The words icon and legend get tossed around these days with all the care of a toddler flinging a stuffed toy. But if your first global hit landed back in 1989 and you’re still chalking up new ones 36 years on, you’ve more than earned both titles. Case closed.
With that settled, let’s turn to Day 3 of Bristol Sounds, where Texas delivered a performance destined to sit among the festival’s finest.
Friday nights by Bristol’s harbourside are atmospheric enough on their own, but pair that with the carnival swirl of Bristol Sounds and it becomes something close to decadent. We slip into the arena just after 7pm, keen not to miss Turin Brakes.
Turin Brakes have long felt like one of Britain’s best-kept secrets: a band that emerged with the early-2000s acoustic boom and quietly outlasted nearly all of their contemporaries. Lifelong friends Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian formed the group in South London, debuting in 2001 with The Optimist LP — a delicately constructed album of intricate guitar lines and yearning harmonies that earned a Mercury nod and a devoted following.
Their second album, Ether Song, edged them toward the mainstream. Its ringing, bittersweet single “Pain Killer (Summer Rain)” cracked the UK Top 5 and introduced a lusher electric palette without sacrificing the fragile intimacy of their early work. Two decades on, they remain among the UK’s most dependable architects of thoughtful, melodic indie-folk, turning out records like JackInABox, Outbursts, and 2022’s reflective Wide-Eyed Nowhere.
Now ten albums deep, Turin Brakes are showing no signs of flagging. Their latest, Spacehopper (May 2025), produced by Grammy-winner Guy Massey at Konk Studios, sees them revisiting the warm analogue textures of their youth while still chasing new sonic corners. Tracks like “The Message” prove a band entirely at ease with themselves, layering wistful melodies over gently insistent grooves.
On stage, they’re masters of atmosphere — as magnetic in hushed acoustic rooms as under festival skies, where their songs stretch out and bloom into quiet anthems. With Knights and Paridjanian still steering the ship, joined by long-time rhythm section Rob Allum and Eddie Myer, Turin Brakes continue to craft music that feels personal yet broadly resonant. Nearly 25 years in, they remind us that the most enduring statements often arrive not as a shout, but a tender, lingering whisper.
By the close of their set, it was clear the arena was packed to the edges — no small feat on a Friday evening, especially with that world-famous festival running simultaneously just down the road. It speaks volumes about the affection still held for Texas.
Texas have long stood as one of Britain’s most bankable purveyors of slick, soul-tinged pop-rock. Their sound is as unmistakable as Sharleen Spiteri’s smoky, magnetic voice. Formed in Glasgow in 1986 by Spiteri and bassist Johnny McElhone, they broke through with 1989’s Southside and its signature riff on “I Don’t Want a Lover,” launching a career that would see them glide through changing trends, amassing hit after hit.
Through the ’90s, Texas delivered widescreen classics like “Say What You Want,” “Halo,” and “Summer Son,” shifting millions of records and earning a fiercely loyal audience even as Britpop rose and fell around them. After a quieter patch in the late 2000s, they re-emerged with albums that deftly balanced nostalgia and fearless genre-hopping — Jump on Board topped the charts in Scotland, while Hi found them teaming up again with Wu-Tang Clan.
Their 2023 greatest hits collection and a standout Glastonbury set underlined just how deep their catalogue runs. In 2025, Texas are anything but a heritage act, still headlining festivals and commanding storied venues from Ludlow Castle to Scarborough’s open-air theatre. Setlists mix sparkling new gems like “Mr Haze” with the classics that first made them fixtures on British radio.
At the centre is Spiteri, still radiating wry Glaswegian charm and breathing fresh life into songs that swing from bluesy pop to glossy disco to tender balladry. Nearly four decades on, Texas are veterans who wear their history lightly, still chasing that elusive perfect chorus and playing every gig as if it’s the one where the entire crowd finally, fully gets them.
If Bristol Sounds kept scorecards, Texas’s Friday night performance would surely be near the top. From the first chord, they had the crowd. A roar of delight greeted the unmistakable opening of “I Don’t Want a Lover,” and from there it never let up.
The audience split neatly into two camps: die-hards who knew every lyric, and those happily surprised to find just how many of these songs were woven into their memories — a testament to Texas’s imprint on British culture.
Their sixteen-song set unfolded like a trove of jewels spanning their entire career. “Halo,” “Hi,” “Summer Son” — each sung with equal fervour by Spiteri and the masses packed into Canons Marsh.
Almost as compelling was Spiteri’s easy rapport with the crowd: playful, authentic, humble, and riotously funny. Some of her one-liners could give seasoned comedians pause; if she ever tires of singing, there’s a second act waiting.
It all forged a genuine bond with the audience — something many younger acts could stand to study. By the time “Black Eyed Boy” and “Say What You Want” wrapped the main set, Texas had the crowd eating from their hands. The three-song encore unleashed a wall of sound that could probably be heard over the border in their native Scotland. “Inner Smile” was pure euphoria, and their traditional closer “Suspicious Minds” turned the amphitheatre into a giant party.
Call them icons, call them legends — on this evidence, you can comfortably add rock royalty to the list.
@thebristolnomad / @bristolnomad_gigphotography
Role: Photographer / Reviewer / Interviewer
Chief, the one that bugs the team for team for their reviews and images. Creator and founder of The Bristol Gig Guide. Can usually be found swamped in admin or getting cramp kneeling at the front of a gig.
Available for: Gig Shoots, Gig Reviews, Photo Shoots, Album and Single cover shoots, Videography work, Interviews and Touring
First attended gig: Republica, circa 1996.
First gig shot: Hands Off Gretel, at The Louisiana!
Dream gig: Huge metalhead and my ultimate dream gig would be shooting my heroes Slipknot at a huge stadium gig, or as festival headliners. And to experience shooting a headline tour outside the UK
