summer festival celebrations. However, this is only the second year that part of the celebrations have included a paid for live performance featuring top name acts. The lineup this year immediately grabbed my attention when I saw that the headline act would be none other than Scottish group Texas. They were playing alongside Gabrielle, All Saints and local act Lulu James.

Somewhat predictably, the forecast for the evening was not great; however this did not prevent people from turning out to take part in this event. The intermittent heavy rain did not succeed in dampening people spirits. There was a great atmosphere befitting the very well organised event; It was lovely to see a diverse audience ranging from children to older people who were all enjoying great live music. The only negatives, really, would be the extortionate prices charged for food and drink from the stands around the park and the excessively few toilet facilities, resulting in huge queues at any given time.

Opening the event was a local singer her name was new to me; Lulu James. Unsurprisingly she's been signed to a record label, and has an album due out very soon. We were lucky to hear several of the songs from this upcoming album, which collectively showcased her very striking vocals and great personality. It was also quite clear that she was enjoying playing such an event in her hometown.

Next on stage was Gabrielle; whom everyone remembers being quite a prolific artist back in the 1990s. She is currently embarking upon a comeback after taking time out to raise a family. It presented an unexpected opportunity to see her live on stage, as it seemed she had stopped performing years ago. It was a wonderful blast from the past to hear her sing hits we all remembered such as Rise again, Dreams, Out of Reach, Give Me a Little More Time, Sunshine and When a Woman. (I had actually forgotten how many hits she had!) Her smooth voice belies her forty four years and she is a great performer; using hands expressively, to draw the audience into her space on stage. Especially in the open air, it certainly makes the space between artist and audience feel smaller and more intimate.

After another brief stage turnaround, All Saints took to the stage, looking exactly as they did when they topped the charts. Together, they delivered a high energy performance, including all the songs people expected; Pure Shores (apt since we were yards from the beach!) Under The Bridge, I Know Where It's At, Black Coffee and of course Never Ever.

Headline act Texas took to the stage as darkness surrounded us and rain fell hard.

By that time the temperature felt distinctly more like Bonfire Night than summer and many of us had resorted to cups of tea!

Headline act for the night was iconic Scottish band, Texas, fronted of course by Sharleen Spiteri. I had seen Texas perform a wonderful show at the Newcastle Arena about fourteen years ago; needless to say the chance to see them perform in my hometown was too good to pass up! Despite the cold and pouring rain, Sharleen was determined that we were all going to have fun and pretty soon being drenched was forgotten, as the audience rose to their feet as one to sing along, dance and enjoy the moment.

Sharleen has a personality you cannot fail to warm to, as she danced across the stage, cracking jokes, requesting fish and chips be passed up to them from a stall below, and generally making all present laugh with her.

My personal feeling was that their set wasn't long enough; maybe we just enjoyed it so much it passed in the beat of a drum. She and the band delivered flawless versions of many hits; Say What You Want, Halo, Summer Sun (which did in fact temporarily pause the rain!), Black Eyed Boy, and In Our Lifetime, were just a few highlights which encouraged audience participation. It was also great to hear one song, The Conversation, from their current CD, as their encore song. I was hoping we would hear Detroit City...maybe next time!

Thanks to Texas, Gabrielle, All Saints, Lulu James and South Tyneside Council for a very enjoyable event and to the sound engineers for flawless sound throughout. I look forward to seeing who features in the 2015 lineup and am in no doubt we would all love to welcome Texas and Gabrielle back to the event in the future. Certainly that was The Conversation heard around the park and since. Who knows, the sun might even stay out next year!

Helen Mitchell